Double Jinx (Wattys2017)

Chapter 9

However ... the tiny voice in my head kept saying it was for a good cause. That I had to make sure Ace was okay. What if he had a life threatening injury? If the roles were reversed, he'd do the same for me. At least I'd want him to -

Damn. These unrelenting thoughts of mine were taking my mind places I didn't want to go. Well, maybe I did but that wasn't allowed. Ace had a girlfriend. It was plain and simple. Me taking his shirt off should have nothing to do with these stupid thoughts plaguing my mind. It should be only to help Ace.

I managed to convince myself that what I was doing had no correlation to my unwelcome desires. This was solely to make sure my friend was okay. That's it.

But oh how my will melted when I saw just what was waiting for me under that shirt.

Abs. So many solid, defined abs. His tanned skin was stretched across a torso containing little to no fat, only pure muscle. Ace's hand fell from his stomach onto the couch beside him, offering more cloth to lift. And the higher I rose his shirt, the more drool escaped from my lips. I assumed Ace had muscles but not like this.

Luckily, something drew my attention away from how heavenly this body was. The dark blotch of bruising on Ace's side. And when I said dark, I mean black. The bruise consumed nearly the entirety of Ace's side, devouring the skin from his hip to his ribcage.

My limbs froze in mid air. I couldn't rip my eyes from that carnage. It was so dark, so ... painful. It was devastating to look at, I couldn't even imagine how it felt. Poor Ace, I thought he was done with this. With the abuse. Who would have thought, ten years later, he'd still be fighting his demons.

Then again, so was I.

Seeing no other solution, I let his shirt drop back to it's rightful place. Then I gingerly took Ace's shoulders and pushed him sideways until he was laying on his back with a pillow propped under his head. I retreated to the kitchen and filled two plastic bags with ice then wrapped them both in kitchen towels.

Hoping that it wouldn't bother him too much, I placed the bags of ice against Ace's body. Right against his side where the bruising was. Then I waited. Surprisingly, the chill from the ice didn't wake him which I was grateful for. He needed some rest.

He looked so peaceful. With his eyes closed feather soft and his lips parted ever so slightly, one would never be able to guess the kind of horrors he's seen. The kind of horrors he's faced. Although, the bruise on his cheek and the cut on his forehead were dead giveaways.

My eyes began to sting but only because it pained my very core to know that Ace was still trapped by his parents. They weren't good people, they didn't deserve him. They should be locked behind bars, left to rot in their own filth and disgust. Yet still they roamed free, beating their son even though he was well over eighteen and legally allowed to kick their asses.

I wish he would, if only to save himself from nights like this.

Once fifteen minutes passed, I decided that it may be a little weird watching him while he slept. So I moved to my feet, stepping away from the couch to go busy myself in the kitchen while Ace recovered. But before I managed to take a single step I heard a gruff voice ask, "Where are you going?"

My eyes snapped back to where a now fully awake Ace was staring at me. Watching me. A strange force slapped against my chest as a wave of relief washed over me. Thank God that he was okay.

With shaking legs, I practically collapsed back onto the coffee table where I had been sitting before. Ace continued to watch me. Then he attempted to push himself up but a hiss of pain danced through his teeth.