Amazed (Tempted Book 3)

by Heather Doltrice

  After we got dressed I asked Ethan to spend the night and he happily agreed. Walking into my apartment, I saw West, Maddie, Emma, and Roman sitting there like they were completely at home. And in a way I guess they were.

  “What are you guys doing here? And where is Holland?” I asked, pulling Ethan toward the empty chair beside West.

  “We have no clue. She’s probably been kidnapped and being sold as a hooker as we speak,” West said with a super serious expression taking over his face.

  “No more crime shows for you, Babe,” Maddie said, rubbing his shoulder.

  He rolled his eyes at her causing everyone to crack up. I shipped West and Maddie so hard. Always had.

  Sitting on Ethan’s lap, I dialed Holland’s number and was answered by her voicemail. My mind started to run rampant with crazy theories.

  What if she’s hurt?

  What if Luca did something to her?

  “I’m sure she’s fine,” Emma said, leaning into Roman.

  At that moment the door swung open and Holland came in with Luca. Yeah, she brought Luca into our apartment, into a room full of people who hated him like it was their life’s mission.

  “Hey, guys,” Holland said, holding on to Luca’s inked up arms.

  Crickets. That’s all I heard, complete silence.

  Well, that was until Roman spoke up.

  “What in the hell are you doing here?” Roman asked, gritting his teeth.

  “He’s here because I invited him,” Holland said, stepping in front of him.

  Their bond puzzled me. In the short amount of time she had been here they had become freakishly close. I had never seen her get so confrontational over a guy. Trent always tried to dull her shine and made her stand behind him. To him she was better seen than heard. She was only arm candy. Something for his friends to look at and be envious over.

  “Hey, let’s all relax,” I told them, trying my best to get rid of the bad vibe taking over the room.

  “Yeah, she’s right. Let’s get some drinks flowing,” West said, walking into the kitchen and retrieving a ton of alcohol.

  Roman and Ethan gave him a funny look but they went along with it. I didn’t want him here anymore than they did but Holland was my cousin, my sister, and my best friend and if she wanted him here than he was staying.

  While West grabbed shot glasses we all gathered around the coffee table.

  “Let’s play a game,” West said, finding a seat and pouring the clear liquid into the glasses in front of him.

  “You’re so creepy,” Emma said, rolling her eyes.

  “You love it,” he said, blowing her a kiss.

  “Maddie, control him.”

  Laughing, I scooted closer to Ethan.

  “What game?” Luca asked, wrapping his arm around Holland’s shoulder.

  I could tell he didn’t want to be there anymore than we wanted him there but at least he was trying to make an effort to get along with everyone.

  “Never have I ever,” West replied, seeming a little too excited.

  “How very high school of you,” Roman said, laughing.

  “Everyone know the rules?” he asked, completely ignoring Roman.

  Everyone nodded.

  “I’ll go first,” he said, smiling from ear to ear, “Never have I ever lost to Roman in a race.”

  Luca picked up his glass and tilted it back.

  “My turn. Never have I ever made out with Marilyn Thomas while I was dating someone,” Luca said, shooting daggers with his eyes at West.

  He had him there. West picked up his glass and drank.

  “I guess I’ll go,” Roman said, “Never have I ever sought someone up to get arrested for no reason.”

  Luca drunk his second shot. Looking over at Holland, I study her face and she doesn’t looked shocked by what was being revealed about Luca.

  “What are you guys doing?” Holland asked, narrowing her eyes.

  “Playing a game,” Roman said, innocently.

  “Come on, Luca. Let’s go to my room,” Holland said, getting up with Luca following behind her, “Grace, please let me know when your friends leave.”

  Hearing the door shut, I flinched. Holland was rarely ever mad but she was fuming that night.

  “I can’t believe you guys,” I said, shaking my head.

  “I’m sorry, Grace but that’s Luca Davis. You know the asshole that tried with all his power to ruin my relationship with Maddie. They guy who got Roman arrested, he enjoys ruining lives.”

