Amazed (Tempted Book 3) (15 page)

My feet were aching. My back was killing me. I had play-doh in my hair and my heart still hadn’t healed. Kicking off my shoes, I fell onto the couch. I loved my job, I really did, but ever since school let out a few weeks ago I started working full time to keep myself busy. I never really realized how crazy kids actually were but I was quickly informed. They were monsters, cute monsters, but monsters none the less.

They did distract me from thoughts of Ethan during the day but at night his memory came back with a vengeance. His face bombarded my thoughts and his voice was all I could hear. It was complete torture.

Looking down at the ring he gave me, I thought of happier times. I wasn’t sure why I hadn’t taken it off but I just couldn’t part with it. To me it was a reminder that no matter how cold he was to me he loved me at one time. Really loved me.

“Quit staring at that ring,” Holland said, moving my legs so she could sit beside me.

“I can’t,” I told her, playing with the ring.

“Why do men suck?” she asked, pulling her long hair into a ponytail.

“I don’t think they all suck. I think it’s just the ones we pick,” I told her, yawning.

Holland looked at me and started laughing hysterically.

“What’s so funny?”

“We’re like old women. You’re always falling asleep and I never get out of pajamas. We need a crazy night out. We need to dance on tables and drink until we vomit,” she said, talking with her hands.

“Yeah, that’s what we need,” I said, playing along with her, “So, what movie should we watch tonight?”

“I wasn’t kidding.”

“Sure, you weren’t. Also pizza or Chinese?”

“Grace, I’m serious. Let’s go be carefree and happy, even if it’s only for a little while,” she said, smiling, really smiling for the first time in weeks.

Maybe she was right. Maybe that was exactly what we needed. We deserved a little bit of fun after getting our hearts broken. Knowing Ethan he was probably cuddled up to some other girl right now. That’s how he dealt with break ups. Me? Well I dealt with them the old fashioned way pajama pants, Netflix, and take out. Lots of take out.

“You’re right,” I said, feeling a sudden surge of energy run through my body.

Getting up, I made my way to my room to get ready for our night out on the town.

“And please wash the Play-doh out of your hair,” Holland called, slamming her door shut.

Laughing, I closed my door and hopped in the shower.

When we got to the party, Ethan was the first person I seen. He was sitting on the hood of his car downing a beer and from the looks of him it wasn’t his first or even his second for that matter.

“He looks like shit,” Holland said, trying to make me feel better about seeing him.

I appreciated what she was doing, I really did, but he didn’t look like shit. He always looked good even with messy hair and blood shot eyes. Tearing my eyes away from him, I rushed walked past him like I hadn’t seen him sitting there.

“Hey, Grace,” Ethan called, making me stop in my tracks.

I had often laid in bed and imagined him saying my name. It felt just as good as I remembered. Closing my eyes, I took a deep breath and then turned on my heels to face him.

“Hey, Ethan. I didn’t see you there,” I said, feeling my knees buckle at just the sight of him that close up.

“Drop the bullshit. You saw me and please stop sending me pictures of you. We’re over,” he said, smirking.

Pictures? I had no clue what he was talking about. I hadn’t even tried to call him, so why would I send him pictures of myself.

“What are you talking about?” I asked completely oblivious to what was going on.

“Is that really how you’re going to play it?”

“Again I have no clue what you’re talking about. I haven’t sent you any pictures.”

“Really? Who else would have naked pictures of you? You even sent it with the caption “Look what you’re missing.” Grace, I’m not an idiot. This is some sick ploy to get me back. What are you trying to do? Seduce me with your body? It’s nothing I haven’t seen before,” he said, bring the long neck bottle up to his lips and taking a swig.

“You’re an asshole, Ethan. I always thought you were a good person but you keep proving me wrong over and over again. Drink up, that will make your mom proud,” I said, standing up to him.

“Don’t talk about my mother,” he said, narrowing his eyes at me.

Shaking my head, I turned to walk away.

“Why are you still wearing that ring?” Ethan yelled, causing me to stop once again.

I wanted to tell him to remember how good we were at one time but after what had just went down I wasn’t sure if I wanted to remember anything about him.

