|You're Perfect|
The school day was over, and I was left alone in the house with my bodyguard. The guy I kissed but now try to avoid. We would eventually have to speak to each other. As much as it was fun to pretend he did not exist, the problem will only worsen until we face him. Even if he rejects me, I would like to know what was on his mind.
I sucked my teeth and stepped out of my room, as painful as it was. Walking down the stairs was causing me anxiety. It is not every day that I am placed in this position. Unless you were a guy like Jake, no one asked me to kiss you. Not for Jake's selfish reasons, but simply because. That was not normal in my world. Ace has brought about unexpected changes. He was mysterious in all the right ways, but was that enough to carry me through this?
Ace sat in the family room, his eyes glued to the book he was reading. My eyes scanned over him, afraid to say anything. It was easier to look at him from a distance, but he eventually noticed me. Now is the time to air my grievances. More like, why on earth did he think it was a good idea to give me that dare? He had to understand that there would be consequences for our devious actions. Nonetheless, I felt compelled to do it again. Curse his attractiveness.
Looking over at me, I try to hide behind the wall, but he has already spotted me. The chuckle in his voice demonstrated this. My cheeks get hot while I try to figure out what to do. The whole point of me coming down here was to clear the air about the little game we played. There was no time to get sidetracked.
Unfortunately, Ace approached me as I leaned against the wall. He looks down with his trademark smirk on his face. We have not spoken in a while, but what did he expect? I have not had any intimate relationships with anyone. Especially not in the circumstances we are currently in. He laughed as I mentally panicked. It is incredible how men can remain so calm in these situations. They appear unconcerned about anything.
He smirks at me while clearing his throat. "Hiding behind the wall will not get you very far." He teased.
I avoided his gaze and focused on my feet. "Oh...right." I spoke nervously. "Hey."
Sensing my emotion, he stood up straight and forced me to look at him. "What's up? Why are you acting so... strange?" He asked in a playful manner.
My fingers twitch as I am afraid to admit what is wrong with me. We are not that old, but would I sound like a baby complaining about a kiss? It was the last thing I wanted. Clearly, he believed I was mature enough to handle it; otherwise, he would not have asked, right? Now, he will never ask me again. That is something I did not want to happen. Not that I expected to kiss him again, or anything.
I gulped and created some space between us before making a suggestion. "Would you like to go down to the pier?" I asked.
He looked at me puzzled, but chuckled anyway. "Um...hmm...that is an odd request." He laughs. "But it is not safe, and I doubt your father would approve."
My eyes rolled. "Come on; it will be fun. Plus, you will be right beside me." I beg. "And they have a tasty cotton candy stand with your name on it."
Bribery wasn't the first place I should be going, but it always seemed to work on Ace. I'm not sure why he always felt the need to cave into my ideas. He was right that my father wouldn't like the idea of me being out. Even with Ace, I was still stuck on house arrest until my father figures out what happened to my mom. Whenever that was going to be. This trip would have to be our little secret. It'll also help me gather my thoughts. Talking about what happened the other night is hard. There's so much to say but what if things change?
Ace sighed before agreeing to go down to the pier. I smiled excited to get out of the house and have a bit of that sweet tasting cotton candy. Ace would love it and it's perfect to break the ice between us. There's no way he hasn't felt the tension piling up. It's hard to tell if it was regular tension or sexual. Either way, we needed to get it sort out before we can continue doing anything. My brain couldn't take it.
So, we hopped in his car driving slowly to the pier. The silence was deafening as neither of us spoke. A minute ago, he seemed so confident teasing me inside the house. Now, the atmosphere between us changed. I was so happy to get out of the car because it felt like I was suffocating in there. It felt like my lungs were waiting to burst at any moment. I'm such a chicken shit when it comes to talking to Ace. He does something to me that gets me nervous beyond belief. His presence alone makes me quiver. It's too late to turn around now.
We were still in this uncomfortable silence, but the cotton candy certainly made up for it. It was sweet and fluffy just the way it should be. Ace seemed to like it as well with the way he groaned in delight. This started out as a bribe, but I'm so happy we got to do this. Now the hard part was talking about what I was feeling. Leave it to Ace to get straight to the point though. He never shied away from hard conversation.
