“I’ll have the bacon burger all the way and a chocolate shake,” Ethan said, handing the waitress his menu, “And this beautiful lady will have your chicken caeser wrap and a blueberry lemonade. Thank you.”
See, what I mean? He knew what I wanted at every restaurant. I loved it when man remembered little things about you.
“How do you do that?” I asked, shedding my jean jacket.
“Do what?” he asked completely oblivious.
“Remember what I get at every restaurant?”
“I keep a diary with everything about you in it,” he said with a serious expression.
It took a few minutes for what he said to register in my head. Was he serious? I sure hoped not.
“Oh, that’s….sweet?”
Looking at him, I saw his serious look turn into a huge smile and then he started laughing.
“I was totally kidding, Amazing Grace.”
“Thank God,” I said, letting out a sigh of relief.
“I remember everything about you because you’re the most important person in my life. I know everything about you,” he said, folding his hands on the table in front of him.
Not everything, I thought to myself. He still didn’t know he was my first.
“I can think of some things you don’t know,” I told him, pulling my hair up in a messy bun.
“Like what? That you’ve ingested more flaming Cheetos than anyone in the entire world? Or that you secretly watch those super corny soap operas?”
Soap operas were not corny, they were my jam. And flaming Cheetos were the bomb.com.
“Nope, what you don’t know goes deeper than Cheetos and TV Shows.”
“Don’t kid yourself, I know your still own your Team Jacob shirt,” he said dramatically rolling his eyes.
I really did still have it. I even slept in it sometimes.
“I’m serious, Ethan. I do have one secret that I think you need to know. Did you know you took my virginity? I bet you didn’t,” I said, feeling my face burning from embarrassment of admitting, “And this is awkward now. I have no clue why I told you that.”
Hiding my face in my hands, I waited for his response. Hearing him laugh, I peeked at him through my fingers.
“What are you laughing at?” I inquired, giving him a questionable look.
“You thought I didn’t know you were a virgin?” he asked, raising his eyebrows in disbelief.
“Yeah…”
“Baby, you’re the tightest place I have ever been in. I knew you were a virgin and it turned me on. I’m glad I was your first.”
Hearing him talk like that, I squirmed in my seat. It felt like all of walls around us were closing in. I wanted nothing more than to take him home, throw him on my bed, and straddle him.
Yeah, that took a huge turn. At first I was convinced that we weren’t a couple anymore but as the night went on I was starting to wonder if with a connection like ours if we could ever be not couple. All of my hopes and dreams laid in his eyes. I could see my future every time I looked at him but I wasn’t sure if we could work.
I didn’t know if how I felt about him was too good to be true. Every time we got to a good place something would happen and set us back ten steps.
But with the way he was looking at me I knew I was in trouble. He was going home with me and there was nothing I could do about it. I knew it was the right thing to do but I didn’t care.
Wrong was the new right.
Chapter 22
“We’re definitely not back together,” I said, trying to convince my friends and myself.
I think I was trying to convince myself more.
“After that play by play of your escapades last night I’m going to go out on a limb and say you’re a couple,” Maddie said, sipping her orange juice.
“What happened this morning?” Holland inquired, looking at me like I was in major denial.
“He kissed me goodbye and told me he would see me tonight,” I said, looking down at my food.
Yep, we were totally a couple.
Shit, I gave in again but who could blame me. Those eyes. That smile. Those arms. That face.
I lost my own bet but seriously who could blame me. Anyone would fall victim to Ethan Charles’ charms. Anyone.
No, we’re not. Yes, we are. I seriously felt like I had whip lash.
“Earth to Grace,” Emma said, waving her hands in front of my face.
“Huh, what?” I said, snapping out of my thoughts.
“Admit it to yourself,” Holland said, laughing so hard she was wiping tears from her eyes.
“Quit laughing, Bitch. Okay, there’s a ninety nine percent chance that we’re a couple,” I said, shrugging my shoulders.
But that measly one percent had more pull than you would have thought. It was what was keeping me from fully commit to the idea of us being a couple again.
“Speaking of couples, our better halves just walked in,” Emma said, nodding her head toward the door.
I still couldn’t believe how well Roman and West had gotten along Luca. It was like some sort of miracle had occurred.
“Do they see us?” Holland asked, quickly fishing lip gloss from her bag and applying it.
I wasn’t sure how they hadn’t seen us. The only thing separating us from them was a glass door.
“If they had seen us they would have already walked our way,” Maddie said, smiling at Holland’s actions.
She was crazy over Luca and he felt the same. You could see it in his eyes.
“Maybe we should mess with them a little bit,” Emma suggested with a mad scientist look on her face.
If I wasn’t so interested I would have been terrified. The girl was scary.
“I’m listening,” Maddie said, tapping her fingers on the table.
“Let’s get some of the waitress’ to go over to their table and flirt with them. They can’t see us and we can see how they react,” she said as her eyes gleamed with excitement.
“Let’s do it,” we all replied in unison.
“Hey, can you do us a favor?” Maddie asked, waving the waitress over.