“I have no idea. Take it,” I said, pulling the ring off and throwing it on the ground.

Walking past the bonfire, I searched for the keg. I needed to get so drunk I couldn’t remember anything. I didn’t even want to remember Ethan’s name. I wanted him to be like a complete stranger.

Seeing the red solo cups, I knew I was in the right place. Picking one up, I threw it back never coming up for air.

“Whoa, easy tiger,” Holland said, taking the empty cup out of my hand and tossing it.

“I hate him,” I said, breaking into a full on ugly cry in front of everyone.

“No, you don’t,” she said, wiping my eyes.

“I know but I want to,” I cried on to her shoulder.

“Suck it up,” she said, backing up from me.

“Don’t be mean,” I said, dropping my lip.

“I’m not. Consider this tough love. Don’t let him ruin your night,” she said, knocking sense into me.

She was right. I was going to have fun, damn it. I mean I was really going to try. I wanted to have fun that had to count for something, right?

“He didn’t mean what he said. He was drunk,” she said, rubbing her hand in a circular motion on my back.

“I don’t know what pictures he’s talking about,” I said, trying to remember if had ever even taken a nude picture.

I knew for a fact I hadn’t, so he had to be talking about someone else’s pictures. One of his many admirers was probably the body in the pictures.

“He’s drunk off of his ass and doesn’t know what he’s saying. Let’s dance and forget about him,” she said, pulling me toward the dance floor and away from the group of people enjoying my emotional breakdown.

Moving to the music, I forgot all of my troubles. I wanted it to last as long as it could, so I danced until I couldn’t dance anymore and drank until I couldn’t even stand up straight.

Opening my eyes, I looked around and let out a breath when I saw I was in my room and fully clothed. Throwing my comforter back, I got up and stretched. All of a sudden I had strong stabbing pain in my head. Yep, definitely hung over.

Great.

Walking into the kitchen, I saw Holland eating scrambled eggs with cheese. She was dressed and looked as fresh as a daisy.

“Why do you look like Cinderella after a night of drinking and I look like a meth addict?” I asked, pouring myself a cup of coffee and chugging it.

I hated black coffee but I didn’t really feel like fixing it all up.

“Maybe because I only sipped on one beer and you drank a whole keg,” she said, putting her hand on her hip and giving me an “I told you so” look.

“Okay, Mom,” I said, looking down at my ring but then I realized it was gone and panic started to set in, “Where’s my ring?”

“You don’t remember?” she asked, looking at me like I was an insane person.

“If I didn’t I wouldn’t have asked. Oh no, did I pawn it?” I asked completely horrified.

“What? No, you gave it back to Ethan.”

“Did I embarrass myself?”

“No, he was a complete asshole to you. He accused you of sending him naked pictures as a way to get him back,” she said, tucking her hair behind her ear and biting her lip.

Naked pictures of me? I had never taken a naked picture. Hell, I barley took any kind of picture. I had to talk to Ethan and see these pictures.

Excusing myself, I went in my room to get ready to see Ethan.

Looking down at my hand, I rubbed my naked ring finger. It felt empty. It felt wrong.

Just like I did without Ethan.

Loneliness was a feeling I was getting well accustomed to.

And I had to say I didn’t like it.

Walking into Roman’s shop, I scanned the room for that familiar brown hair and those breathtaking green eyes. Seeing him working on a truck, I walked over to him. After standing there for a minute and him not seeing me I cleared my throat to get his attention. Lifting his head quickly, he bumped it on the hood.

“Shit,” he said, holding on his head and then he spotted me, “What do you want?”

When did he turn into super douche bag Ethan?

“I want to see the pictures you think I sent you,” I said, giving him a dose of his own medicine.

He wanted to have an attitude with me so I was going to give him an attitude.

“Why? You sent them you know what they look like,” he said, wiping his grease covered hands on a towel.

It broke my heart to see him working at the garage because that was not what he wanted to do. He looked so lost, almost like a sad little boy who was trying to cover up his pain with this tough act.

“I didn’t send them. Now show them to me,” I said, gritting my teeth.

If he wanted to act tough than so could I.

