Chapter 12
TWELVE
ACE
It was several days ago when it hit me.
I tried to ignore it, tried pretending that it wasn’t what it appeared to be. What it felt like.
But with each day that passed, it became clearer that I wasn’t going to be able to disregard any of it. So, I’d been allowing myself, slowly but surely, to do the opposite. To embrace it, even if I couldn’t do it in all the ways I really wanted to.
My feelings for Tessa Stone were growing, far faster than I ever could’ve imagined. And I needed to do whatever was necessary to see to it that she’d be mine.
The moment I stirred this morning, before my eyes were even open, the plan for the day hit me. But since I wanted her to feel like she’d been able to choose, I reached for my phone so I could give her some options.
It was early, but I wasn’t going to allow that to deter me. I liked the idea of being the first person to contact her. If I had my way, there’d come a time soon enough when I wouldn’t be reaching out to her over the phone in the morning.
For now, I’d just have to settle for knowing that it was me she was on the phone with last night when she was in her bed. I tried not to think too much about what she might’ve been wearing while she talked to me. I still had that image of Tessa in her nightie burned into my brain. Princess, indeed.
Forcing that thought from my mind again, I sent off a text to her.
You awake?
I could’ve easily just given her the choices and got out of bed to get ready for work. But I was scrounging for any additional time I could spend talking to her, even if it was through a text.
Tessa
I am. Though, I’ve been delaying getting out of bed.
And there was a vision I liked a whole lot. It put far too many ideas in my head of what I’d do to delay her getting out of bed if she were in mine or I were in hers.
Let me delay you a bit longer. I’ve come up with some choices for tonight.
Tessa
Oh? You’re giving a girl options. I like it.
One half of my mouth quirked. I could hear her voice in my head with each reply she sent.
Movies. Bowling. Roller skating.
Tessa
Are you serious? You know there’s no decision to be made here.
I figured as much, but I didn’t want to be entirely presumptuous.
Tessa
So, you’re not joking?
Not at all.
Tessa
You’ll really go roller skating with me?
For a moment, I wondered when I’d be able to tell her precisely how much I was willing to do that I normally wouldn’t just to see her smile.
I’ll do anything that’s going to make you happy.
I’d known for years how much Tessa enjoyed roller skating.
It was a good thing she and my sister had plenty of other things in common, because Lark wasn’t a fan of the activity.
From what I knew, Tessa generally liked to roller skate outside for exercise, but I intended to take her to the skating rink tonight.
I thought that’d be a better option for multiple reasons, not the least of which was that I could skate, but I wasn’t an expert like Tessa.
Tessa
Going roller skating with you would make me so happy.
I’ll pick you up after work, then. Roller skating and crappy roller rink food.
I would’ve loved nothing more than to take Tessa out on a real dinner date—something where she could get herself all dolled up—but we weren’t even close to being at that point.
It’d be far too much too soon after her breakup.
For now, I’d settle for the time alone with her doing something she loved without putting any pressure on her.
Tessa
It sounds lovely, Ace. Can’t wait!
The desire to stay in bed all day, texting her until it was time to go pick her up, was strong. If I sent even one more, I’d wind up completely sidetracked. And since I didn’t want to show up at work late today, I set my phone down and got out of bed.
After getting myself ready, I made my way to the kitchen to grab some breakfast. I was just about to sit down to eat when a knock came at my door.
I hadn’t been expecting anyone, so my mind immediately went to the conversation I’d had with Tessa last night. It was unlikely Phoenix would show up here this morning when he’d be able to see me at work. But it was possible Tessa’s dad might pay me a visit.
Much to my surprise, I was wrong.
The last person I would’ve ever guessed to find on the opposite side of the door was my sister. Like Tessa, Lark had an issue with time. She often showed up late everywhere. It blew my mind that she’d managed to get up this early and make a trip over to my place.
“What are you doing here?”
She stepped inside, moved past me, and said, “Good morning to you, too, big brother.”
Closing the door behind her, I said, “Good morning, Lark. Now, will you tell me what’s going on?”
“I’m starving. Do you have anything to eat here?”
My brows pulled together, and I followed my sister into the kitchen. “Yes, I do. But did you run out of food at your place?”
Lark came to a stop in front of the refrigerator, spun around to face me, and asked, “Do you honestly think I’d come here in that instance?”
