Chapter 28 #2
A cloud passes across his handsome features.
“You don’t have to talk about it, if you don’t want to.” I backtrack because I don’t want to bring him down. I like happy, upbeat Ace.
He lifts my hand to his lips and kisses my knuckles.
“No, it’s okay. I want you to know.” He tugs me over to the couch, and we collapse onto it together.
“I’ve always been a bit wild, you know. When I was a kid, I couldn’t sit still, like ever, and I never slept.
I drove my parents crazy, because even as a baby and a toddler, I was up all night.
They said it nearly broke them.” He gives me a sad smile.
“That didn’t change much as I got older, but instead of keeping my parents awake, I was able to keep myself occupied.
They didn’t know I would sneak out at night after they fell asleep.
I’d just kind of roam around the neighborhood, hang out at the park, kick a can around.
Stupid stuff. But it was better than driving myself crazy by sitting in my bedroom all night, waiting for the hours to pass. ”
He rubs the bridge of his nose.
“One night, after roaming around, I got back to the house and there was smoke. I didn’t even have a cell phone back then, so I didn’t know what to do. I wanted to call the fire trucks, but the landline was inside the house, and so were my parents.”
My blood has run cold at his story. I think I can already see where this is going.
He continues. “I managed to get back inside the house, but the smoke was so thick, I couldn’t see anything. I was coughing, my eyes were streaming, and I couldn’t breathe. I lost all sense of direction.
“One of the neighbors must have noticed the smoke, because the fire trucks turned up at some point. They found me passed out on the floor in the hallway. My parents were already dead, and they were found still in their beds. The fire started in their room, so the smoke got to them before the flames did, or at least that’s what the authorities told me. I hope it’s true.”
My eyes gloss with tears at his story. “I’m so sorry, Ace.”
He hasn’t finished. “An aunt took me in, but she didn’t really want me.
She didn’t know what to do with a grieving ten-year-old boy who already had issues.
And she was grieving, too. She just kind of shut down on me, and maybe I overcompensated in return.
I was always trying to get her attention, so I acted up, doing stupid shit all the time. My entire presence annoyed her.”
“That’s awful, Ace.” To be a grief-stricken boy, who had lost everything and then to be ignored and treated like nothing more than an irritant. I can’t even imagine what he went through.
“It wasn’t her fault. I know I can be annoying.”
I hug him tight. “No, you’re not. Don’t say that about yourself.”
He gives a halfhearted shrug. “Be more normal, Ace. Stop acting crazy. Ace, you’re nuts.”
I know they are the words he’s hearing from others all the time. I realize I might have said something similar, though I never meant it with cruelty, more affection. I suspect most people mean it that way when they say things like that about him, but he hears it differently.
“Oh, Ace.” My heart aches for him. “You rescue things because you were never able to save your parents.”
“I guess.”
“I think that’s the saddest thing I ever heard. But you know what? All those animals you help, I bet it means the world to them to have someone who cares.”
“Even the snails?” he asks skeptically.
I grin. “Yeah, even the snails.”
“Even though I murdered one of their friends?”
“I’m sure they’ve forgiven you.” Then I add with a cheeky smile, “You know, I told Ghost that I thought you were the most well-adjusted out of the four of you watching over me.”
He raises his brow. “You did?”
“Yeah. You can do crazy shit, but so what? At least you are in touch with your feelings, and you know what you want. You just talked about your past, openly. God, imagine trying to get Jack or Ghost to open up that way.”
“Ghost would rather run away and fight in another war than truly open up,” Ace muses.
“Yes, exactly. See? You’re not the only person with issues. We all have issues.”
“Even though I brought you fingers?”
I laugh and shudder at the memory. “That was going a bit too far, for sure.”
My cell buzzes, and I check the screen, my stomach lurching. “Oh, shit. Mackenzie is here already. They just got let through the main gates, so they’re on their way to the house.”
I know I shouldn’t be this nervous—Mack has been my friend for ages, and I knew her before Vani started college—but I’m still worried about what Vani might have said about me.
I hope everyone isn’t talking about what a complete bitch I am for hitting on her dad.
Gossip around Verona Falls University can run rife, and I’m bound to be at the center of it right now.
People will be questioning what’s happened to Ledger, too.
He went on a date with me, and then neither of us returned to college.
Lips will be flapping so fast they’ll probably catch fire.
An engine sounds from outside before cutting out, and moments later, a knock comes at my door.
I catch my breath and turn to Ace. “Ready? Don’t forget, no talking about Jack, whatsoever.”
He crosses his heart and jumps to his feet, dragging his hand through his curls, displaying twin dimples as he grins. “Let’s get this party started.”
I open the front door to find my friend standing there, a huge smile on her face.
“Camile!” she declares and pulls me in for a hug. “I’ve missed you.”
I hug her back. “I missed you, too, Zee. I’m so happy you came.”
I wonder how Ace will react to Mackenzie.
She’s the complete opposite of me and Vani.
I’m short and dark, where she’s tall and blonde.
She has a kind of regal air about her which earned her the nickname of Duchess when she first started at Verona Falls.
I guess some people thought she was a bit stuck up, which wasn’t true at all.
She was just dealing with a whole heap of shit no one knew about.
Will he stare at her because of her beauty? They’ve met before, I think, at a party, but they didn’t spend any time together. Same with Ace and Kirill. I hope they get along, but putting two alpha males in close confines isn’t always guaranteed to turn out well.
I take in the sight of the tall blond standing at Mackenzie’s side, carrying her Louis Vuitton bag on his shoulder, and a small, zipped-up, travel style bag in one hand, and her Stanley cup in his other.
Kirill is Russian mafia, or at least his family is.
His father was even more fucked up than mine, and Mack has given me some idea of what he went through as a child.
I have to admit, once she’d told me, I found myself softening toward him a little.
Plus, the guy can really dance. If he ever gets on the dance floor, all eyes are on him.
He has something almost magical about his hips.
He jerks his chin at me. “Hey, Camile.”
“Hi. Thanks for your text.”
He shrugs one shoulder. “Dah.”
I step back, allowing them in. “Welcome to my new, albeit temporary, home.”
Mackenzie hugs me again. “I’ve been so worried about you. How are you holding up?”
Ace emerges from the living room and stands in the doorway, his arm propped against the frame. I sense him and Kirill sizing each other up.
“Kirill,” I introduce, “this is Ace. The two of you are going to be friends.”
They both shoot me a look that says, ‘We’ll see about that.’
Mack takes the bag Kirill had been holding. “I brought supplies.” She holds up the bag. “Face masks, chocolate, mani-pedi kits, vodka.”
“Now you’re talking.”
“Wanna beer, man?” Ace asks Kirill.
Kirill shrugs. “Sure, whatever.”
The pair of them nonchalantly head into the kitchen.
I grab Mackenzie’s hand and tug her into the living room to sit next to me on the couch. She places the bag she brought with her on the coffee table next to it.
Should I start by apologizing for putting her in between me and Vani?
“I know you don’t want me talking about the shit going on between me and Vani, but I have to ask. Is Vani okay? You know I’d never mean to hurt her.”
“Yeah, she is, but honestly, I don’t want to talk about that, babe. If you accidentally let something slip that I’d rather not know, it’ll put me in a seriously awkward position. Anyway, I assume that hottie who’s just taken Kirill into the kitchen is one of the guys you’re hooking up with.”
I press a smile between my lips, my cheeks warming. “One of them, yes.”
“Well, if the others are as gorgeous as he is, you’re winning at life.”
I don’t feel like I’m winning at anything, but I don’t tell her that.