Letting out an aggravated sigh, he pulled his phone from his pocket. Walking out of the garage, he nodded his head for me to follow him.

“Where are we going?” I asked, power walking to keep up with him.

“That garage is full of men. I couldn’t risk one of them looking over your shoulder at these pictures,” he said, finding the said pictures on his phone.

Fighting back a smile, I was relieved to see the Ethan I knew was still in there somewhere even if he was buried deep down inside. He was there and he cared.

“Here,” he said, handing over his phone.

Looking at the photos, there was no denying that it was me but I didn’t take those pictures.

“These look like they have been taken through a window, Ethan. You can see my hands I wasn’t even holding a phone,” I told him, pointing out that it would be impossible for me to be the ones who took the pictures.

“You could have had someone to take them. How the hell do I know?”

Wait, was someone watching me through my window? Fear sunk in and I think if anything out the ordinary had happened at my apartment but nothing came to mind. Well, except for Talon but that was weeks ago and I hadn’t seen or heard from him since then.

“Someone must be watching me,” I said, feel goose bumps break out all over my body.

“Really? That’s the best excuse you can come up with?” he said, laughing.

“Screw you,” I said, shoving his phone into his hand and walking out the door.

“You already did,” he called after me.

Driving home, I thought about Talon and if he was even capable of doing something like that. Then it dawned on me, I didn’t know him at all. The Talon I knew was sweet and charming but the real Talon was shady and aggressive. Of course he was capable of it. It had to be him, it just had to be.

I needed to be on high alert and watch for anything suspicious around the apartment. Those pictures were taken without my knowledge. In one I was getting ready for work completely oblivious to what was happening.

When I got to the apartment I saw Holland sitting by our answering machine with a terrified look on her face.

“Holl, what’s wrong?” I asked, rushing to her side.

“When I got home I checked the answering machine and there was seventy two missed calls,” she said, looking at me for the first time since I walked in.

“From who? Trent?”

“Talon.”

Who in their right mind would call seventy two times? Someone who was missing a few screws that’s who.

“What did he say in them?” I asked not even sure if I really wanted to know the answer.

But I needed to know.

“He wanted to know why you went to see Ethan today. Gracie, he thinks you’re his girlfriend.”

“Did he say that?” I asked her.

“Yeah, he did,” she said, looking at me with pity.

I sat there for a while not knowing to say. How could Talon possibly think that we were a couple? We went on a total of two dates that was it and not to mention that he tried to force himself on me not long ago.

A knock came on the door extracting me from my thoughts.

“I’ll get it,” Holland said, running out of the kitchen.

Not a second later she walked back in the room and her face was pale. I knew who was at the door without even asking.

Talon.

“Did you let him in?” I asked, pulling my phone from my purse and slipping it into the pocket of my jean shorts in case I needed it.

“No, of course not.”

“I know you’re in there and I will knock this door down, so why don’t you save us both some trouble and open the door,” Talon yelled, pounding on the door.

Holland gave me a look silently asking me what to do. I shook my head at her signaling for her to open the door.

Talon stared at me as the door opened.

When I first saw him I thought he was really cute, but looking at the stranger standing in front me all memories of when we first met were gone. All I could see was the obsessive monster I had come to know.

“Why did you go see that scum bag?” he asked, pulling me by the arm toward him roughly.

“None of your business,” I spat, trying to pull away.

He gripped me tighter and pushed his nose to mine.

“Everything you do is my business.”

Cutting my eye over to see what Holland was doing, I saw her cowering in the corner.

“Don’t look at her for help. There’s nothing she can do.”

His hand crept into the pocket of my jean shorts and grabbed my phone.

“You won’t be needing this,” he said, flinging it against the wall.

Watching my phone hit the ground and shatter into a million tiny pieces, I felt my blood run cold. Fear was the only emotion I could feel at that moment. I didn’t know what to do and I could break free from his grip.

“Why are you doing this?” I asked, crying hysterically.

“Because I’m in love with you, Grace. I want you all to myself.”

That made my stomach turn. Just being close to him made my skin crawl. I needed to bring up the pictures and ask him why he done what he done.

