Warren hustles her toward us. “You fucking dislocated her jaw.” He cuts me a hard look as if I deliberately did this to piss him off. Little does he know I was just trying to save him from hearing that I was turning my virginity in to Ace come Friday—that all of the money in the world isn’t enough to make me want to lie down for him.
“Let’s see it.” Ace pulls her hair back, exposing a nice split in her lower lip, a jagged line of blood runs clear down to her chin.
Oh, God. In no way did I ever want to hurt her. Okay, so maybe a small part of me did, but never like that.
“I’d better get you to the clinic.” Ace tries to pull her in, but she growls at him as if she were rabid.
If I didn’t know Neva before her walk on the wild side, I might actually be afraid of her—I sort of am anyway.
“Dude.” Warren pulls her back and examines her closely. “She might need stitches. Anything more than a band aid, and they’re going to send you down the hill.” He cringes into her. “I’ll take her. It’ll be faster in my truck.”
“My car is plenty fast.” Ace expands his chest at the thought of being cut off at the vehicular balls by Warren of all people.
“No it’s not.” Warren pushes Neva toward the sidewalk.
“I’ll come with you,” Ace offers.
“It’s a two-seater. We’ll be right back.” He leads her off toward his house, and I can’t help but breathe a sigh of relief. I feel bad for Neva, but with both her and Warren gone, I feel lighter than air.
The music shifts its rhythm back to Coldplay’sYellow,and I lower my lashes into Ace. “I spent the entire last year listening to this song on repeat.” While dreaming of him, but I leave that last part out. I remember agonizing at the thought of having to spend each day without the possibility of seeing that dark hair, those eyes like polished sapphires.
“This song reminds me of you.” He presses out a sly grin, and his dimples dig in deep.
Joanna Knickerbocker bops up in a pair of pasties she’s trying to pass off as a bathing suit, her round bottom hangs out of her bright pink shorts.
“Ace Waterman,” she purrs into him. Her blonde hair is pulled back into a sleek ponytail, and she actually looks pretty with her face kissed by the sun, her lips glowing a soft peach. “Dance with me!”
My stomach pinches just witnessing the exchange.
“He can’t dance with you,” I say, gurgling a silent laugh while looking right into his eyes. “Because he’s going to dance withme.” I pull him along until we’re buried nine deep in a sea of bodies. Ace slips his hands around my waist. “I was just thinking the other day how we’ve never danced,” I whisper into him.
“Sure we have.” He brushes his lips over my ear, and a dull ache travels all the way down to the most intimate part of me. “Remember the night you loaded my pillow with toothpaste, and I chased you around the cabin?”
I belt out a laugh. “That wasn’t dancing, that was called running for my life.”
“No, it was dancing. We were just moving really fast.” He presses me in by the small of the back, and I catch my breath as his stomach sears over mine. “Do you remember what I said to you that night?”
“What did you say?” I tilt my head back and catch Warren up on the ridge in his truck. The smile glides from my face as he stares me down. He takes off so fast, a trail of dust rises in his wake.
Ace leans in and touches his cheek to mine. “I said I forgave you because one day I’d have you right where I want you.”
My chest heaves for a moment because, for one, Ace remembered, and two, it sounded beautiful coming from his lips.
“And where’s that?” I pull back to take him in, his navy eyes, those deep wells in his cheeks that wink at me in turn. Ace Waterman is perfection.
“Right here.” He leans in and rubs his lips over my ear. “In my arms.”
Ace
The bodies only seem to grow in number as the sun sets.
Kennedy pulled Reese back to the house to ice her face, and I haven’t seen her for a good half hour. I shake my head at the thought of Neva and her damn left hook. I plan on giving her a fucking earful in the morning. I don’t want anybody touching Reese, not Warren and for damn sure not Neva.
Funny how things work. I used to come to these parties just to see Reese, and now, we’re meeting up, stealing kisses on the side.
I groan as I head to the food line. Gavin had me chopping a shitload of walnut this afternoon, and my muscles kill just to move.
Brylee makes her way over just as I’m loading up on tacos. I plan on wolfing them down in record time. According to Neva’s text, she’ll be another couple hours in the E.R., so as soon as Reese comes back I plan on stealing her away to the boathouse for another dance—a private one we can both enjoy.
