Cheating The Deck [boyxboy]

Cheating The Deck {21}

                "I told him I wouldn't date him because it would hurt you," I said. "It wasn't until he turned you down that I...You were taking it well so I just..." I let out a frustrated sigh and pulled off my hat so I could run my hand through my hair.

                "I get it, Jack. You're cursed with good looks. You can't help it that guys flock to you," Delaney said bitterly. "I'm more pissed that you didn't tell me. Ace isn't a fucking toy to fight over. It's the lying that pissed me off."

                He looked like he couldn't decide whether he was angry or sad about this situation. He turned his head away from me.

                "Fuck you, Jack. I'm going to stay with some friends for a little. I can't believe you lied to me like this. I can't believe you went behind my back with the guy you knew I wanted to date. You kept telling me it wasn't safe to date him, but that was just because you wanted to tongue him. Fuck you." He left my room, shutting the door quietly.

                I sat heavily on my bed, knowing it was no use trying to talk to him when he was like this. Shit.

                I snatched my phone and pressed Ace's contact, holding it to my ear as it rang. And rang. And rang.

                Voicemail. I hung up.

                I knew a relationship with Ace was dangerous. I knew he was manipulative. But I'd taken my eyes off of his ugly truth to look at the human side of him instead. He'd shown me a raw version of himself and stabbed me when he knew I was distracted. Shit.

                I had a couple of options here. I could go to his house and demand answers, which was the most appealing. But the most sensible option was to try to figure out how to contain the aftermath so that as minimal damage as possible was managed.

                Sighing, I grabbed my wallet and got up. I left the already empty apartment, knowing Delaney and Nico would be gone for a while. Delaney was mad, Nico was preoccupied, and I was busy myself now.

                I got in my car and started driving. This was my first real encounter with the kind of damage a guy like Ace could cause, but from what I'd gathered, he'd set off these kinds of explosions before.

                My mind wandered as I drove, calling up that image of a terrified Ace in the store earlier. Did that have something to do with this?

                I knew that, later, anger would hit me. But right now, I was still confused and lost and betrayed. What a fool I was. Of course someone like Ace couldn't be trusted so quickly. Lowering my guard around him just made it easier for him to attack.

                I parked my car and got out, heading into Dunkin' Donuts. It was fairly quiet inside, with only an elderly couple sitting at a table and a woman reading the newspaper in the corner.

                Ike met my eyes as I walked up to the counter. I'd noticed that everyone Ace lived with had a carefully composed face that they worked hard to maintain.

                Ace's façade was playful smugness. Christian's was distrustful indifference. Jer's was violent anger.

                And now Ike looked at me with his façade, one of bored disinterest. His eyes were sharp but the rest of his features were carefully arranged to look like he couldn't care less why I was here.

                "I'll take a medium hot chocolate," I said, pulling out my wallet. "I'll also take your friend Alexis's phone number."