“How can you say you love me when you took naked pictures of me through my window and sent them to my ex-boyfriend? That’s not love, Talon. That’s sick,” I cried, turning my head away from him.

“Look at me, bitch,” he said, grabbing me by the chin and pulled my face close to his again, “I can do whatever I want with you and I intend to.”

Hearing footsteps, he jerked his head to see where the noise was coming from. Looking over, I saw Holland was gone from her spot in the corner. Talon finally released me but that victory was short lived because I realized he was going after Holland. Running after him, I saw our home phone laying on the floor cracked completely open.

Holland was on the floor crying and her hair was hanging in her eyes. I didn’t have a clear view but I could have sworn that I saw the starting of a bruise on her left cheek.

“Shut up, whore,” he said, throwing Holland’s head against the wall.

Looking at her, I saw that she was out cold and blood was on her discoloring her pale blond hair.

God, please let her be okay.

“Why would you hit her?” I screamed, causing him to turn around, “You’re not here for her. You’re here for me, you want to hit someone? Hit me!”

He walked up and gave me what I asked for. The metallic taste of blood filled my mouth and everything went black.

All I can remember is coming to and I was lying in a bed. Taking in my sights, I immediately recognized that I was in the hospital. I tried to move to sit up but I soon realized I was too sore. I had no clue why I was in there instead of my own bed.

“Hey, sweetie, don’t try to move. Don’t push yourself,” My mom said, appearing out of nowhere.

“Mom, what happened? Why am I here?” I asked, trying to make sense of the jumbled up memories inside of my head.

I was getting bits and pieces of what happened. I remember going by to see Ethan and then Talon coming by the apartment. I remember all the voicemails he left and I remember Talon breaking my phone, but after that I drew a blank.

“Talon attacked you and Holland. Emma found you girls,” she said, running her fingers through my hair and giving me that concerned mom face.

“Wait, he attacked Holland too? Is she okay? I need to see her,” I said, trying to get out of the bed but my mom placed her hand on my shoulder stopping me.

“You need to rest. Holland is fine, just a little banged up,” she said, giving me a stern look and I knew better than to argue with her.

“Where was Talon when Emma found us?” I asked, looking at the finger marks imprinted on my skin.

“Honey, you were unconscious and he was on top of you,” she said, stumbling over her words, “When he saw Emma he pushed past her and ran out the door. The cops are looking for him but so far they haven’t had any luck.”

She was trying not to cry but her quivering lip gave her away. I remember thinking why was he on top of me? And why was my mom having such a hard time telling me what happened.

“Mom, I’m not following. Why was he on top of me?” I asked, trying to solve the puzzle going on in my mind.

“H-he raped you, baby girl. That monster raped you,” she said, letting the tears she had been so desperately trying to keep in run down her face.

I felt the wind get knocked out of me. A million things was running through my head but all I could focus on was the word rape. I was a rape victim. That made me sick to my stomach. Oh no, did he rape Holland too?

“Holland? Mom, did he do it to Holland too?”

I couldn’t say rape out loud because it didn’t seem real. You hear about it happening all of the time but you never expect it to happen to you. I know this because never in a million years did I think that it would happen to me and to be honest it felt like a cruel joke. It didn’t seem real.

I prayed that he didn’t touch Holland because she was fragile.

“No, he hit Holland a few times but he didn’t touch her in that way.”

Letting out a huge breath, I felt a little bit better.

“Ethan came by to see you,” my mom said, attempting to cheer me up.

It didn’t work. Ethan didn’t want me before I got raped why would he want me now? I had was soiled and dirty and he deserved so much better.

“I don’t want to see Ethan,” I told her, shooting her a look warning her to drop it.

Thankfully she listened.

She talked to me but I couldn’t focus on anything she was saying. I keep picturing Talon’s body on top of mine and no matter how hard I tried I couldn’t get the imagine out of my head.

I wasn’t just broken.

No, I was shattered.

Talon had ruined me and I didn’t know how I could stand to feel a man touch me after everything because I knew I would see Talon’s face.

I was always be a victim now and I didn’t like the feeling.

I felt like everyone was going to be able to look at me and see what happened and they were going to blame me for it.

Was I to blame?

I wasn’t sure.