How to Hunt a Billionaire ✔️

Step 49: FALL for him

"Currently, there has been many reports of..."

The television was on but no one was watching it and it simply served as background noise. I was sprawled across Ethan's couch, my legs draped on his lap while he sat there on his tablet, answering his morning emails. My eyes were closed and I was on the verge of falling asleep again when his phone began ringing on the coffee table. Groaning, I covered my ears.

"Stop that noise," I grumbled.

The sound finally went away. "Hello?" Ethan answered, his voice low.

"She's here." One of my eyelids opened at the reference to me. "I'm not replying to that."

I raised an eyebrow but he ignored my look of confusion

"I know but... Just today... Yesterday? What? Yeah... That's fine...We're both dressed...Bye. I'm hanging up." He moved the phone from his ear and tossed it onto the floor.

"What was that about?" I asked, sitting up as much as I could with Ethan's arms forming a chain on them.

"Seth wanted to know more about our sex lives."

I pointed to my bra then his bare chest. "He should just come over. He'll get all the answers."

Ethan placed his hands on my hips and pulled me into his lap. "I'd rather he didn't," he muttered, pressing his lips to my jaw. And in a matter of seconds, I no longer wanted to sleep but before things could heat up, there was a sudden bang. I jumped at the sound.

"What was that?" I whispered.

"It's probably nothing. Just ignore it," Ethan said pressing more scorching kisses to my skin. Another bang jolted me away from him.

Diana came into view, standing in the doorway. She screwed up her face in disgust and covered her eyes. "Wear some clothes."

I smiled then realized that no one invited her. "How the f*ck did you get in?"

"Your boyfriend gave me a card."

"And now I f*cking regret it," he grumbled, his hands trailing lazing up and down my sides. "Remind me to change the locks."

"I will. Diana, do you have a reason for being here or what? I'm sort of busy."

"Yeah. Clearly," she said sarcastically. "Can you, I don't know, get off him?"

I shook my head. "I'm comfortable and this is your punishment for interrupting."

"Fine," she huffed. "May's been occupied with her baby and you've been with your boyfriend over her so I've decided that we're going out. Just you and I."

Running my fingers down Ethan's chest, I paused in thought. I hadn't seen her for a while but staying in the apartment seemed more interesting. "I don't want to."

"Why?" Diana whined.

"I'm feeling sick," I lied then coughed. "Very sick."

"But you were still planning on passing it onto Ethan?" She glared. "As her boyfriend, could you tell her to go?"

He exhaled then leaned back into the couch. I crossed my arms, ready to argue. "No," I told him, not letting him ask.

"I tried," he shrugged, looking impatient.

But then she brought out the most powerful forms of blackmail known to man. "There's free pizza in the mall."

Ethan became a distant memory. "Pizza? Free? Today?"

"Yes, there is and while we're there you can buy a dress for the club."

My gaze shifted to Ethan's eyes which were hypnotizing me to stay but the call for food was stronger. Reluctantly, I stood up. "I'm sorry," I apologized but he rolled his eyes in response. "Okay, let's go."

An hour later, Diana and I were going through the racks of clothes for something to wear. I picked up a black skirt and a matching tube top. Diana had piles of clothes on her arm to try on. As we walked, she sighed.

"What?" I asked.

"Ashley, I love you. You know that, right?"

"...Yes?"

"So I'm not saying this to hurt you but you should think about ending things with Ethan," she said, not looking me in the eyes.

"Why?" I automatically became defensive, not understanding where she was coming from.

"It's not fake anymore."

I looked at the ground and smiled tightly. "Yes, it is," I said but even to my own ears, it sounded like a lie.

"You two are blending lines and I could see it in both of your faces. He didn't want to let you go."

My cheeks reddened. "But what about the bet?"

"F*ck the bet," she swore. "I don't want you getting hurt when you end things. At the beginning it was pretend but now it's not. And you can talk as much sh*t as you want but I know you're falling for him."

"I have a deal with him," I reminded her, weakly. My heart felt heavy at her honesty.

"End the deal. He'll understand. You two aren't going to have some fairytale where he'll fall in love with you. He's going to withdraw sooner or later."

F*ck. "I thought we were going to have fun," I laughed humourlessly.

She patted my arm. "We will. Just...think about it."

I shifted away from her slightly causing her eyes to flash with pain. "Sure."

*****

A wise man once said that the easiest way to cure pain was getting drunk. Party harder, drink faster and all your worries disappear. Too bad the man was high as a kite because I thought his theory was pretty accurate. Music pumped from the speakers and I was having the time of my life.

Diana wasn't as drunk as me but was on her way there. The crowd jumped in time of the beat and I recorded it on my phone. My phone started vibrating in my hand as Ethan's name flashed up on the screen. I answered then gestured to Diana that I was going to the bar where it was quieter.

"Ashley?" The sound of his voice sent butterflies to my stomach. Or maybe it was the alcohol.

"Hey," I replied then giggled.

"Are you drunk?"

"Nope. But I might be."

"It's late. I'm coming to pick you up. Where are you?"

"I don't know." I waved a guy further down the bar. "Whats the name of this club?"

The guy grinned. "Twentieth Hours, baby. But I can take you somewhere else, if you want."

Ethan somehow heard that. "I'll be there in five. And tell the guy to leave you the f*ck alone."

I nodded obediently then turned to the guy. "My boyfriend said to leave me to f*ck alone."

"Well, let him say that to my face," the man said confidently.

"Leave her the f*ck alone." My head whipped round to see Ethan behind me. Was he a...wizard?

#

Okay.
I'm so mad with myself.
So I have this book where I write all my plans (what's going to happen, conversations and so forth) BUT I DID NOT FOLLOW THE PLAN.
*sips tea*
As a result, I've had to shift the order of the book to ensure we cover everything.
*adds sugar*
This book is almost done... ALMOST. Not yet though. Hold on to your seatbelts kids. This is gonna get bumpy.
XO Nyx