Chapter 13
ETHAN
T he first thing I notice upon sitting down in class after practically fleeing Dante’s sight is that my ass hurts.
I shift in my seat and pull out my laptop so I can take some notes.
It’s difficult to focus with my ass feeling both sore and tingly.
I remember the way Dante repeatedly spanked me and ate my ass out last night, or…
this morning? I’m not entirely certain what time it was.
The last few days feel like a blur, but a really good one.
But what happened before class is crystal clear—not the kissing, but Dante literally punching a guy in the face.
Admittedly, hearing the other guy call me names and claim that I can’t give Dante what he wants was upsetting, but I’m not so sure punching him in the face was necessary.
At the same time, the way Dante defended me, so intense and protective, made my entire body hot. I’ve never had anyone protect me the way he has, from shielding me from the car bomb to defending me against that asshole.
Still, it wasn’t that long ago that Dante was the asshole I needed defending from. In some ways, he still is an ass, but as of this morning…he’s my ass.
I’m suddenly struck by the fact that I said yes to being Dante Romano’s boyfriend.
After only a few days of sex.
Maybe there’s something seriously wrong with me.
“So let me get this straight…Dante protected you from a car accident, which you don’t know all the details about.
You two went off somewhere, fucked, ended up fucking again at his place, he asked you to be his boyfriend, and then he punched a guy for calling you names and saying you’re straight?
” Nathan asks, clearly overwhelmed by everything I dumped on his lap over the last ten minutes.
“Yes,” I reply with a nod. Granted, I haven’t told him the truth about the “accident” or Dante and his family, but now he knows the most important parts.
I’m not sure yet if telling him will hinder or help things.
Nathan stares at me for a minute. “Uh, dude. That’s a fucking lot in just a few days.”
I groan and let my head fall into my hands. “I know! That’s why I’m here to talk to you about it.”
“Right, right. I…shit, Ethan. I know better than anyone what it’s like to be whipped up in someone and get into it too fast, but…Dante? He’s dangerous.”
I look back up at him. Nathan’s face is pinched with concern.
“He is, but…he also protected me,” I remind him.
The tension in the room is thick, but I don’t feel any judgment from Nathan, just worry.
“He’s dangerous, he’s dark, and he’s honestly kind of an asshole. All those things are true, but for some reason I like it,” I admit.
Nathan chuckles and shakes his head. “Of course you do, who doesn’t like that shit? It’s hot as fuck, but for the long term?” He raises his brows. “Do you really know him like that?”
My eyes sting, and I try to ignore it. “Maybe not, but I want to know him better. I think I know him better than most people already.”
“Damn, you sound lost in it already. You haven’t even been broken up with Lena for that long. I know you weren’t actually into her, but…” He trails off.
“I love her,” I insist, nearly snapping at him. “Maybe not in the way she needs or wants, but I cared about her the entire time, and I still do.”
“Jesus, yeah, I get that…and that’s my point. You’re already getting hung up on a guy after everything you went through with her. You sure it’s not just some first-time dick thing?” he asks.
“First-time…dick?” I ask, blinking at him.
“You know, the first time you’re sleeping with a guy, getting dicked down, whatever. You’re essentially a virgin with your first guy. That clouds your brain real fucking bad,” Nathan says.
My face falls a bit. “That’s true. Maybe I’m out of my depth with this.”
“Hey, now, I’m not talking you out of this, I’m just telling you to be careful, Ethan,” he insists.
I nod slowly. “I’m so confused, scared…because of him, but also about losing him. I know that in the grand scheme of things this has barely started and I barely know him, but I feel like if I don’t at least try, I’m going to regret it.”
“Well, there ya go. You might regret it if you do try, and you’ll definitely regret it if you don’t, so there’s nothing to lose,” he says slowly. “I hope. If he gets you into some shit that gets you hurt, though, Ethan…I’ll hurt him.”
My eyes widen. “Nathan, it’s fine. You won’t have to do that. Besides, you couldn’t?—”
“I can’t kick the shit outta him? Maybe not, but I can try. You’re my best friend. I want you to be happy, and if he hurts you, we’ll have a problem.” Nathan leans forward a bit.
My ears flush. “Ah, thanks, man. I know you always have my back,” I promise him. “There’s more to all this, but it’s not really my story to tell.”
“Alrighty, well, I’ll be here when you want to talk about it,” Nathan says slowly, and leans back in his seat.
