Chapter 23: Chapter 23

ETHAN

^WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 4^

“The documents are in my apartment.” Ethan parked his car in the basement, and he and Asher made their way up to the elevator.

“I heard Cody is getting married,” Asher said, but Ethan’s mind was elsewhere. On Shay. He hadn’t seen his fiancée since their fight.

He was planning to head over to her apartment later in the evening—probably bringing dinner—because he wanted to talk things out with her. Sleeping alone was something he now realized he hated.

He hated waking up without her, without feeling her warm body pressed up against his.

Waking up with Shay was a totally different feeling than waking up with some random girl. Shay was the only one that made him feel things that he’d never felt before, that tested his every limit.

“Did you hear me?” Asher asked.

“Sorry, bro,” Ethan said, shaking his head, and Asher made some crude comment and started laughing.

Deciding to play along, Ethan laughed too. But honestly, he couldn’t care less what Asher had to say.

His mind drifted to his first time meeting Shay at the restaurant.

***

^SUNDAY, MAY 8^

Ethan was dreading today. He was exhausted from traveling, but he needed to meet up with a few of his friends. Well, they weren’t exactly his friends, but they ~were~ in business together and he wanted to maintain that bond.

Networking was important, and Ethan of all people knew that. Who you chose to do business with was crucial, and any acquaintance could turn into a work relationship.

He’d worked hard to achieve where he was today, and he didn’t want to waste any of it.

After parking his car, Ethan grabbed his iPad and phone and made his way into the restaurant. When he spotted his group of guys already seated, he realized he was a little late. Not that he really cared.

The place was very girly, and a weird place for the guys to meet. They weren’t the type to have brunch together. Their usual hangs were things like driving out of the city to the nearest golf course or going to a club.

“Hey,” Ethan greeted them as he took a seat.

They easily fell into conversation, talking about their jobs and some of the girls they were seeing. They paraded girls all the time, boasting about the girls they bagged, describing how they cheated on their girlfriends and wives.

Ethan wasn’t surprised. He was a serial cheater himself.

He and his ex-girlfriend, Pepper, were together for years. And even though he’d stopped having feelings for her early on in the relationship, he’d kept her close and strung her along. He’d even proposed to her to shut her up.

He never mistreated girls, but he didn’t think that he was the marriage type.

Ethan couldn’t see himself committing to someone for the long haul, being faithful and having kids. He couldn’t see himself ~ever~ wanting that.

“Ash, come on, open up a slot,” he said, then took a sip of his beer. “I want a share in your company.”

Ethan had been trying to convince Asher Price to give him a small stake in his company. A&C was in high demand, and Ethan had read the company appraisal the other day and was impressed by the numbers.

The company was going for an IPO in a year, and by then the shares would be smaller.

The moment his own company had gone public, Ethan’s revenue had quadrupled overnight. And since then he’d been chasing the next high.

Asher and Ethan had been friends for over a year now, and Ethan had seen Asher put a lot of hard work into his company. And now it was paying off.

Ethan had even invested in A&C, but now he wanted more. He wanted a slice of the company, to be a silent partner.

“How about we make things interesting?” Asher said, glancing behind him.

Turning his head, Ethan looked in the same direction as Asher.

He instantly spotted a beautiful girl with skin the color of caramel and curls that bounced as she walked. His member twitched, immediately recognizing how attractive she was. He couldn’t take his eyes off her.

He noticed everyone’s heads turn in her direction. She was so beautiful she commanded the room, her beauty capturing the entire restaurant.

Oblivious to the rest of the world, Ethan watched as the girl took a seat with the person she came with. The way she smiled melted his heart and made her even more beautiful. She was a goddess.

“Whoever sleeps with the girl in light purple,” Asher announced, “will get twenty percent of A&C shares.”

Ethan tore his eyes away from the beautiful girl and looked around the table, noticing for the first time that his friends were all staring at her too.

Shaking his head, he said, “No one else touches her. I’ll do it.”

The rest of the guys nodded in agreement.

“Okay, I bet you twenty percent of my company shares. And if you fail, I need to get something,” Asher said in a smug tone.

“Ten thousand dollars.” Ethan offered his hand, and they shook on it.

Ethan went back to staring at the girl and ignoring the rest of the guys.

He wanted the shares, yes, but he also couldn’t stand the idea of her with anyone else. Especially one of the men at this table, who he knew would use her and dump her.

Not that he was any different. But there was something about her that made him want to protect her. He wanted to get to know her, a feeling he’d never had before.

He tried to pay attention to the guys’ talk, but his mind was still a few tables over. He wasn’t sure how he was going to play this. He didn’t want to just go up to her and her friend and bombard them.

He called the waiter over, then ordered a bottle of wine for their table and paid their bill.

