Chapter 10

"You're actually kidding." My breath hitches in my throat as I step off the small boat that took us to Ethan's house.

"Do you like it? It's one of my favorite properties in Laglio." He stares at the house with me. He says it as if everyone just has multiple properties.

"It's beautiful. I've never seen architecture like this. You grew up living in houses like this?" I ask in awe.

Two of the people who were on the boat with us grab our bags and head into the house.

"Yeah..." he bites his lip. "But I'm still a regular guy." I laugh at that.

"I'm so tired. The flight felt like it would never end." I groan, Ethan nodding in agreement.

"It's 8 now. Let's go to sleep. Maybe we can get lunch later when we wake up." He suggests before we walk down the path to the house.

If you think the outside was nice, the inside is a whole different vibe. It screams "I'm rich! And you're a poor bitch!". At least that's the vibe I get from it. It's beautiful.

"Do you ever think about how lucky you were? Growing up?" I ask, out of the blue. I hurriedly correct myself. "Not to be rude, or anything. I'm not trying to say you had a great childhood either or anything. Sorry if that came off bad." I dip my head low.

"Don't worry about it, I know you didn't mean any harm." He laughs. "But no, I didn't realize that I probably lived differently than others until I got to high school, if I'm being honest. Everyone I grew up around came from similar backgrounds than me. I got whatever I wanted, especially if my parents were arguing because they wanted their kids to pick sides. So I used it to my advantage." He shrugs.

"So in conclusion, you were a snobby, rich, white child." We both laugh in unison.

"Yup." He emphasizes the 'p'. "But not anymore." He states, then takes my hand and leads me upstairs.

"Yeah, now you're just a rich, white child. Minus the snobby part." I reach up with my other hand and ruffle his hair.

"You mean man." He corrects me.

"You're a man?" I joke as we reach the top of the stairs. He smirks and let's go of my hand, pinning me against the wall. He wraps his fingers around my throat, holding me gently but the dominance he asserts feels overpowering.

"Do I need to show you?" He asks, a small smile playing on his face. I gulp. Just as I'm about to answer, the two people who brought our bags in, come out of a room.

"Sir, everything is rea- oh! Oh we're so sorry for interrupting." One of the men say, his eyes wide in shock. The other one quickly turns around so he isn't facing us anymore.

"It's my apologies, truly. What were you saying before?" Ethan stuffs his hands in his pockets.

Oh my god, this is so embarrassing. I turn my head away from the two men, hoping they don't see my face.

"The room is ready for you two. We left your luggage by the bed, we don't want to intrude on your personal things." The man who spoke before says. "Give us a call whenever you need to go somewhere. We'll be right over."

"Thank you. Take the rest of the morning off. We'll probably just go out for lunch or dinner. Regardless, I'll call to let you know." Ethan says and as the men walk by, he hands them cash.

"I'm so embarrassed." I say as Ethan pulls me into the room. "How are we supposed to face them again?" My cheeks heats up at the thought of having to see those two guys again.

"They are professional. Trust me. I'm going to act like that never happened though." Ethan laughs, pulling me onto the bed.

"Mmm, me too." I say just when my phone's alarm suddenly goes off. I take it out my pocket and see it's my alarm to take my birth control.

I press dismiss and then tilt my head, trying to think. I gasp, face palming myself.

"Oh my god I'm such an idiot!" I groan.

"What's wrong?" Ethan wraps his arms around me, pulling me onto his chest.

"I didn't bring my birth control." I huff out a breath, a little upset.

"It's okay. I brought condoms." He says seriously. My face heats up and I bury my face in his chest, laughing a little.

"That's not the point. Birth control isn't just for not getting pregnant, you know that right?"

"What? I thought it's just so you don't get pregnant." He plays with my hair.

"Why would I be taking birth control before I met you?" I laugh. "I was a virgin." I turn the alarm off, there's no point in having it on if I don't even have anything to take.