  Everything he said was true and I knew that but Holland liked him. That made me want to give him a fair chance even if he didn’t deserve it.

  “What you guys did tonight makes you just like him,” Maddie said, getting up and walking out of the door.

  “Maybe even worse,” Emma said, following her.

  “We should go after them,” West said, getting up and exiting the apartment with Roman in tow.

  As soon as I heard the door shut I looked at Ethan and realized he never threw his two cents in. I wasn’t sure why because he wasn’t exactly Luca’s biggest fan.

  “Why didn’t you join in on the let’s bash Luca party?” I asked, curling up beside him on the couch.

  “Because everyone has a past, Babe. Everyone has done bad things. I messed up and you gave me a second chance. I think he deserves one and maybe Holland is his.”

  “His what?”

  “His second chance, his redemption,” he said, stroking my hair.

  He was right and on that couch I feel deeper in love with the man of my dreams. I was drowning in Ethan and I didn’t want to come up for air.

  Chapter 18

  “She’s going to hate me,” I said, running my hand over the imaginary wrinkles in my dress.

  “Grace, she knows you. It’s not like you’re meeting her for the first time,” Ethan said, rubbing my face.

  I knew he was right but still. I was freaking nervous.

  “But this is the first time I’ll be meeting her as the girl who’s dating her son,” I told him, trying my hardest not to have a panic attack.

  “Calm down,” he said, opening the door, “Mom, Lucy, we’re here.”

  Walking into the living the room we were greeted by the other two women in Ethan’s life.

  “Grace, you look beautiful,” His mom, Ava, said, pulling me in for a hug.

  My nerves began to ease. Ava Charles was the world’s most gentle woman. Her eyes alone made you feel at home.

  “How about me?” Ethan asked, doing a little twirl.

  “You look handsome, Honey,” she said, chuckling at her son.

  Lucy flung herself into Ethan’s arms and he spun her around. Ethan was Lucy’s favorite brother and you tell by the way he looked at her that she held a very important place in his heart.

  “Hey, Princess,” he greeted her, giving her a big squeeze.

  Placing her on her feet, he walked over and slipped his arm around my waist.

  “I hope you guys are hungry,” she said, grabbing Lucy’s hand and leading us out the back door.

  Ava always had these amazing cookouts every year and that year I was lucky enough to snag an invite.

  “Starving,” Ethan said, patting his stomach.

  Well, his nonexistent stomach. He actually had a cut six pack.

  “Me too,” I said, smiling at her.

  “Roman, Emma, and Kate should be here any minute,” Ava said, checking on the delicious smelling food in the grill.

  “Don’t forget Maddie and West,” Ethan said, setting the table.

  Looking at him putting plates in front of each chair, I noticed two extra seats.

  “Who are those for?” I asked Ethan, pointing at them.

  “Roman and West decided to invite Luca and Holland,” he said as if it was no big deal.

  It took a minute for what he said to register in my head,

  “What made them do that?” I asked, waiting for him to tell me he was just joking.

  “You’re a part
of my life, so that makes you a part of their lives and Holland is a big part of your life. And it seems like Luca is going to be a big part of hers, so we’re all going to make an effort.”

  “For me?”

  “For you,” he said, kissing my temple.

  That made my heart smile and do back flips. We could all get along, right? I sure hoped we could. As Ethan and I took our seats Emma, Roman, Kate, Maddie, and West walked in.

  “Mrs. C, where are the strippers?” West asked, pulling Ava into his arms.

  She had always been like a mother to him because he wasn’t blessed in the mother department.

  “They won’t be here until dark,” she said, winking and playing along with him.

  “Mom, that’s just wrong,” Ethan said, looking like he was going to throw up while Roman covered his ears.

  Looking at their reaction at their mom talking about strippers, I had to laugh. Everyone went silent and I saw their eyes shoot to the walkway leading to the back yard. Turning to see what had their attention, I saw Luca and Holland standing hand in hand. In Luca’s other hand I saw a beautiful bouquet of daisies and tulips.

