Chapter 4
Chapter Four
Chrissy
Joining Ace's relay team was a mistake. An attractive mistake.
A mistake with broad shoulders and a ridiculously great smile.
But still a mistake—because now it's Thursday night, and instead of going home after practice like a sensible person, I'm sitting outside Mercury Slice under string lights and trying not to think about how great it would be to actually be here with Ace. As a couple.
Music drifts from a pontoon somewhere out on the water. The smell of garlic butter hangs in the air. Boats rock gently against their slips, and Ace keeps looking at me across the table in a way that makes my skin grow hot.
Joel groans loudly across the table. "How much more of this do we have to endure?”
Rayna slaps him on the arm. “Hush.”
“He’s not wrong, though,” Trent says. “Ace can’t even carry on a conversation anymore because he’s too busy staring at Chrissy.”
My skin flushes. “He’s not staring at me.”
Everyone laughs at that. Everyone but Ace.
“How can I not stare?” he asks with a shrug. “She’s a beautiful woman.”
“So is Rayna,” Liam points out.
“True,” Ace says, “but if I stare at her, Joel will gouge out my eyes.”
“Yup,” Joel says, reaching for another slice of pepperoni.
Ace steals one of my fries before I can slap his hand away. "They have a point. You probably should just admit you like me.”
I lean back in my chair. "You really are full of yourself, aren’t you?”
He shrugs. “I’m likeable. It’s a fact. Ask anyone.”
I roll my eyes and stuff a French fry into my mouth.
The relay race is only a week away, but Ace has already slipped into my daily routine in a way I didn't plan for. Morning texts about water conditions, kayaking together every day, bantering back and forth nonstop. He’s the first thing I think about in the morning, and the last thing I think about at night.
And, as Dani keeps reminding me, I have been half in love with him practically forever.
But Ace is… well, Ace is too charming. Can I trust him with my heart? Not a chance. He’s a love ‘em and leave ‘em kind of guy. He’s not a heartbreaker, exactly. From what I’ve seen and can gather, he dates tourists who are looking for flings. Summer fun. Not forever.
And I just can’t do that. Especially not with Ace.
"You coming to movie night on the lake tomorrow?" Rayna asks me.
"Oh, she has to," Ace says before I can answer.
I raise an eyebrow. "Do I?"
"It's mandatory team-building experience for the relay team,” he replies.
“You’re making that up.”
"Absolutely," Ace says. "But you should still come."
Everyone laughs.
“We’ll all be there,” Forrest says.
“Yep,” the others say.
He asks like he already expects me there. Like spending time together has become natural for him, and maybe the worse problem is that it's becoming natural for me too. I should probably resist that harder.
But I really, really don’t want to.
“Fine,” I say with a sigh. “I’ll be there.”