"Hmm. I never thought about that. We can go later to a pharmacy and see if we can buy some. Unless you want to go now? Don't you take it everyday?" He asks.

"I'm too tired to go right now. I'm sure if I just take it later it'll be fine..." I trail off. I hope.

"Mkay. Let's sleep then." He removes his hand from mine and closes his eyes. I lift my head up to look at him and smile.

"Goodnight." I mumble, laying my head back on his chest and slowly drifting off to sleep.

~~

I feel something move underneath me and I awake at the small movement. I open my eyes and blink for a couple seconds before my vision turns clear. I look down at Ethan and a smile comes over his face.

"Sorry for waking you. I was trying to fix the pillows." He kisses my forehead. I smile down at him before rolling over so that I lay next to him instead.

"It's okay. What time is it anyways?" I yawn.

"It's 3:32 pm." He informs me.

"Oh wow. Thank you. Have you been up long?" I ask as he rests his hand on my cheek.

"No, probably about 10 minutes." He replies.

"You should have woken me up." I laugh. He shakes his head, rolling his eyes.

"I'm not going to just wake you up." He says. "Anyways, I'm hungry, are you?"

"Yeah, I'm starving."

"Okay, cool. I'll call Kai and tell him to be on his way." Ethan hums, grabbing his phone and sitting up.

I assume Kai is the guy from earlier. I get up off of the bed and lay my suitcase on the floor. I sit in front of it and open it up. The first thing I see is the present my friends gave me. I hear Ethan exchanging words in Italian so I take a peek at what's inside. I gasp quietly and quickly close the bag again, starting to try to bury it under my other clothes. It is lingerie, a few different outfits. Heat rushes to my cheeks and I grab whatever regular outfit is on top of my clothes and quickly zip it back up.

I can't believe they did that! Oh my god, the people at the airport who check your luggage had to have seen that. How embarrassing. I cover my face just thinking about it.

"Kai will be on his way soo- are you okay?" Ethan comes over to me, sitting on the edge of the bed where I am.

"Huh?" I quickly take my face from my hands. "Yeah, I'm okay. Just thinking." I laugh. He smiles and nods.

"Okay."

"Where are we going?" I ask excitedly. "Is it okay to wear this?" I hold up the outfit I just grabbed from my suitcase. It's a pink romper with white polka dots.

"Oooh, that will look really pretty on you." Ethan grins. "And we're going to a restaurant not too far from here. It's name is Satin." My face heats up at his comment.

"Okay, cool." I nod. He lets out a sigh and just watches me, a small smile playing on his face.

"What?" I laugh, standing up.

"Nothing." He sits up straight. I stand in between his legs and wrap my arms around his shoulders. "You're just so mesmerizing. I don't ever want to take my eyes off of you." He puts his hands on my hips.

"You're so sweet. You're so handsome. I think you should be named the sexiest man alive on one of those 'People' magazines." He laughs at that. I lean down and place a short kiss on his lips.

"Thank you." I whisper, leaning my forehead against his.

"For what?" Ethan asks, pulling my hips and making me sit down next to him.

"Literally just...everything. You know? Since I met you...you've just been taking care of me. You make all these big gestures for me, like taking me to Italy! It's not even registering to me that I'm in a whole different country right now." I shake my head, cupping his face. "I just want you to know that I appreciate everything you've done for me. Even if I've told you to stop buying things or got overwhelmed at times, I really am grateful. Though I can't pay you back for everything that you've done for me, because I don't have money like that, I can make up for it in different ways."

"I'll do anything for you." I whisper. "Anything you need, just say it. I'm here for you. I love you. Thank you for taking care of me."

I embrace him in a hug, sSo many emotions running through me. He locks me in his arms and I smile.

He makes me feel safe.

"I love you too." He places a kiss on the top of my head. "You make me so happy. I do things for you because I love you and I always want to see you smile. For you, this is all worth it." My heart melts. This guy really knows his way around words.

"You're so cute." I pull away and peck his lips. "Okay, we need to get ready now." Ethan laughs, nodding in agreement.

