Tempted (Tempted #1) Read online

  “Could you please leave us alone? We don’t need you or the drama you bring. We are going to be together because that’s the way it’s supposed to be.” I said to him.

  “If I can’t talk sense to you into you, maybe your father can.” He said as he stormed out of the small restaurant.

  Walking to the car, I realized two things. I had totally forgotten about class today and Roman and I had a lot to talk about. I wanted to be with him but I knew it wasn’t going to be easy. There were so many obstacles that we would have to face. My parents would never accept it, I knew that. But I couldn’t continue to live my life for them.

  Chapter 14

  As I sit in class, I go back to Roman dropping me off that morning. I told we needed to talk about stuff if this was going to work. I spent the whole class trying to pay attention but it was no use. We had to talk about my parents and about him racing. I couldn’t handle him getting to trouble again.

  After class ended I sat on one of the very uncomfortable benches in the hall. I decided to call Maddie to thank her while I waited on Roman to get here. But Maddie didn’t answer her phone, West did.

  “Hello?”

  “West? Is this you? What are you doing with Maddie?”

  “She can’t stay away from,Em.”

  I had always thought she couldn’t stand him. But ever since I saw her lose it the night of the race, I wasn’t so sure about that anymore.

  “I’m sure. Can I talk to her?” I asked him.

  “Yeah, on sec. Yo, Maddie? It’s Emma on the phone.”

  I heard some noises in the background was she hitting him?

  “Hey Ems, sorry about that. He’ s a stalker now.”

  “Why is he at your house? I though you couldn’t stand him.” I asked, hoping that she would tell me the truth.

  “I can’t. My dad needed someone from Tom’s shop to look at his car. They sent this idiot.”

  I laughed and took a deep breath, it was time to get serious.

  “Thank you.” I told her simply.

  “For what? Hold on, shut the hell up. Please leave.” She shouted to west.

  I missed those two.

  “Don’t play dumb. I know everything. Roman told me.”

  “Ems, you don’t have to thank me. I want you to be deliriously happy. He came to me and asked me if he still had a shot. I had to help the boy out. He’s head over heels for you.”

  “I dumped Preston.” I told her and if felt so good to say.

  “You go girl, please tell me he cried. And did he have on those horrible coral colored pants?”

  “No, he didn’t cry. But that could just be because he’s evil and he has no emotions. And yes, the coral pants were present.”

  “So, are you and Roman back on? Or did I do all of this for no reason?”

  “We’re back on but were we ever really off?”

  “You’re right.” She said as she laughed.

  “How are your classes going?” I asked her.

  Maddie decided to take her college courses online.

  “Good, hard as hell. What about yours?”

  “Good. I miss home.”

  I heard my phone beep alerting me of another call. Checking it, I saw it was Roman.

  “Hey, Mads. Roman is calling. I’ll call you later.”

  “Okay, love you.”

  “Love you, too”

  I switched over to Roman’s call.

  “Hey, Pumpkin. I’m in the parking lot.”

  “Okay, im coming out now.”

  I hung up and ran out the door. Trying to escape the cold, I jumped into his car. The heat was on full blast.

  “I hate the cold.” I said as I tried to shake off the cold.

  “I think I know how to warm you up.” He said as he leaned in to give me a quick kiss.

  “I bet you can but first can we go somewhere? We need to talk about some stuff.”

  “Yeah, we can go get some coffee. Is everything okay?”

  As we drove to the local coffee shop, I looked over at Roman. He made me so happy but I couldn’t just expect us to ride off into the sunset just yet.

  Getting out of the car, we walked inside. I ordered an iced coffee and Roman ordered a hot chocolate.

  We walked over two the large purple sofa in the corner and sat down.

  “I can’t belive you ordered an iced coffee and it’s freezing outside.”

  “I’m different, what can I say?”

  “So what did you want to talk about?”

  “How are we going to do this?”

