Chapter 27
TWENTY-SEVEN
TESSA
I never saw the heartbreak coming.
Maybe that made me a love-struck fool. Perhaps I was just being na?ve.
It was Friday. And when I’d woken early this morning, I slipped out of bed, intent on finally making Ace that breakfast I’d been promising him.
There was a slight chill in the air—the temperature had been hitting the mid-sixties during the day, but the nights dipped into the thirties—so I pulled on a sweatshirt over my nightie and made my way to the kitchen.
A thrill of excitement moved through me as I whisked the eggs in the bowl. I couldn’t wait to surprise Ace with breakfast. If I was lucky, maybe I’d be able to bring it to him in bed.
I worked as quickly as I could, eager to carry out my plan, and when I was getting the food put on the plate, I heard Ace’s approaching footsteps.
Damn.
As he entered the kitchen, I twisted my neck and looked over my shoulder at him. His eyes were on my bare legs, a hint of a lazy smile on his handsome face.
“Good morning,” I said softly.
Ace lifted his gaze to meet mine. “Morning, Princess.”
He walked up behind me, slid his arms around my waist, and kissed me before I said, “I wanted to surprise you with breakfast in bed.”
Hugging me tightly, Ace whispered in my ear. “You could’ve done that without needing to get out of it, Tessa.”
I rolled my eyes. “I’m being serious.”
“Me, too!”
Ace didn’t release me as I finished plating breakfast. But once I did, I spun around in his hold, pressed the front of my body tight to his, and threw my arms over his shoulders. “You’ve had that enough every morning this week.”
“And I was perfectly happy with it,” he said, brushing his lips lightly against mine.
“Well, I think it’s nice to have a little variety from time to time.” I didn’t give him a chance to argue with me because I gave him a proper morning kiss. “Eat breakfast with me while it’s still hot, handsome.”
Ace’s lazy smile returned, and I stepped away. Picking up the plates, I carried them to the table, set them down, and was about to go grab the utensils when Ace said, “What the fuck, Tessa?”
I blinked at the sudden harshness in his tone and the angry look on his face. “Excuse me?”
“What the fuck?”
“A little help, Ace. Why are you yelling at me?”
His hand shot out in front of him and gestured in my direction. “Are you planning a new career move?”
My brow furrowed as my head jerked back. He was making absolutely no sense. “What? No.”
“So, do you have a sudden interest in law school?”
At that question, it hit me. I glanced down at my body, where he’d indicated only moments earlier. I was wearing a sweatshirt over my nightie. It was a sweatshirt from Ryan’s law school. Returning my attention to Ace, I said, “Please tell me you aren’t being serious right now.”
His eyes narrowed on me. “Deadly.”
I shook my head, feeling such disappointment. “Ace, this isn’t a big deal. I just… I got up this morning, and I was cold.”
“So, you thought wearing your ex’s sweatshirt was a wise choice?” he countered. “You thought it seemed logical to wear the clothes of a man who cheated on you?”
“It wasn’t about that. I was cold, and it’s a comfortable sweatshirt. That’s all. It doesn’t mean anything.”
“Then maybe, if you’re waking up in my bed, you should be putting on my sweatshirt.” He jabbed his thumb into his chest.
I couldn’t believe we were having an argument over this. “This is so unnecessary. You really want to fight with me about this?”
“I want to know why you think it’s okay to crawl out of my bed and put on another man’s sweatshirt.”
Deep down, I guess I could see his point. But he was making a big deal out of nothing. Feeling frustrated, I walked out of the kitchen and made my way to the bedroom. “I’m not having this conversation,” I told him.
He followed behind me. “Why not? After everything that’s happened with you and between us recently, I think I’m entitled to an answer.”
I ignored that and stepped into the bedroom.
Once there, I pulled out a pair of panties and slid them up my legs.
Then I stepped into a pair of pants, whipped off the sweatshirt, and tossed my nightie beside it.
Ace stood there, watching me as I put on my bra.
Once I’d yanked a new shirt over my head, I held my hands out to the side and shouted, “Is this better? Am I dressed appropriately enough for you?”
“Why are you avoiding answering my question? Tell me why you thought it was okay to put on another man’s sweatshirt.”
“I already answered that question. It’s not my fault you refuse to listen to what I had to say.”
“Yeah, you said you were cold. That doesn’t explain to me why you put on that sweatshirt, why you even thought to pack it and bring it here. Are there…” he trailed off and ran his fingers through his hair.
“Are there what?”
Ace brought his hands to his hips, and I hated that I was so mad, because he looked unbelievably sexy. “Do you still have feelings for him? Did we rush this?”
