Chapter 25
TWENTY-FIVE
TESSA
There were two possible outcomes from this breakfast. Either Ace and I would get extremely lucky, and everyone would be overjoyed at the news of us becoming a thing, or this was going to be the start of something hideous between my dad and the man I loved.
What I believed was most likely to happen was a mix of both.
My mom and Aunt Nikki—I was belatedly realizing that calling her aunt when she wasn’t technically one might’ve been awkward when I was dating her son—would be over the moon. Ace’s mom had already shown signs of being completely supportive.
Deep down, Uncle Luke was happy for us as well. But it was possible that he’d have to show solidarity with my dad. As a father to a girl, Luke would understand where my dad’s fears and worries came from, even if they were completely unfounded with a man like Ace.
Given how he’d reacted when he learned I’d been dating Ryan, and again when he met him, I was fully prepared for my dad to be the same with Ace. And that didn’t bode well for the relationship I wanted everyone to have by the time we left breakfast.
To his credit, Ace appeared confident. If the roles had been reversed, I’m not sure I would’ve been so eager to show up to an impromptu breakfast with all the parents. As it was, I was a mess. How he could be so unbothered was a bit of a mystery.
We arrived at First Tracks with Luke and Nikki, and they entered ahead of Ace and me.
From the entrance, I couldn’t see my parents, which I thought might be a bad thing.
If they’d noticed us before we made it to the table, it might’ve given my dad some time to cool down.
It was possible my mom would’ve jumped in and said something to calm him.
Luke talked to the server, explained who we were meeting, and the four of us followed behind her as she led us through the dining room. Ace held my hand as we wound our way through the space, but my body was mostly hidden behind Luke’s.
We finally made it to the table where my parents were seated, but they still hadn’t seen me. Even with the chatter around the room, I heard the conversation.
“We have a surprise for you,” Nikki said.
At the mention of a surprise, my mom was thrilled. “What is it?”
“We’re going to need another place setting.”
There was no hesitation as my mom asked, “Did Ace bring someone along?”
I couldn’t miss the curiosity and excitement in my mom’s tone. This was something that would delight her, as it had all the moms in their friend group when they learned about Taj finding Olivia and Chloe dating Hawk.
“Yes, he did,” Luke answered. Following a brief pause, which I believed he used to direct his attention to my dad, he added, “I’m so sorry.”
A moment later, he shifted his body to the side and revealed me to my parents.
“Tessa?” My mom’s excitement turned to surprise.
I was gripping Ace’s hand like my life depended on it, and my dad’s eyes were focused on that connection.
“Hi, Mom,” I rasped.
Mom sprang out of her chair and moved toward us. “Oh, this is the best news.”
“I agree completely,” Nikki said as my mom’s arms wrapped around me.
After my mom released her hold on me, she shifted her attention to the man standing beside me. “Happy birthday, Ace.”
He hugged her back. “Thank you.”
Once my mom returned to her seat, Nikki sitting in the one beside her, all eyes went to the one man who hadn’t said a single word. It would’ve been impossible not to notice the way he was struggling if his clenched jaw and balled-up fists were any indication.
Since my dad had always had a soft spot for me, I thought it might be better if I attempted to smooth things over. But considering he was still focused entirely on the spot where my hand was linked with Ace’s, I had to get his attention.
“Dad?”
He lifted his gaze to meet mine, something heartbreaking in his expression. “It’s very early in the morning, Tessa. Did Ace and his parents pick you up on their way here?”
That was his way of finding out whether I’d spent the night with Ace. Considering those were his first words to us, I probably should’ve taken a moment to think about my next response, but I simply blurted, “No. I’ve been living with Ace for the last week.”
Like a flash, my dad shot up out of his chair, his eyes focused entirely on Ace. I jumped back in surprise, but Luke immediately placed both of his hands on my dad’s shoulders. “Stone, relax.”
“Relax? If I were to tell you that Lark has been living with Archer, Phoenix, or Kingston for a week when you didn’t even know she was dating so soon after having her heart broken, would telling you to relax work?”
Luke’s face twisted with such agony; I was prematurely dreading the day my best friend found someone who made her happy. “I get it. I do. But give them a minute to explain. Trust me, there’s something bigger going on here—I don’t even know the full scope of it yet—and you need to hear that first.”
With that information, something else leaked onto my dad’s features. Fear, perhaps? He hesitated, looking between Ace and me, and finally, at the suggestion of his best friend, decided it was best to give us the opportunity to share what had been going on in my life.
