Chapter 9. Ace
Ace
I don’t know what I expected when I arrived at Haley’s house on Sunday morning, but it wasn’t her coming down the stairs in a cropped tank top and barely there shorts and screaming “Fuck!” before running back up.
“I’m not sure what you were thinking showing up so early. Haley doesn’t do mornings, especially on the weekend,” Paige said, watching her race away. “I knew we were in for trouble when I woke her. You’re lucky I was up early to call my mom.”
I took a step back, keeping a safe distance between us.
I didn’t know where I stood with Paige yet, and I didn’t want to take any chances.
“I wanted to go through the house and assess the security system before we had to leave for her class. Your front door isn’t secure. Someone could easily kick it in.”
“Someone already kicked it in.” Paige gestured to the cracked doorframe. “End-of-the-year party. Haley invited everyone she knew, and over one hundred people showed up. You can check out all our police citations on the fridge. We’ve been making a collection.”
“No more parties,” I said firmly. “At least not until this threat is resolved.”
“Then you can be the bearer of bad news.” She lifted her chin in the direction of the stairs.
“Our old roommate Molly cleared out the last of her stuff yesterday. Your room is the third door on the right. Haley is the second door, and the bathroom is at the top of the stairs. Aditi and I are on the left. You’ll meet her at the time normal people get up. ”
“I’ll take my bag upstairs and get started checking out the house.”
Paige folded her arms and leaned against the banister.
“By the way, just in case you got the wrong impression from our conversation, I’ll never forgive you for hurting Haley.
I don’t know why she decided to let you back into her life, but I’m telling you right now that if you hurt her again, not even an army of Stellar Security bodyguards will be able to stop me from hunting you down and beating your ass. ”
“Noted.” I’d learned early on not to underestimate Paige.
She looked sweet and innocent with her long, braided hair and gentle smile, but her sharp eyes missed nothing, and when it came to Haley, she was fiercely protective.
Matt never teased Haley when Paige was around.
Either he’d get a vicious tongue-lashing, or he’d be plagued by mysterious misfortunes—his bike would get a flat tire, his shoes would go missing, and once he found ants in his bed.
I dropped my bag in the spare room and took a moment to check out my surroundings.
Bed, dresser, desk, worn corkboard, a few odds and ends left behind by the previous roommate.
I’d gone straight into the air force after high school, so I’d never had the college experience.
With all the catching up I had to do, school had always been a struggle, but the air force offered exactly what I was looking for—structure, discipline and purpose.
After spending my childhood alone, I wanted to be part of something.
I wanted to feel needed. The air force had given that to me and more.
If not for Matt’s accident, and the PTSD that came with standing on the tarmac helplessly watching his plane crash, I would have continued on active duty until I couldn’t fly anymore.
I checked the window, noting the rotting wood around the frame and the broken lock. A quick walk around the house revealed more of the same, including doors without dead bolts and a sub-roof that could give an intruder easy access to the upstairs floor—to Haley.
Every muscle in my body tensed, rage surging inside me.
When I thought about what had happened to her, how close the kidnappers had come to taking her away, about what could have happened if Paige hadn’t been there…
High school boys who wanted to show her the stars were no longer her biggest danger.
After completing my sweep of the house, I found Haley and a dude in a leather jacket at the kitchen table. His long hair was tied up in a ponytail and he had a collection of beaded bracelets around his wrist.
“This is my friend Sam,” Haley said as if we’d had a proper greeting at the door instead of a shrieked swear word followed by her racing up the stairs. “He’s in the music program and he sometimes helps me find songs for my show.”
“Friend with benefits.” Sam put his arm around Haley’s shoulders while he stared at me. I recognized the gesture for what it was—not a show of affection but staking his claim. “I take it you’re the bodyguard.”
I didn’t like Sam. I didn’t like the fact that he shared an interest in music with Haley.
I didn’t like his leather jacket or his long hair or his bracelets or the fact that he was touching Haley in a way that made her smile.
I particularly didn’t like the fact that he’d slept with her, but several of those problems were easily addressed.