I stand up, grabbing my romper, and strip of all my clothes except for my bra and underwear. I hold up my outfit, trying to see which way it goes. Suddenly my romper is getting snatched out of my hands, and thrown onto the bed. Ethan pushes me until I'm gently pinned against the wall. I look up at him, eyes wide.

"E-Ethan." I blush. "We already wasted some time. Kai will be here any minute." I say, my voice a whisper. He smirks at me, eyes turning dark.

He swoops down and leaves little kisses down my neck and along my collarbone.

"Ethan." I repeat.

"No time spent with you is wasted time. You're so beautiful I can't help myself." He mumbles against my skin, trailing kisses on the exposed parts of my breast, I let out a small moan.

"Maybe we should stay inside tonight. We can go to this restaurant tomorrow." He suggests, kissing me on my lips.

My knees feel like jelly and I wrap my arms around Ethan's shoulders to steady myself. Staying here doesn't feel like a bad plan right now. He forces his tongue past my lips and he groans. A loud horn from outside interrupts us, making us both pull away. Just then, Ethan's phone starts ringing.

"Shit." He mumbles, grabbing his phone and answering the call. "Hello? Okay, we'll be out in a few minutes." He says then hangs up.

"Kai is here. Sorry." He pouts, earning a laugh from me.

"Don't apologize. I don't mind." I smile, grabbing my clothes from the bed. "Let's get dressed, quick."

I put my outfit on, going into the bathroom and putting some water on my hair to touch up a few of my curls. I apply a clear lipgloss and throw on a pair of sandals to complete my look. I walk out the bathroom to see Ethan buttoning up his shirt. He turns around to see me and his eyes beam.

"You are gorgeous." He walks over and kisses my forehead.

"Thank you." I smile. "You're as dashing as ever." I say. He grins as he grabs a coat. I quickly put on lotion and we walk out the house.

Kai is waiting on the boat, waving once he spots us.

"You guys ready?" He asks in his thick accent. I nod.

"Yessir." Ethan wraps his arm around my shoulders as we take off.

The boat ride wasn't long to get to the restaurant. In the 20 minutes it took to get there, Ethan pointed out some cool things to me and we took pictures together. I definitely have to go print these out when we get back home.

"This is our stop. There's only about a 5 minute walk to the restaurant okay? Sai come arrivarci? Chiamami quando torni, ma prenditi il ​​tuo tempo."

("Do you know how to get there? Call me when you're on your way back, but take your time.")

"Sì, staremo bene. Hai già mangiato? I'll order you something to eat."

("Yes, we'll be fine. Have you eaten already?")

I always heard people say that when someone you like speaks a different language, it's hot. Hearing Ethan speak Italian has definitely made me realize that is 100% true.

"Spend your money on your beautiful girlfriend, not me. I'll be fine." Kai waves him off. My ears perk up at hearing English. At the realization of what he said, my face heats up.

"Alright, bye Kai." Ethan waves before lacing our fingers together. He starts to walk off, looking around.

"What did you guys talk about?" I ask.

"Just if we knew how to get there and if he ate dinner." Ethan shrugs and I nod.

We make small talk as walk to the restaurant. When we get there, I see there's a long line. Ethan walks up to front though, right to the host who isn't seating people.

"Ciao, prenotazione per Agosti."

("Hello, reservation for Agosti.")

The server checks her paper and nods, beckoning for us to follow her. Ethan leads me into the restaurant and I'm immediately hit with the smell of food. It's so nice in here, and everything smells delicious. I look at peoples plates as we walk by them and already my mouth is watering. We reach a table and Ethan pulls out a seat for me. I thank him, sitting down. He sits across from me while him and the host exchange a few words before she runs off.

"I ordered us some drinks. Is that okay? Some wine." He says "It will pair well with our food." I nod.

I don't usually drink, but I'm in Italy for crying out loud. I'll step out of my comfort zone because, in all honesty, when will I be able to come back out here?

"That's fine." I smile.