Once my dad returned to his seat, Luke sat in the chair closest to him, a buffer between his son and his best friend. Ace and I sat in the two remaining seats.
Things were tense for a few beats while everyone—everyone but my dad—perused the menus.
But the second our orders had been placed, and we were alone again, he pinned his stare on Ace and asked, “Why is my daughter living with you little more than a month after having her heart broken by the last asshole she thought was worth dating?”
I didn’t like that my dad was insinuating Ace wasn’t a man worth dating, but my guy didn’t seem the least bit bothered.
“Because her safety is my number one priority,” Ace answered.
Those words made Xander Stone’s body lock. “And why would Tessa be unsafe at her own place?”
I didn’t like that Ace was getting the third degree when I was sitting right here. “Dad, it’s c—”
“Tessa, sweetheart, I love you. But I know you’re going to minimize whatever this is, so I want to hear it from him.”
My eyes slid to the side, where I saw my mom and Nikki offering sympathetic smiles. I’d get no help from them on this, so I slumped back in my chair.
“Ace?” Luke prompted.
“For what it’s worth, Tessa’s not just unsafe in her own place. She’s unsafe in public, too.”
Confusion and concern washed over the faces of four people who meant the world to us.
Luke asked, “Are you saying this because of what happened with her car?”
Ace nodded. “That’s part of it.”
“What happened to Tessa’s car?” Nikki asked.
“I’d prefer to start at the beginning,” Ace said. Once he received a round of nods, he explained, “As you all know, Tessa learned that Ryan was cheating on her…”
Ace went on to explain how Ryan had been making attempts to contact me, including showing up at the salon.
He shared how I’d shut down part of his attempts to reach out to me when I blocked his number.
Ace revealed how Ryan happened to be at the place Ace and I were planning to have lunch together.
Surprisingly, Ace didn’t hide that he’d attempted to get the message across that I’d moved on and how he’d accomplished that feat.
I then watched as my dad’s jaw clenched with anger when he learned that someone had run me off the road in what we originally thought was a random act of road rage, doing some damage to my car in the process.
But that reaction didn’t compare to the utter fury emanating from him and Luke when they learned about the gas situation at my place.
“Are you telling me that asshole is trying to kill my daughter?”
Ace sighed. “I don’t know yet.”
“Yet? What do you mean yet?”
“I called Kash, and I have him looking into Ryan because I don’t trust that guy regardless of Tessa saying he’d never been violent with her.”
Pride washed over Luke’s expression, and I could’ve sworn I saw a hint of appreciation leaking onto my dad’s features, too.
My mom, voice shaky, asked, “Has Kash learned anything?”
Ace shook his head. “Nothing that he’s felt was important enough to call me with yet, other than one incident.”
“What happened?” Nikki asked.
“Kash had been tailing Ryan, and that guy just happened to show up at the same place Tessa was having lunch at with Harper and Savanna.”
My dad looked at me. “Did he bother you?”
From the moment we arrived here this morning, it was clear my dad was struggling to keep his emotions in check. It was possible this would be the moment he lost that control.
“Ryan has been insistent from about the time I ended things between us that he intends to win me back,” I explained. “Every time he randomly shows up somewhere, he wants me to give him time so we can talk. He did the same thing that day.”
“He also put his hands on her,” Ace added.
“He did what?” my dad boomed.
My head snapped in Ace’s direction. He didn’t need to share that tidbit of information. It wasn’t that I felt compelled to protect Ryan, but I knew how my dad would react. Luke wasn’t far behind.
“It wasn’t like that,” I interjected, wanting to bring the temperature down. “He didn’t hit me.”
“Princess, you didn’t invite him to touch you, and based on what Kash told me, Ryan had a firm grip on your arm and was attempting to yank you out of your seat.”
At Ace’s endearment, my mom and Nikki audibly swooned, but either my dad didn’t hear it or didn’t care, because he seethed, “I’m going to kill him.”
“Are you happy now?” I asked Ace. “My dad is going to go to prison for murder.”
Ace chuckled. “He’s not going to go to prison. Nobody’s getting murdered. But your dad should know the truth.”
Our server returned with our breakfast, which helped tremendously with breaking up the brooding and anger coming from Luke and my dad. And for a few minutes after the plates had been spread out before us, everyone attempted to focus on the food. Some of us had more success than others, though.