  “What do you mean?” he asked.

  “About our familes? Are you going to quit racing?”

  He started to answer me but his phone rang. I hate cell phones.

  “What happened?” he asked the person on the other end.

  “Yeah, I’ll be on the first plane home.”

  He hung the phone up and ran his hands through his hair.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “It’s my dad, he had a heart attack. I have to go. I’m sorry.”

  Getting up from the sofa, he ran for the door.

  “Wait, were you just going to leave me here?” I screamed at him.

  “My dad, the man who rasied me and worked his fingers to the bone to provide for my family just had a heart attack, Emma. I’m sorry if you aren’t my first priority right now. Everything isn’t about you.” He shouted.

  I felt warm tears stream down my face.

  “Call a cab or something. I have to go.”

  “I’ll go with you. I need to be there for you.”

  “No, you don’t. This has nothing to do with you.”

  “I’m your girlfriend, Roman. I should be there with you.”

  “You don’t fit into my life. You haven’t seen where I live. You don’t know anything about my life. We don’t all have the white picket fence American dream like you, princess. This wasn’t going to go anywhere anyway. Whatever we had needed to end anyway. “ he said as he slammed the door.

  I dropped to my knees on the ice old concrete sidewalk. And sobbed uncontrollably. Why would he say those things? Did he mean them?

  I quickly pulled my phone from my wool coat pocket and dialed the a cab. After what felt like forever the cab driver showed up. Climbing inside, I gave the address of the hotel Roman was staying at and told him to step on it.

  He got me there in under 20 minutes. Handing him his money, I jumped out of the cab and ran to the front desk.

  “Hi, I need to see Roman Charles. Room 328.” I told the woman at the desk.

  She hit a few buttons and then looked up at me.

  “Sorry, you just missed him. He’s already checked out.”

  Why was this happening to me? I had just gotten him back.

  Chapter 15

  Today started so good , so how did I end up standing in front of the hotel waiting on Preston to come pick me up. Oh, that’s right. Roman left me and my whole world felt like it was shattered.

  I saw Preston’s car pull in and I waved at him, showing him where I was. He pulled up and rolled his window down.

  “Is the honeymoon already over?” he asked with that stupid smirk plastered on his face.

  “Shut up. I don’t want to hear it. I called you as a last resort.”

  Opening the door of his car, I sat down and put my seatbelt on. I had to fight the urge to hold my nose because his cologne was attacking my nostrils.

  “What happened? What did he do?” he asked.

  “Doesn’t matter, all you need to know is you’re definitely over doing it on the coloange.”

  He started the car without another word. I’m glad something made him shut up.

  We pulled up to my building and I couldn’t get out of the car fast enough.

  “Thanks for the ride.” I told him before shutting the door.

  He sped off without even answering me. Preston never failed to show me just how much of a gentleman he actually was. I turned to walk inside and barely caught the elevato
r.

  When I arrived at my room I immedialty went to my bed and sat on it to remove my boots. Wanda-luna walked in and growled at me. And you want to know what I did? I growled right back. I was in a very bad mood.

  I saw my phone light up and saw that it was my dad, I ignored it. Let’s just say I was feeling rebellious.

  She looked at me like I was crazy and left the room. She was probably going to sacrifice a virgin or something creepy like that.

  Getting up from the bed, I walked over to my dresser and pulled out my favorite sleep shirt, you know, the one with the stars. Slipping on my fuzzy socks, I climbed right back in bed and pulled the down comforter over my head. I wish I could have stayed there forever.

  I drifted into some sort of coma induced sleep.

  Hearing my alarm beeping, I got up and got ready for class. I grabbed my phone and saw a text from Maddie.

  Mads: Hey Ems, Roman told me everything. R u ok? Love & miss u.

  Me:No, I’m not ok. Love & miss u 2. Call u 2nite.