She nodded yes and I could tell by the look on her face that she didn’t know what was coming next.
“Our husbands and their boyfriends are at that table,” she said, pointing at them through the glass door, “We didn’t know if maybe you and a few of your friends could go over there and flirt with them. They used to be sluts and we just wanted to make sure that they behave when their out and about with us.”
The word boyfriend made me wince. Sure, I wanted him to be my boyfriend but my heart was sending me mixed signals. I know only one thing for certain we needed to have a talk. A long one.
“Sure, no problem,” the waitress replied, laughing.
She seemed like she had been asked to do this a lot. Women are crazy but not us. Nope, we were completely normal. We were just curious.
She looked thrilled to be a part of the joke but then again we had just asked her to flirt with four ridiculously good looking men. Who wouldn’t be thrilled?
Watching their table through the glass, I saw a group of beautiful waitress’ made their way to them.
“I wish I could hear what they were saying,” Holland said, shooting daggers with her eyes at the group of girls.
She was mad at them for going along with our joke.
“Look at West’s face,” Maddie said, doubling over in laughter.
Looking at West, I saw a look of pure fear contort his face. He looked like he was about to shit a brick.
“Why does he look so terrified?” Holland asked.
“Because he knows if he even looked at another woman Maddie would have his balls turned into earrings,” I told her, being one million percent serious.
Her expression made Emma spray drink from her nose.
“Roman just left the table,” Emma said, standing up and watching him walk away.
“What? Why? Is he afraid of her too?” Holland asked, looking at Emma as if
she was trying to see why he would be terrified of Emma.
Nodding yes, I turned my attention back to the guy’s table.
Sure she looked sweet but you couldn’t let that face and that blonde hair fool you. Emma could scare the daylights out of any man, the girl was brutal.
“Luca just pulled out his phone. Are they exchanging numbers?” Holland asked, watching Luca’s fingers move over the buttons as he talked to the flawless brunette waitress.
That’s sure as hell what it looked like. If he hurt her I was going to hurt him and I could promise him it wasn’t going to be pretty. Hearing a ding, I followed the noise until I saw Holland pull out her phone and start typing.
“Who’s that?” I asked but I already knew who it was judging by the smile on her face.
Luca.
“My faithful boyfriend,” she said, smiling so bright it made the sun look dull.
“What did he say?” Maddie asked not taking her eyes off of West.
She was watching West like a hawk. It was constantly like Maddie had to babysit West. But then again maybe she did.
“That I’m the most beautiful girl he’s ever laid his eyes on,” she said, holding the phone to her chest and staring into space with a dreamy look on her face.
“Before you came to town I thought he was a sociopath,” Emma said, resting her chin on her hand, “Hell, he still might be.”
Holland gave her the stink eye and turned her attention back to her phone.
“Ethan looks so bored right now,” Emma said and I didn’t have to look at her to know she was smiling I could hear it in her voice.
“He’s not even giving them the time of day,” Holland said, nudging me.
“He’s not, is he?” I asked, watching him not watch the girl shamelessly flirting with him.
He was deep in conversation with Luca and the group of flirtatious waitress’ walked away. Roman picked that moment to rejoin they guys. How convenient.
“How nice is it to know that the guys we’re with aren’t total horn dogs?” Maddie asked, getting a laugh from everyone at the table.
“Think we should break it to them that their not the stud muffins’ that they think they are,” Holland said, getting up from her seat and smoothing her yellow sundress.
“Yeah, let’s bring them back down to earth,” I said, mimicking her.
Emma and Maddie did the same and we all made our way into the crowded restaurant. That was the thing about living in a small town there wasn’t that many places to eat, so everything was always packed wall to wall.
Just before we reached their table Roman walked back to the table and took his seat.
“Surprise,” we all said in unison.
Looking at their table, I saw shock appear on their faces. They looked as if they had got caught doing something.
“What- How long have you been here?” West said, trying to play it cool.
“Long enough,” Maddie said with a pissed off expression.
She was getting way too much enjoyment out of it. I couldn’t blame her, it was fun watching them squirm.
“They just walked up and talked to us but, Angel, can you really blame them? I mean look at us,” he said, pointing to Ethan, Luca, Roman, and then himself.
The way he showed himself off had a little more oomph than the rest. Of course, I mean it was West. That boy loved himself.
“We asked them to talk to you,” she said, putting her hands on her hips.
“Is this your way of telling us you want to see other people?” West asked, trying to do what he does best when he thinks someone is pissed off at him, distract people with his kickass sense of humor, his words not mine. I promise.
“Shut up you idiot,” Maddie said, walking over and sitting on his lap.
“She loves me,” he told everyone, kissing her cheek.
“Only God knows why,” Luca said, duking to dodge a piece of bread being aimed for his head by West.
Holland and Emma ran to their guys, sat on their laps, and kissed them. I stood there completely frozen, not knowing what to do next. Doing what seemed like the logical thing, I pulled out the extra chair and took a seat next to Ethan.
The vibe seemed to change after that. No one really knew how to react.
