Dog Days

17 ~ can't get over it

ACE TOLD ME TO STOP.

I had taken the day off to discuss this over, and we'd been sitting at the kitchen table for two hours, hissing at each other in low volumes not to wake Sophie up.

Ace listened to me telling him about Austin, who he was, and what could have happened. He believed I was exaggerating. "I don't think his mother knows what happened," he said, setting his cup on the table. "Mila wouldn't tell her, would she?"

I shook my head. "I don't think so. She's not a fan of telling her mother about her issues—but who knows, Ace? Can I risk that? What if she told her? Do you know how she will react once she learns her son knows me? I don't give a fuck about myself. I don't want Sophie to get affected by my past mistakes."

Ace sighed and buried his face into his hands. He knew I was right, but moving out of this town wasn't easy. It took us a long while to adjust to this place, and now, we had to get used to another home.

"You know what? You need to get over it, Kara."

"Get over what?"

"What you call a past mistake is Sophie." I looked at him in disbelief. "Does it matter who the guy is? What happened that night resulted in Sophie—our little precious Sophie."

"What happened that night also resulted in us moving out of Northampton!" I jumped to my feet and ran a hand through my hair. "Maybe it wasn't entirely my fault. I've always been too hard on myself. Mila pushed me to do it but it's still a black stain in my book and I can't erase it. If I told anyone about it, they would think so. I've crossed a line and paid the price."

"So you'll run away for the rest of your life, huh?" He leaned back and shot me a glance. "I'm not moving, Kara. I stay—you don't owe them shit. Even if Mila finds you, all you need to do is keep your head high and face her. We both know it's also her fault. The more you keep silent the more she will feed people lies. She will also tell Austin her side of the story if you don't tell him the whole thing first."

"Telling Austin?" I asked with a fake laugh. "That's not happening. He'd never pick me over his sister—I mean, would you? If someone told you shit about me, would you believe them? Especially when the situation is obviously against me."

"If I know you and what you're capable of, I would."

"Mila is a saint to him—I'm sure of that. She loves him; he's always been sacred. I remember how her eyes shone whenever she mentioned Austin." He rolled his eyes. I could see that he didn't take my words seriously and was in no intention of moving out. "Look, Ace. I care about Sophie. Her future. Her present. I don't want her to be in a huge drama because of me."

"She won't," he said assuringly. "I care about her, too, Kara. She's my girl, my niece. Yeah, I've been a shitty uncle lately, but I would never let anyone hurt her. Whoever tries has to kill me first." His protectiveness of Sophie tore me up. I squeezed his hand with teary eyes. "I've got your back," he whispered. "You don't have to run anymore."

"Mom." Our conversation stopped at the sight of awake Sophie with her teddy bear. "I'm hungry." She walked to me, rubbing her eyes. As she sat on my lap, I kissed the top of her head. I should fight for her sake.

I shot a look at Ace and hoped he understood what was running in my mind. If this meant staying away from Austin, I needed to do it but I needed a valid reason or a sneaky plan to keep him away. The more I ignored or hated him the more interested he grew.

What if I did reverse psychology to show him that he was wasting his time on me? We could spend time together and I would do everything to annoy him so that he would eventually back off. First, I needed to figure out his pet peeves. He hated people who hated animals but he knew that I wasn't one of them. What else could he find disturbing?

Ace poured cereal and almond milk into a bowl, then put it in front of Sophie. "I'll see a guy from a record label tomorrow. Wish me luck, ladies." He kneeled a little to get a full mouth kiss from Sophie and I ruffled his hair. "If this happens, I'll propose to Claire."

"What?" I never thought Ace would be into marriage. When he met my gaze, I noticed my reaction was too abrupt. "I mean I never thought you considered marriage." He shrugged with a lopsided grin.

The idea of their marriage changed the mood. Ace would move out and build a new life without us. We wouldn't be as close as before. We'd been through thick and thin together and the idea of separating our lives sounded strange. A pit in my stomach bothered me when I curled my lips to return his smile. He would be happy, I reminded myself. At least one of us deserved to find happiness.

Daisy stole my attention when she hopped onto Ace's knee and licked my wrist. "Daisy," Sophie shrieked, caressing Daisy's head. She hopped off my lap and hugged Daisy, then they ran out of the kitchen with a huge noise.

"I'm never leaving you guys alone." I looked at Ace. His hand on my knee, he gazed at me as if he could read into my mind. "We are a family—Claire is just an addition to it."

"Go for it," I replied, putting my hand over his. "You deserve the whole world, bro. I'll always be by your side as your cheerleader." He chuckled. I looked over his head to check the clock on the wall. "Ace."

"Hmm."

"You promised to do the laundry today."

His mouth frowned. "When? You got me when I was drunk, right?"

I shrugged, standing up. "Just using the opportunity. Love you." I walked out of the kitchen, ignoring his aggressive mumbling. I entered my room to unplug my phone from the charger and noticed Sarah sent me a text message.

Nick asked me if you're sick or Sophie. Not too hard to guess who made him ask ;)

What did you say?

That you're sick.

Good. Thanks, babe.

You still owe me an explanation.

I put my phone aside in lieu of an answer. I wasn't going to tell a soul about it when all I wanted was to erase this memory from everyone's mind.

Love you all. That's it ❤️

Sev xx