My lips parted in shock. I was utterly astonished that Ace could believe something so ridiculous.
The disbelief came out in a sound I couldn’t even describe.
Unsure what I could possibly say in response to that, I went into the bathroom, gathered up my makeup and skincare products.
After tossing them in a bag, I tucked it under my arm, returned to the bedroom, and snatched up my purse and phone.
I looked at Ace and felt my heart break. “I honestly can’t believe you said that.”
“And I don’t know what else to think,” he muttered. “I can’t imagine you’d be thrilled to know I was not only holding on to some memento from an ex, but also that I was wearing it.”
“It’s a fucking sweatshirt, Ace. I woke up and wanted to make you breakfast this morning, but I was cold. My plan hadn’t been to make you jealous.”
“I’m not jealous of that motherfucker,” he spat.
“It sure feels like it to me since you’ve decided to ruin breakfast and our morning together over a sweatshirt,” I said before walking out of the bedroom.
Once again, Ace followed behind me. But I didn’t stop or turn around. I wasn’t sticking around for whatever other nonsense he wanted to spew at me.
As I was shoving my feet into my shoes at the front door, he asked, “So, that’s it, Tessa? You’re just going to walk out of here without resolving this?”
“That’s exactly it, Ace. I’m going to head to work early and finish getting myself ready there. And I’ll buy myself some lunch this afternoon so I don’t have to spend another minute here listening to you insult me.”
“Insult you?” he scoffed. “Tessa, you pulled on your ex’s sweatshirt just hours after my dick was inside you, and you think I’m insulting you?”
I stared at him for several long moments in silence. I could tell he wanted me to respond, but I’m certain it wasn’t the response he got. “I’m leaving.”
Without another word, I put my hand on the doorknob, yanked open the door, and walked out.
Ace didn’t follow me.
“It was good to see you back here, Georgia. You’re all set for next month’s appointment.”
“Thanks, Tessa. I’ll see you soon.”
Georgia turned and walked out of the salon. And the door had barely closed behind her when Lark asked, “What happened?”
“What?” I countered, wanting to avoid the conversation by any means necessary.
“I’ve known you my whole life, Tessa. You’re my best friend. And I know that something’s happened. You’re not yourself. What’s wrong?”
I sighed, feeling so defeated. “Ace and I had our first fight this morning.”
“Oh, no. Do you want to talk about it?”
“I don’t want to put you in the middle of it.”
“You won’t. He’s my brother; you’re my best friend. I can be both. In fact, depending on what’s going on, maybe I can help.”
I glanced at the time. “My next client is going to be here in five minutes.”
“Then talk quickly.”
“Ace got angry with me this morning because I made a stupid decision,” I explained. At Lark’s curious expression, I went on to tell her what had happened.
When I finished, she said, “Lucky for the both of you that he got your car fixed.”
“Tell me about it,” I said with a nod. Following a beat, I asked, “Was I wrong for this?”
My best friend inhaled deeply and considered her response.
“I think you were both wrong. It sounds like Ace was being wildly stubborn, miserable, and jealous about it, even if he says otherwise. But in fairness to him, it was kind of a stupid move on your part. It probably didn’t feel good to him to see you wearing Ryan’s law school sweatshirt. ”
I closed my eyes and nodded. “I know. I honestly wasn’t even thinking about it when I put the sweatshirt on. But I got so angry when he came at me like he did. He was accusing me of something that was so far from reality. And it hurt to think he could assume the worst about me.”
“Ace was afraid, you know?”
“Afraid? Of what?”
“He didn’t want to be the rebound guy. He wanted what he was building with you to stick.
” She shot me a sympathetic look and shrugged.
“As wrong as he was for addressing the situation with you like he did, I think he’s just worried that you two got involved too quickly after things ended between you and Ryan. ”
Ace had said something along those lines when he’d been sharing why he didn’t push things past kissing at the start.
From where I stood, it seemed unreasonable for Ace to feel any insecurity over Ryan.
There really was no comparison to how well he’d treated me and accepted me.
But perhaps, despite telling him how much I loved him, I hadn’t done enough to communicate to Ace just how important he was to me.
It had moved quickly for us, and if the roles had been reversed, and he’d put on some piece of jewelry an ex he’d broken up with mere weeks before had given him, there was no question I would’ve had the same doubts as him.
“I screwed up, Lark, didn’t I?”
She nodded slowly. “Yeah. I think you both screwed up, but this one really falls on you, Tessa. It had to kill him to see you wearing Ryan’s shirt.”