It’s quiet for a moment, I don’t know what else to say about Dante, at least what I should say, and I’d rather not answer questions about the sex. With Nathan, he’s either going to move on from the subject or ask me what it was like.
Thankfully, he seems like he’s leaning toward the former.
“Do you wanna order some takeout?” he asks.
“Yeah, that sounds good.”
While Nathan takes his phone out to open the app and pick something, I debate pulling mine out. I haven’t talked to Lena since the breakup. Neither of us has texted the other to see how we’re doing.
There’s a part of me that wants to message her and ask how she is, but I realize what I really want is to talk to her about Dante.
The last thing she deserves is her ex-boyfriend messaging her for emotional support. So I don’t text her, and just spend the next couple hours eating and hanging out with Nathan.
It’s only eight at night when I get home. I know I have multiple texts from Dante that I haven’t answered. It would be easy to say I’m not ignoring him and I’m just busy, but I know the truth. I still don’t know what to say about what happened this morning.
But in very much Dante fashion, when I get to my apartment, Dante is leaning against the wall beside the door, his arms folded and a suspicious look on his face.
“Are you avoiding me?” he asks.
“Are you still stalking me?” I reply, trying to avoid his question.
He tilts his head as I step forward to unlock the door. “I expected to bring you home from class, but you weren’t there.”
“I went to Nathan’s,” I explain.
“You should have told me.”
“I didn’t think about it.”
Tension is quickly building between us as I step inside and let him follow me.
I take my shoes and coat off, watching as he does the same.
His broad shoulders slip out of his jacket, his strong arms hugged by the long-sleeved shirt he’s wearing.
It would be so easy to get distracted…and, I realize, to distract him.
I step closer to him and allow myself to give into the desire to place my hands on his shoulders and caress the neckline of his shirt with my thumbs.
“There could still be someone after you,” he reminds me with a frown. “It’s dangerous. You need to tell me when and where you go somewhere.”
“Are you going to tell me when and where you go somewhere, then?” I ask. The words come out of me in a rush, far more clipped than I intended.
Dante eyes my face. “I’m not the one in danger.”
“That’s a lie. You’re in even more danger than me, you simply think you can handle yourself and I can’t,” I say. I start to slip my hands off his shoulders, but Dante grabs one of my wrists and holds it where it is.
“You can’t. Not with this. They tried to kill you by putting a fucking bomb in your car, or don’t you remember being tackled to the ground?
” His voice is a low growl that makes my hair stand on end.
He lets go of my hand and I pull it away, stepping back a couple feet.
I’m about to open my mouth to speak, but he pulls his shirt off over his head.
Dante tosses his shirt to the side, revealing his scarred and tattooed torso. “Remember these?” he asks me, and runs his fingers along still-healing cuts that he received while saving me, wounds that I so tenderly washed the morning after.
“If I hadn’t gotten to you when I did, they’d be a lot fucking worse, Ethan.”
My throat tightens and my eyes sting with tears yet again. I’m so sick of feeling so vulnerable.
“This isn’t about that!” I blurt out. “This morning, I…” I can’t get the words out of my mouth.
Dante’s expression shifts into one of confusion, and then he steps closer. “This morning…right, what happened with Victor. I figured it freaked you out with how quickly you ran off, but I don’t know why.”
“You don’t know why?” I laugh weakly. “You punched a guy in the face. If he hadn’t left, who knows what else might have happened? I know he was calling me names and assuming things about me, about us, but was it really that serious?”
“He’s Victor Greivan. He’s part of the family that’s been threatening your life,” Dante says. “He might not have threatened your life, but no one gets away with talking that shit about my boy.”
My face flushes and my stomach feels just as warm and tingly as it seems to always feel around him. “He’s one of them?” I ask rhetorically. Dante nods, a dark and possessive look in his eyes.
“It scared me,” I admit. “I’m not scared of you , but it was a lot. I don’t understand the violence on either side, but especially from you. It seemed like you enjoyed it a little bit.” I shove my hands into my pockets and look away from him.
“I did,” he admits. “I hate it and I love it all at the same damn time. It’s just how I am, how I’ve always been. I don’t hurt people who don’t deserve it, but…sometimes I want to.”
Dante’s words should make me feel even more unnerved, but I find that his honesty makes me feel more at ease.
“Seeing you defend me against Victor was frightening, but there was also a part of me that liked it,” I admit. “I liked seeing you get so worked up over someone shit-talking me.”