  “Hey, everyone,” Holland said, smiling.

  She was uncomfortable, I could see it all over her face but I could also see that she was happy. Happier than I had ever see her. Happy looked good on her.

  “Holland, Luca, welcome,” Ava said, walking over to them.

  “Thanks for having us,” Luca said, handing her the flowers.

  “That was so sweet but you didn’t have to do that,” she said, staring at him in awe.

  “I wanted to,” he said, genuinely.

  It was like Holland had made him want to be a better person. Maybe she was just what he needed.

  “Let’s eat,” West said already piling his plate sky high.

  “West, have some manners,” Ava scolded him as Maddie rolled her eyes at him.

  Everyone fixed their plates and gathered around the table. The breeze that was coming off of the trees made the heat bearable and so did Ava’s homemade cherry lemonade.

  “What’s everyone’s plans for tonight?” Ava asked, rocking baby Kate in her arms with Lucy cooing at her.

  Judging by the look on her face everyone knew hers. She was granting Roman and Emma another night of freedom.

  “Me and Holland was planning on spending the night at my lake house and then spend the day at the lake tomorrow. You guys want to join us?” Luca asked, chewing on his burger.

  He could be nice when he wanted to. I could tell he was honestly trying to bury the hatchet. I hoped everyone else wanted to do the same thing. I saw Roman, Ethan, and West exchange a look but I couldn’t tell what they were thinking.

  “We’re in, right Grace?” Ethan asked, pulling me from my thoughts.

  “Right,” I said, smiling at him.

  I was so proud of him for giving Luca a second chance. It proved to me the kind of man he was and I gave myself a mental pat on the back for having such good taste.

  “Yeah, Man, that sounds good,” West said, looking shocked at Luca’s peace offering.

  One look at Maddie’s face and I knew that she was just as proud of her man as I was of mine.

  “Roman, you in?” Luca asked and for once he wasn’t smirking at Roman, he was smiling.

  Roman and Emma looked over at Kate and I knew what they were going to say. They were going to use her as an excuse and apparently Ava sensed it too.

  “I’m going to watch Kate and Lucy is going to help. We’ve got her. Go be young,” she said, looking straight at Roman as if she was trying to say you better make peace.

  “Yeah, we’re in,” he said, turning his gaze from his mother.

  Such a momma’s boy.

  When everyone finished eating we said our goodbyes to Ava, Lucy, and little Kate and went to pack our overnight bags.

  After thirty minutes of Luca and Ethan talking about football we arrived at the lake house.

  “Thank God, I don’t think I could have handled one more minute of that,” Holland said, swinging her overnight bag over her shoulder.

  “Babe, give me that,” Luca said, removing it from her shoulder and stealing a small kiss in the process.

  I still wasn’t sure how those two ended up in a relationship but at the moment I didn’t really care. She was happy and that was all that mattered.

  Laughing and shaking my head, I picked up my bag only to feel someone rip it from my shoulder and tap me on the ass. Turning around I saw Ethan and playfully swatted his shoulder. He winked and then turned around to follow Luca.

  Men.

  “Could you handle one more minute of that?” I asked as she leaned against Luca’s black Escalade and watched him walk inside.

  “Why ask questions you already know the answer to?” she replied, pushing herself off the vehicle and linking her arm with mine as we followed everyone inside.

  “How many cars does he have?” I whispered to Holland, looking over my shoulder at the shiny black Escalade.

  “Three. Escalade, his bike, and his sports car,” she said, opening the door.

  Walking in, I saw Ethan and Luca once again talking about sports.

  “Let’s go in the kitchen and unpack the food,” she said, grabbing the grocery bags and bringing them into the kitchen.

  The kitchen was amazing. It had a huge window that held a perfect view of the lake and every luxury kitchen appliance you could possibly imagine.

  “This looks like a kitchen from a magazine,” I said, looking around.

  “I know right?” she asked, stocking the cabinets and fridge.