I shrugged. “I’m still not sure I understand what you’re doing here, then.”
“I need food first.” She opened the refrigerator and peered inside. “I don’t think you understand the amount of energy I had to exert to wake up so early and get ready as fast as I did to make it here. I didn’t have time to eat anything.”
“Would you like some of my breakfast?” I offered, too curious about her actual reason for being here. “I have plenty.”
She stood, glanced at the food I’d prepared, and closed the fridge with a smile on her face. Snatching a piece of toast off my plate, Lark got comfortable in a chair. Only after she’d taken a few bites, did she speak. “I have some questions for you.”
“Okay. About what?”
Lark arched a brow. “Are you really going to pretend you have no idea what I’d find so important that I’d show up here this early to address it?”
“So, this is about Tessa.”
“She’s my best friend, Ace.”
That wasn’t news to me, so I simply nodded and waited for additional clarification. When my sister didn’t say anything else, I said, “I’m aware she’s your best friend. Is there a problem?”
“I don’t know. That depends on you.”
My fork was halfway to my mouth when I stopped. “Me?”
Lark leaned forward and snatched a strawberry off my plate. “You’ve been spending a lot of time with her.”
“Yes.”
“And you went out of your way to speak to Ryan on her behalf.”
“Better me than Tessa, don’t you think?”
She bit into the strawberry and studied me in silence. I continued to shovel eggs into my mouth, waiting for whatever was coming. When I picked up the other slice of toast, Lark asked, “What are you doing?”
“Now?”
“With Tessa, Ace. Is this you simply being her best friend’s big brother looking out for her like he would his little sister?”
My lip curled with disgust. “No, Lark. I don’t look at Tessa as a little sister.”
“I had a feeling. What do you look at her as?”
“Not a sister.”
“Ace, I’m being serious.”
“I am, too.”
She sighed. “You’re my brother. And you know that I love you. But she’s my best friend. And she’s just been through something awful. You know it because you’ve been there for her. I want to know if this is you being a good guy, or if there’s something else here.”
I inhaled deeply. The moment Lark made it clear she was here to discuss Tessa, I knew this was where the conversation was heading. Knowing my sister as well as I did, there wasn’t a hope in the world of me brushing her off. “I don’t know what you’re looking for me to say.”
“I want you to tell me what your intentions are with her.” Lark grabbed a banana off the counter and opened the peel, her expectant eyes on me.
Even I could hear the disappointment in my voice when I said, “I’m embarrassed it’s taken me until now to realize she’s been here all along.”
“What exactly do you mean by that?”
“I don’t know if I can explain it in a way that’ll make sense, but I’ll try.
” I pushed the plate toward my sister, offering her the eggs there.
“That night we were all out for Harper’s birthday, something happened.
I watched Tessa while she was on the phone, and I saw when her entire world was rocked.
When I walked outside and held her while she cried, everything changed for me.
Seeing her so upset, I just wanted to fix everything.
And in all the time I’ve spent with her since that night, I’m realizing that she’s been the girl for me all these years. ”
Lark appeared to be fighting against a smile. “So, you’re interested in her?”
I nodded. “Yes. I’m very interested in her.”
“You haven’t told her this, have you?”
“No. Do you think I’m crazy?”
Soft laughter spilled out of her. “I don’t know. I guess that depends on why you think it’d be crazy to tell her this.”
For several long moments, I stared at her. I didn’t doubt my sister knew it’d be insane to tell a woman who’d just suffered such betrayal what I was feeling. This was about far more than that, and Lark was going to pull it out of me, no matter how hard I tried to skirt around the issue.
“What I feel for Tessa is more than just interest,” I admitted.
She grinned. “I’m not hearing anything that upsets me just yet. Why don’t you want to tell her?”
“Because she needs time to heal. I thought that much would be obvious.”
Lark reached for another strawberry. “It is. But is that all?”
I shook my head. “No. I want her to have that time to heal, but I also want to have it to make certain I don’t become the rebound guy. What I feel for her is tremendous, Lark. I screwed this up by not realizing it sooner. I’m not going to screw it up a second time.”
After popping the last bite of the banana into her mouth, Lark stood. “I have to get to work.”
“What?”
“Is there a problem?”
My jaw fell open, my disbelief evident. “Um, don’t you have anything to say about what I just shared?”