"Look at the menu, see what sounds good to you. If you can't decide I can order for us. I know some really good dishes." He says, I nod and open up the menu.

Everything is in Italian, with very little English translation. Maybe it's because this isn't a huge tourist spot. I chew on the inside of my cheek, furrowing my eyebrows.

"Can you order for me?" I ask. "I'm sure everything will taste good. I just don't know what it says." We both laugh.

"Of course. Do you have any allergies?" He asks but I shake my head.

"At least not that I know of." I laugh.

"Okay, perfect."

Our waitress comes with a bucket of ice and a bottle of wine sticking out from it. She places two glasses on the table. Her and Ethan talk for a moment before she runs off.

"After we eat, do you want to walk around? I want to take you to some of the stores around here. Just to look though- I won't buy you anything if you don't want me to." He rolls his eyes, making me laugh.

"Sure. I like shopping, I want to see what it's like here." I smile. I wonder if their styles are a lot different from the states. Since we got here, I did notice that everyone dresses up nicely.

"You like shopping but don't like when I buy you things?" Ethan deadpans.

"That's because you're my boyfriend and I feel bad. Plus, all you want to buy is designer things, and I want you to spend your money on yourself. Not me." He shakes his head.

"Spending money on you is spending money on me. I like you, I like seeing you happy, so I spend money and get to see you happy. Now, we're both happy. We can both win." I smile. "I'm not even going to ask you anymore. I'm just going to start buying everything."

"You didn't even ask before!" I say, earning a small chuckle from him.

"Oh, our food is here." Ethan perks up.

Our waitress comes and places three dishes on the table. She clasps her hands and looks at me.

"C'è qualcos'altro che posso offrirti?"

("Is there anything else I can get for you?")

I blink, staring at her. I have no idea what she just said. She waits for my response and I quickly look at Ethan. He just smirks at me, his eyes telling me I'm alone on this one. I just put on a big smile and shake my head, hoping for the best.

"Okay, fantastico. Godere!" She says and walks away.

("Okay great, enjoy!")

"You are so mean." I pout at Ethan, who is wheezing at this point.

"The look...you should have seen your face right now." He holds his stomach as he tries to recompose himself.

"Stop it." I whine. "What did she say?" My shoulders drop. I hope I didn't embarrass myself.

"She just asked if there was anything we needed. What you did was fine." He says once he calms down.

"I should have said a boyfriend who would save me in situations like this." I huff as he grins.

"I'm sorry baby." He takes one of my hands and kisses it. "Anyways, let's eat. I got 3 different things so you can really get a feel of the restaurant. Dig in."

I pick up my fork, and twirl some noodles from the first dish onto it. I put it into my mouth, immediately feeling at peace.

"Mmm." I moan, closing my eyes. "This is so good."

"If you make that sound one more time, we're going to have to go home." Ethan says, my eyes immediately flying open. A pool of heat rushes from my stomach to my cheeks. A smirk plays on his lips and I suppress the thoughts that come to mind.

"Be quiet." I mumble, making Ethan laugh. I think he gets a kick out of seeing me flustered.

We eat the rest of our food together, having a good time. He was right about the wine. It did pair really well with the food. We finish the entire bottle together. It has to be the best thing I've ever drank. It's probably super expensive.

"Man, I'm so stuffed." I hold my stomach. "It was so good." Ethan looks up at me and smiles.

"Yeah. 4 meals here at the table, and I can't even eat one of them right now." Ethan shakes his head.

"Um," I frown, counting the plates. There's only 3. "how did you get 4?" I laugh. A small smirk plays on his lips.

"1,2,3," he points at each plate. "4." He then points at me. My face heats up and I swoop my head down.

"Be quiet." I mumble, making him laugh.

"Are you ready to go walk around?" He asks me.

"Yeah, let's go." I say, excited to see what Italy has to offer.

(This is such a late chapter, but school is really getting stressful rn bc of finals coming up. I'm so sorry! I'm trying my best :(