  Hearing voices trail down the hallway, I turned to see Emma and Maddie standing in the doorway of the kitchen.

  “Dream kitchen,” Maddie said, rubbing her hands all over the granite.

  I knew the minute she seen it she would go bonkers over it. Kitchens were sort of her thing.

  Emma, Holland, and Maddie left to go sit by the lake but I just wanted to take a bath and cuddle Ethan in bed. If I could get him away from Luca.

  Following the laughter, I ended up in the living room and saw the guys talking animatedly. West was mid story about something stupid he did.

  The question was which stupid thing? He had done a lot of them.

  “Hey, Baby,” Ethan greeted me, “Where you headed?”

  “I wanted to take a bubble bath and needed to ask Luca which room we could take,” I said, looking from Ethan to Luca.

  “My room is at the end of the hall but you are welcome to take any other room,” he said, pointing up the stairs.

  “Thanks. See you guys later,” I said, walking up the stairs.

  Hearing footsteps behind me, I turned to see Ethan looking right at me.

  “I thought you were having guy time,” I said, walking down to where he was and wrapping my arms around his neck.

  “Guy time or you naked in a bath full of bubbles? It wasn’t really a hard choice,” he said, sliding his hands down to my ass.

  Kissing him, I pulled him up the stairs. My body was filling to the top with want. I wanted him to own my body the way he owned my heart.

  By the time we got through the door we were completely void of all of our clothing and our mouths were moving frantically all over each other.

  Pushing him on the bed, I climbed on top of him and straddled him.

  The bubble bath was long forgotten.

  Chapter 19

  The heat from the bonfire danced just like the people dancing around it. Sitting on Ethan’s lap, I laid my head back on his shoulder and watched all the girls trying way too hard and the boys who didn’t care. I was so thankful that I wasn’t one of those girls anymore.

  I was completely content in my relationship and I realized how truly blessed I was to have a boyfriend like Ethan.

  “Look at West,” Ethan said, laughing.

  Looking at West, I saw him doing the sprinkler as Maddie pretended to be mortified.

  She secretly loved it.
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  “Always the center of attention,” I said, shaking my head.

  “Not to me,” Ethan whispered against my skin.

  “What?”

  “He’s not the center of attention to me, Babe. Only ever you.”

  That caused chills to run through my body.

  “I love you,” I told him, looking at him.

  “I love you,” he said, kissing my ear.

  I could have sat there forever and a day. Getting tired of him was impossible and I knew that. Everything about him made me giddy. The way he looked at me, how protective he was of not only me but our relationship too. I even loved the small things about him like the way he couldn’t sleep with a blanket over him or the way he always misplaced his phone.

  “Hey, lovebirds,” Emma said, pulling Roman down to sit beside us.

  “Like you guys can talk,” I said, raising my eyebrows at her.

  “So, Luca was a surprise, Huh?” Emma asked and I knew she was trying to feel out Ethan and Roman.

  “I think he still hates us. He’s only trying to get along with us because of Holland,” Roman sad, looking at me.

  I was glad he cared about Holland enough to try to get along with everyone.

  “I think he’s a good addition to the group,” Emma said, squeezing Roman’s hand.

  “We’ll see about that,” Roman said, pulling her on to his lap.

  “I’m going to get a drink. Anyone want one?” I excused myself.

  They all shook their heads no. Walking into the house out of the crowd, I felt someone tap my shoulder. Turning around, I saw Abby Daniels.

  “What do you want?” I said, glaring at her.

  She had been a nightmare to me ever since I had started dating Ethan. She was the last person I wanted to talk to at a party. She was like my own personal party pooper.

  “I need to talk to you about Ethan.”

  “What is your obsession with Ethan, Abby?”

  “Listen, Ethan was the one that told about you and Professor Conrad.”

  She was lying, she had to be. Ethan wouldn’t have done that. This was just another ploy to break us up so she could pounce on him the second out relationship was done.

  “How could you possibly know that?” I asked, folding my arms over my chest.