Not Sarah's Number

Chapter 38: Ranch Hand

I woke up the next morning to the sound of my ringtone playing. Whoever was calling me this early in the morning did not know me very well. Groaning, I reached for my phone with my eyes closed, barely squinting them open to hit the green accept button.

"What?" I said rudely into the phone.

"Rise and shine honeybun!" Ace yelled into my ear. Or maybe they knew me too well.

"It is eight in the morning on a no school day. Why the hell are you waking me up?"

"So you can come over, remember? My sister just came in a few hours ago."

"That's great." Then I hung up the phone and placed my blanket over my head, trying to go back to sleep. I knew I had said yes to seeing him, but five more minutes of sleep didn't hurt.

I was expecting my phone to start ringing again soon. It did.

"Hey, why did you hang up on me?"

"Just drive over and call me when you're here. I'm gonna sleep a little longer until you get here."

"Well too bad, because I'm already at your house. I'm standing outside your window actually."

I gasped and flipped over on my bed to see Ace, true to his word, standing outside of my window on the tiny little veranda, waiting to be let in. "Ace! I'm still in bed! I'm still in my pajamas!"

I could see Ace roll his eyes as he talked into the phone. "And how many times have I seen you in your pajamas Jessica?"

"Way more often than I like to admit." With a sigh, I rolled out of bed and opened my window.

"Thank you. It was really starting to get chilly out there."

I shivered along with his words as the breeze came into my room. Texas really got colder than people thought. It was almost December already. I was surprised I'd been able to even open my window. Usually the frost built up in the morning.

"So are you going to tell me why your blinds were open Jess? What if some creeper wanted to stare in your window?"

"Oh, like you?" Ace rolled his eyes. I slid back under my blanket covers and closed my eyes. "My mom comes into my room in the mornings and opens them for me to let light in. She doesn't like us using electricity if it's light outside."

"She's a smart woman."

"She also would not appreciate you sneaking into my room without her knowledge. Do you know how this makes me look?"

"Your mom loves me."

His arms dropped around my waist and pulled me into him. I let out a tiny yelp.

"Holy shit you're freezing Ace!" I said as I tried to get out of his reach.

Ace just chuckled. "Didn't I tell you that it was starting to get chilly? Now give me your warmth!"

He snuggled into my side, and I tried once again to push him away. "Seriously, stop it Ace. My mom might like you, but you haven't met my dad yet. I don't think he'll get a good first impression of you if he catches you up here."

Ace's body went frigid, and he softly pushed me off of him. I almost laughed at the panic set into his face.

"Okay you're right. Hurry up then, I want to introduce you to my sister, and I still have to finish some chores at the ranch. I kind of ran away with the excuse that I was getting you and would be right back."

His sheepish smile captured my heart, and I gave a sigh. "Fine. Go back down there though. I need to change."

"What? You don't wanna meet my sister in your cute little pajamas?"