“Ace.” I held out a hand at an angle that meant he had to release Haley to shake. I squeezed maybe a little too hard and made his face pale. “Unfortunately, until Haley’s safety is assured, we can’t have any guests in the house.”
“He’s here so often, we’ve been thinking of charging him rent,” Haley said. “We can make an exception for him.”
I folded my arms across my chest. “No exceptions.”
“Except Sam,” she said.
“Not Sam.”
“I’ll let you guys work that one out. ‘Not Sam’ has to get to a band rehearsal.” Sam leaned over to kiss Haley on the lips and then looked over his shoulder at me with a smirk. “My money is on Haley in an argument, so I’ll probably see you soon.”
I pulled out a chair and joined Haley at the table. “I meant it about guests. We need to keep the circle of people who know about me small. It’s better for everyone if this is handled discreetly.”
“Better for my mother, you mean.” She raised an eyebrow.
“I personally think it would be better if you wore a shirt that read ‘Haley’s Bodyguard. Touch her and die.’ You’d be an effective deterrent.
Not that I seriously think I’m in danger anymore.
Nothing has happened since the incident on the street, and there’s no real link between that and the threats Mom received.
We learned in one of my psych classes that most people who make threats don’t act on them.
The biggest danger is the people you don’t see coming. ”
Typical Haley. Burying the pain away. “All the more reason for me to stay invisible.”
“Funny,” she said, unsmiling. “When did you become such a funny guy?”
“I’m a serious guy, and you need to take this seriously. You can’t pretend it’s not happening like you always do.”
Her jaw tightened. “How would you know what I always do? You completely ghosted me, as if the friendship we had when we were younger meant nothing, as if we were two strangers meeting at a party and then going their separate ways. You made it clear you wanted nothing to do with me when I started high school and even more clear when you left. It changed me, Ace. I’m not the girl I was when you left. ”
Guilt speared through me the way it had back at the office when she’d mentioned how I’d disappeared from her life.
Not only had I encouraged Matt to join the air force with me, making me partially responsible for his death, I’d also abandoned her emotionally when she needed me the most. I had a chance now to be physically present for her in ways I wasn’t before, and maybe even make up for any emotional harm I’d caused—if she’d let me.
“I know you’ve changed. We both have.” She hadn’t been a girl since the summer she turned fifteen and walked into the backyard in a tiny bikini, sporting curves I didn’t know she had.
I shifted in my seat, trying to think of what else to say.
I had an introductory speech I gave all my clients, but I couldn’t remember the words.
It was awkward, the distance between us.
Things had always been easy with Haley. She talked.
I listened. We had adventures together. Sometimes we shared our feelings.
She was never uncomfortable with my silence, and I was never irritated by her need to chatter.
“Do you have any other boyfriends I should know about?” I asked, trying to steer the conversation away from painful topics.
“I don’t really do boyfriends,” Haley said. “Sam and I probably meet up once or twice a month, have sex, and then he leaves. Is it really going to be an issue?”
My stomach tightened and I reminded myself that I was over Haley. I’d put all those feelings behind me long ago. So why did I keep having a visceral reaction every time the idea of her with other guys came up?
“If it’s important to you, we can make it work.” I had to force the words out. “But it would be better to keep visitors to a minimum. Can he not handle a few weeks without… benefits?”
A slow smile creased her face. “You mean sex? Can Sam not go a few weeks without sex? Maybe he can, but I can’t.”
“Dammit, Haley,” I spluttered. “I’m just trying to keep you safe.”
“And I’m trying to live my life,” she said.
“This whole bodyguard thing is OTT and I only agreed to it because it’s the first time since my dad died that my mom has acted like a mom.
I’ll bet the kidnapping attempt was just a one-off, the threats will turn out to be nothing, and you’ll be free of me and back to protecting all your famous actresses and singers in no time. ”
“Until then I’ll do my best to keep you safe.” Haley had changed in some ways—she was a woman now and not a girl, and she’d lost her wild edge, but her need to talk through her concerns out loud was still the same.
“Are you going to pretend to be a student or stand conspicuously at the back of the class?” she asked.