  As I walked to my car, I started to cry. I don’t know what came over. It was all finally sinking in, he was really gone. I needed Maddie, I needed to be home. But could I throw away all the hard work I had done to get in Brown. I had to figure out what was more important for my future. Brown or Roman? I already knew the answer to that question but if I left Brown and went home for him, would he want me? Would he let me fight for us? I wasn’t so sure about that.

  When I looked around I noticed I was in my car. I didn’t remember getting in. Looking in the rearview mirror, I saw the girl looking back at me and I didn’t recognize her. She had dark circles and messy, this wasn’t me at all.

  After class, I went to the coffee shop where he left me yesterday. I walked up to the counter and then made my way to the purple sofa. As I was sipping on my coffee and going over yesterday in my head for the hundredth time, I heard my phone ring. It was from a local number.

  “Hello?” I said into the phone.

  “Hello, can I speak to Emma Everly, please?” the lady on the other end of the phone asked.

  “This is her. May I ask who’s calling?”

  “I’m Mary from the Waverly hotel. I’m calling to inform you that Mr. Charles left some of his belongings in his room and left your number as a contact.”

  Wow, hearing his name hurt more than I thought.

  “Okay, I’ll come get it. I’m on my way.”

  Throwing my paper cup in the trash, I ran out the door. I got in my car and cranked it up.

  I pulled up to the hotel and found a parking space. Slamming my door shut , I quickly walked inside and found the front desk.

  “Hello, I’m Emma Everly. Someone named Mary called me and told she some stuff for me to pick up.”

  “Yes, I’ll go get her now.”

  “Thank you.”

  A few minutes later, Mary showed up with the box.

  “Here’s Mr. Charles things.” She said as she handed me the box.

  “Thank you, have a great night.” I said to her as I reached for it.

  When I reached the car I quickly opened the door and put the box of Roman’s stuff on the passenger seat. Getting in the car, I started it and pulled out of the parking lot.

  Should I look through it? I mean he wasn’t mine anymore. From what he said, I wasn’t sure he ever really was. But I do know one thing, I was really his. I still am.

  I reached the parking lot of my building and decided to sit in ther e instead of going up to my dorm. I couldn’t handle any hexs or growling. It was like the box was calling to me. Reaching over, I took the lid off of it. All that was in here was a bunch of papers. What was this? I started to read one of them and I felt my heart beat faster as I read more.

  He was applying to colleges close to Brown. The paper in my hand was an application to Bryant University. He did want to be with me. But why was he pushing me away? If anybody could make it work I would place my bet on us.

  Chapter 16

  I knew he was lying. He did want to be with me. I had to go home. Grabbing my computer, I quickly pulled up the flights home.

  As I looked at flights, my phone started to ring. Picking it up I saw it was Maddie.

  “Hey, what’s up?”

  “Emma, you have to come home.”

  “I know. If he won’t fight for us then I have too.” I told her.

  “No,Ems. I’m not calling about that. Roman’s dad passed.”

  “When?”

  “Like an hour ago. West just called me. He said the funeral is in two days.”

  “I’ll be there.” I told her as I hung up the phone.

  I quickly bought the ticket that would fly out tonight. Glancing at the clock, I saw that I had time to make it. I grabbed some bags and stuffed clothes and other necessities in them.

  I hated planes but I had no choice, I had to do this for him.

  Slamming the door, I ran out in the hall bypassing the elevator. I decided the stairs were the quickest route. Running down them like I was in some sort of marathon, I made it to my car in a flash.

  Popping the trunk, I threw my things inside. I quickly opened the car door and got in. Speeding out of the parking lot, I let my mind wonder what to what Roman was feeling right now.

  When I made it to the airport I found a empty parking space. I left the car parked here, it was the least of my concerns. Running into the airport, I heard them call for my flight. When I finally made it on the plane I sent Maddie a quick text letting her I was on my way.

  Me: I’m on my way. Be there in a few hours.

  Mads: I’ll pick u up at airport. Have u told ur parents ur coming back?

