Ace (Book 1)

Chapter 7. Trust Is Earned

Ace dropped his hands from my waist.

I turned away and swam back to the shore. I liked the idea of Ace liking me. I didn't care about other boys, and Ace had nothing to be jealous of. I wouldn't put up with a guy acting jealous all the time for no reason.

As I walked back up to my friends, I saw Kal by his friends. Kal stared at me in a way that made me cringe.

The fire flickered and crackled. Thick gray smoke swirled through the air. A radio that Luis had brought was turned most of the way up. The waves crashed against the sand.

Kal and his friends had left a couple of hours ago. It was dark. We had been at the beach all day. We had left for a short time to eat at a place not too far away during the afternoon.

Gabriel's girlfriend, Sadie, approached me. Sadie had dark red hair and green eyes. Most people with red hair had light skin, but Sadie's was tan.

"How are you liking California?" Sadie asked.

"It's different," I said and shrugged. "I like it. It's better than where I was."

"I'm sure," Sadie said. "I'm from Texas originally. I moved here several years ago."

"Do you miss it?" I asked.

"Nah. California has been my home for so long now. I grew used to it."

"Babe." Gabriel walked over to us.

Sadie looked at Gabriel.

"Ready?" Gabriel asked.

"Yeah," Sadie said. Sadie looked back at me. "I have to get to bed. I have to get up early in the morning. It was nice meeting you."

"You too," I said and smiled.

Sadie and Gabriel walked hand in hand up the beach. Sadie was kind but blunt, but her bluntness was comical.

I had met all the guys' girlfriends. Carley was a petite blond. Carley was funny and kind. Carley was Jax's girlfriend. Jennifer was Joey's girlfriend. I liked Jennifer. She was reserved like I usually was. Kelsey was Luis's girlfriend, and I understood why Kimmy liked her so much. Kelsey was beautiful but very kind.

"Ew," Carley muttered.

My gaze followed Carley's. A girl with brown hair and unnatural blond highlights came down the beach with two blonds on each side of her.

"Who are they?" I asked.

"Mila, Carrie, and Sierra," Carley said. "The one in the middle is Mila. Mila and Ace were together for several months, but they broke up a few months back. She's a complete bitch."

"She is the one that cheated on him?" I asked.

"Yeah," Carley said. "With that guy that threw the beach ball at you earlier. His name is Kal Rivera. Kal and Ace have been on each other's shit lists for as long as I can remember. Kal is always desperate to be better than Ace at everything. Women, cars, and everything else you can think of. Kal has hit on every girl that Ace ever dated or liked."

"Every girl?" I asked. I had to wonder how long that list was.

"Yeah, pretty close," Carley said and chuckled. "I heard Kal beat the hell out of Mila, but nobody knows if it's true or not."

"Wow," I breathed.

"I knew another girl that Kal dated too. She told me he was always getting furious, cheating, and lying," Carley said.