“What’s wrong? When I left this morning I thought everything was fine,” Ethan said, looking into my eyes as if his answer was there.
“Nothing, we just need to talk. Maybe we could go for a walk of something when you finish eating?” I asked, feeling my stomach do flips.
“Let’s go. I’m not hungry,” he said, getting up and pulling money from his wallet.
Tossing it on the table, he said goodbye to everyone and grabbed my hand. Walking out of the door, he squeezed my hand.
“What did you want to talk about?” he asked, slipping his free hand in his pocket.
“Us.”
“What about us?”
“What are we, Ethan?”
“I hope we’re boyfriend and girlfriend,” he said, coming to a stop and turning his body to face me.
“I don’t know if that’s the best idea right now,” I answered, being completely honest.
“Is this about Talon?” he asked, releasing my hand.
My hand automatically felt cold without his touch.
“Yes and no.”
Huffing out a huge breath, he brought his hands up and ran his fingers furiously through it.
“Which one it is, Grace? It can’t be both.”
“It’s about Talon somewhat but it’s also about your future.”
“You’re my future, Baby. You know that,” he said, stepping closer to me.
“I’m talking about football, Ethan. I don’t want to be a distraction. You need to think about your mom and Lucy, they need you. You need to keep your mind on your grades and football.”
“Are we over for good?” he asked, looking defeated.
“No, we’ll take this slow. Let’s not rush it. Just let it flow naturally. Let’s not put any labels on it until your grades are back up,” I told him, running my hand down his face.
“I love you,” he said, looking into my eyes with enough passion to ignite flames between us.
Pulling away from him, I just stared at him. Had he not heard a word I just said?
“Ethan, you can’t say that,” I yelled, shaking my head.
“Why not?”
“Because we’re taking it slow remember?”
“I’ll take it as slowly as you want but there’s never going to be a day I don’t tell you I love you. Never.”
Sucking in a breath, I felt goose bumps break out all over my skin from hearing his words. I knew he loved me, I felt it whenever he was around and even when he wasn’t around but hearing him say it was going to make it near impossible to take things slowly.
I was totally screwed.
Chapter 23
I was in hell. Literal hell. I was mid tutor session with Ethan and the evil bastard decided to shut the bedroom door, locking it, and shed his shirt. Let me tell you something, football does a body good.
“What are you doing?” I asked, attempting to direct my gaze anywhere but his rock hard abs.
It didn’t work.
“I know I said I was willing to take things slow but I need you, baby,” he said, climbing on the bed, “Aren’t you tired of stringing me along?”
He looked like he wanted to devour me. I wanted that too, so bad.
“I’ve brought my grades up and focused on football, so I think I need a reward. What do you think?”
I wanted to lie. I wanted to lie so bad. I wanted to play hard to get and make him think I didn’t want him but I knew my body would betray me. I stood no chance.
If I tried to stand my legs would give out. If he got closer he would be able to hear my heart beat and if he could read my mind he would just how much I wanted him. How much I wanted us.
I just needed to figure out how to trust him again. He should have come clean after turning Ta
lon in, not let me hear it from someone else.
“I know you want to feel me on top of you, in you. Come on, Baby, give in,” he said, slipping his hand under my dress.
Feeling my skin tingle, I wanted to push his hand away but I couldn’t. How could I deny him something that was his? Something that had always been his.
Me.
His hands traced the lacey border of my underwear, begging for permission to enter.
“I bet you’re so wet for me,” he said, pulling the bright pink lace down my thighs and discarding them on the floor.
He was right, I was. My body was aching to feel him inside of me. Throwing caution to the wind, I wrapped my hands around my neck, pulled him closed, and kissed him.
His tongue wrapped around mine while his fingers knotted themselves up in my hair.
Feeling his finger slip inside of me, I let a sensual moan. He pumped his finger in and out of me and just when I thought I was about to have my first mind blowing orgasm since that night at the lake, he pulled out. Leaving me high and dry.
Watching him get up and pull his shirt back over his head, I stared at him in shock. What in the hell was he doing? We had unfinished business to attend to.
“What’s going on?” I asked clearly confused.
“We’re done here,” he said, smirking.
“Um, my body says differently,” I said, covering myself up.
“I’ve been on your time, Baby. Now we play by my rules. See you tonight,” he said, kissing my lips and walking out the door.
My body was begging for the sweet release that he didn’t robbed me of. If he wanted to play dirty than he needed to know that two could play that game. He was about to be put back on my time.
Going in the bathroom, I looked in the mirror and saw that my cheeks were flushed, my hair was sweaty, and my lipstick was smeared. Cleaning myself up, I made my way into the living room and saw Holland, Emma, and Maddie gathering everything to take to the lake for Luca’s birthday party.
How weird is it that just a few months ago we hated Luca and now we were throwing him a birthday party? People can fool you. The ones you thought were the worst actually turn out to be some of the best. And that’s just what Luca Davis had done. I had to admit he shocked the shit out of me.
Amazed (Tempted Book 3) Page 11