  Me:Sounds good. No, they would never understand.

  Turning my phone off, I laid back and let myself fall asleep.

  A few short hours later, I was exiting the plane. Walking into the airport I saw Maddie standing there, playing with her angel wing necklace. She started to run towards me and I did the same. We hugged for what felt like an eternity. I heard her sobbing.

  “Mads, are you crying?”

  “I just missed you so much.”

  Then I started to cry with her.

  “I missed you too.”

  “We are such girls.” She said as she wiped her eyes.

  I laughed at her attempt of a joke. She picked up half of my luggage and I picked up other half. Linking arms, we walked to her jeep.

  We tossed everything in in the back. Opening our doors, we slid inside.

  “So, are you going to your parents house?” she asked as we pulled out of the parking lot.

  “I guess I should. I would rather stay with you but I don’t want them hearing that I’m home from someone else.”

  “Your right.”

  “How is he?” I asked her, making sure not to say his name. it hurt too much.

  “Not good, he’s not even acting like himself. He’s snapping at everybody.West said he’s never seen him like this.”

  I was worried about him. I should have been here, this is where I belonged.

  We pulled up to my parent’s house, it looked exactly the same. This used to be my home but it didn’t feel like home anymore. My home was Roman, where ever he was. That’s where I belonged.

  “It’s late their probably asleep.” I told her.

  “So what? Let’s wake them up. It’s about time somebody did.

  Opeing my door, I jumped out. I noticed Maddie did the same.

  “What are you doing?” I asked her

  “I’m here to back you up. I’m not leaving until I know you’re fine.”

  “You’re the best friend a girl could ever have, you know that?”

  “Yeah, I am pretty great. Are you ready to go in?’

  “As ready as I’ll ever be.”

  We walked up the door hand and hand. This girl was my sister,always had been. And it meant the world to me that she didn’t make me do this alone.

  Knocking on the door, I saw lights turn on in the house. My parents ope
ned the door looking very sleep.

  “Emma, honey, what are you doing here?” my mother asked as she yawned.

  “I live here.” I told her.

  “Don’t be smart with your mother, young lady.” My father as he rose from his spot on the couch.

  “What I meant was why are you home? You didn’t tell us you were coming back.”

  “Roman’s father died.

  “And what does that have to do with you?” my father asked me.

  “Everything, it has everything to with me. I love him.”

  “You will not have anything to do with him, do you understand me?” my father said in a very menacing tone.

  “You don’t get to tell me what to do anymore! And you sure as hell don’t get to tell me who to love!” I shouted at him.

  Maddie rubbed my back, letting me know she was there for me. But I didn’t need her to remind. She had always been there.

  “I get to tell you anything I want, little girl. You live under my roof.”

  “She’s moving in with me. That way she doesn’t live under your roof anymore. Come on, Emma. Let’s go.”

  “She’s not going anywhere other than back Brown.” My father yelled at Maddie.

  I noticed that my mother was being very quiet. Why wasn’t she saying anything?

  “Come on, Ems. Let’s go. You don’t need them.”

  Turning to walk out the door of my childhood home, i opened the door. As I walked out in the night air, I felt like I was finally free. Like that I made the right decision. And I would do it all again.

  Stepping on the porch, I shut the door. I heard my mother crying inside and yelling at my father. Maddie grabbed my hand and let me to her jeep.

  “You’re going to be fine. Let’s go to my house.”

  “I don’t want to be a bother to you, mads.”

  “Are you kidding me? It will be a big sleepover. Your my sister from an over bearing mister.”

  “You’re right. Let’s go watch movies and eat cookie dough. I need the girl time before I face Roman.”

  “Hey, let’s not think about that tonight.”

  Putting the jeep in drive, she pulled out of the driveway. Luckily she didn’t live to far away. We pulled up to her house and hopped out. Opening the back doors, we got my luggage out.