He’d approach her before she left. Hopefully she was just like all the other girls he knew, a sucker for money, and would love to go out on a date with him.

As he sipped on his beer, he started to feel uneasy. He regretted taking Ash up on his bet, of even allowing the bet to happen in the first place. But it was too late now. All he could do was let it slide and ask her out.

He decided to give Asher $10,000 by the end of the day, forfeiting the challenge.

When the beautiful girl and her friend started to walk toward their table, Ethan couldn’t help but gawk at her like a lovesick teenager. Her friend went to stand between Asher and Cody, placing her hands on their backs.

He could feel the air getting thicker as the beautiful girl moved to stand next to him.

“How much was our bill?” she asked. “We didn’t need you to take care of it.”

He could feel her body heat without even touching her.

“Shay!” the flirty friend scolded, glaring at the beauty standing beside him. “Don’t be rude.”

~Her name was Shay.~

Shay rolled her eyes at her annoying friend, and he chuckled under his breath. She was a tough one. And unlike anyone he had ever met.

“We saw two beautiful ladies and we wanted to treat them,” Asher announced on his behalf, and for some reason Shay glared at Asher and wrapped her arms around herself.

She seemed uncomfortable, and all Ethan wanted to do was throw his arms around her and protect her—for reasons he couldn’t understand.

“Thank you, but I really would like to reimburse whoever it was that paid,” she insisted.

“Aren’t you Shay, like from Shy? The Instagram model?” Cody, his best friend asked.

Ethan raised an eyebrow. She was a model. That explained how amazing she looked and why people’s heads turned when they saw her.

“Yeah, she’s Shay,” the other girl said. “And I’m Kourtney. Thank you for the food.… How can we repay you?” she added seductively, looking Ash up and down.

“You could give us your number?” Ethan asked carefully, and Shay turned to look at him, her eyes twinkling. She was even more beautiful up close, the tiny freckles on her face highlighting how perfect she looked.

Almost too perfect. It was obvious that she didn’t have a ton of makeup on, just a little.

She didn’t hide behind all the makeup and contouring that most of the girls he slept with wore, instead allowing her natural skin to glow. She was definitely different from the rest.

Which intrigued him to no end.

“I don’t give my number out,” she replied, giving him no pleasure at all. Yet another way she was different.

“I’m Ethan,” he said, standing up and offering his hand.

She took a step back and stared at it for a split second before shaking it. As their eyes connected, he could almost feel the electricity between them. God, he wanted to get to know her.

“Shay,” she said.

“Now that we know each other, can I get your number?” he asked cheekily.

Pulling her hand from his, she rolled her eyes, then turned away to look at the rest of the guys.

“Thank you for brunch,” she said as she reached for something in her bag. She turned back to the table, and when she brushed up against him by accident, his dick hardened.

He closed his eyes, trying to tame the beast in his trousers.

“I can pay for my own meals, but thank you for the sweet gesture,” she said curtly, shaking her head in disapproval.

He opened his eyes and saw a stack of bills on the table.

“Shay…,” Kourtney whined.

“I believe two hundred dollars will sufficiently cover our bill including tips,” Shay said, ignoring her best friend.

“Join us,” Ethan suggested, hoping that she would. He wasn’t doing it for the shares anymore—not even a little—he genuinely wanted to get to know her. No girl had ever refused him paying for her food before.

Turning toward him, she looked him in the eyes and smiled. He could feel his heart rate speed up.

Shay placed a hand on his chest—almost as if she knew he was a little nervous around her and needed his heart to calm down—but shook her head slowly.

“We have things to do, and I would rather do them now, honestly,” she told him nicely, in a soft tone that made him melt even more.

Putting his hand on top of hers, he stared into her eyes, trying to get a read on her.

“Maybe if you give me your number we could meet up after?” he suggested, giving her a big smile.

“Nope,” Shay said, chuckling under her breath.

She patted his chest, then turned to her friend. “Let’s go Kourtney.”

Kourtney wrote something on a napkin and passed it to Ethan. Taking it, Ethan glanced at the number written there, then focused his attention back on Shay, picking up a slight change in her demeanor.

“Call me if you want to hang.” Kourtney said suggestively, then blew them all a kiss.

He rolled his eyes. Honestly, he found Kourtney repulsive.

When the two girls walked away, Ethan felt a tinge of sadness. He knew he wasn’t going to see Shay again.

He couldn’t believe that he’d been stupid enough to make a bet on such a beautiful woman.

He shook his head—~douchebag, jackass—~then pulled out his phone and transferred $10,000 to Ash.

***

After Shay left, Ethan stared at the front door for the longest time, hoping that it was all a joke, hoping that she would come back.

He prayed that she didn’t really abort the babies. He wanted kids with her.

And as he prayed for her to come back, he racked his brain trying to figure out how she found out about the bet.

“What have I done?” he cried.