"Why did you really want to come out here?" He asked me. "I know it wasn't just for cotton candy and it damn sure wasn't the ambience." He teases with a smile.
I giggle, crossing my arms over my chest. "I don't know, the ambience does something frisky to me." I joke, giving him a smirk of my own.
He rolls his eyes but appreciates the joke anyway. "Seriously, what's up? You've been avoiding me for what feels like days and now you want to talk?"
Sighing, my shoulders shrug not knowing where to start. "Well, Ace honestly, I've been thinking a lot..." I trail off getting nervous. "You see...when we...that game...I'm just..." I couldn't get it out.
Talking to him never seemed hard. This topic in particular proved challenging. There's no telling what he was going to say in response. He may look at me like I'm some crazy person overthinking a stupid kiss. How childish do you have to be to get so worked up over such trivial matters? It didn't change that I wanted answers as to why. Ace is the only one to know and yet, I already look like a fool without even asking him the question. It was pathetic.
Ace licked his lips with a knowing glare. "Reign...is there something you want to say?" He wondered. "Maybe about a certain kiss."
My eyes widened when he said it. I didn't expect him to say it outright. We haven't mentioned the kiss to each other since it happened. In fact, it didn't even feel like he remembered it with the way he never said anything. As much as I've been avoiding him, it's not like he tried to bring it up to me either. Maybe that was his way of forgetting about it and now I just reminded him.
I'm always putting my foot in my mouth but studying his face, he didn't seem to mind. The amusing glint in his eyes told me everything I needed to know as far as how he felt. This wasn't an uncomfortable matter for him. It looked as though he was waiting for me to say something. He had to have known that it was eating me up inside. Or he just likes to play pranks on me. That's been our relationship since we've met so it's not out of the realm.
Not answering, Ace stopped, walking in front of me to block my path. His towering presence was a lot to take in but all I wanted was to wrap myself in his arms. Take in his scent to fill my body with that comforting feeling I always get when I did. Ace was everything a girl could dream of. Even if there was still so much to know about him. Including his plot to get revenge for his dad. It didn't make me any less intrigued.
Slowly, I looked up at him still nervous to say anything about it. "Well...maybe," I admit with rather red cheeks.
That made him laugh but not in an evil way. "Does it truly bother you? I wouldn't have asked if I knew it would." He was always so understanding.
My head shakes rapidly. "No...it's not that it bothers me," I say. "It was enjoyable in every way but I..." I sighed again. "Why? W-why did you ask me?"
That stunned him as he stared at me confused. It's not like I wanted to be asking him this. It was irrational since we were simply playing a game of truth or dare. That may have taken a strange turn at the end. The feelings I felt when I finally did kiss him couldn't be faked. His arm was wrapped around me so snuggly. I was practically straddling him in the process. Despite that effervescent feeling, it didn't make sense why he would do such a thing. Especially out of nowhere.
His face was still confused, but he tried to make light of the situation. "Don't tell me you've never played truth or dare." He chuckled. "It was just a dare."
That answer would have been acceptable but I can tell that wasn't the full truth. "That wasn't just a dare Ace." I push a fly away behind my ear looking away from him. "At least not to me."
Ace changed from playful to serious in a matter of minutes. He saw the expression on my face, like always, and immediately changed his tune. This wasn't something I wanted to take light heartedly. On my end, there were real emotions involved. It's hard to pinpoint what those feelings were but it was enough to make me question how genuine he was being. Did he feel the same or was this really just a dare to him?
Just as the negative thoughts enter my head, they exit as Ace grabs my hand in his. The eruption of nausea fills my stomach not wanting him to let go. Before, touching each other was nothing to me. It was easier to ignore those strange feelings in the pit of my stomach. Now, after the kiss, it was impossible to ignore. My heart pangs in my chest slightly squeezing his hand back. The kiss meant more to me than I'll ever let on. Until he finds a way to make me smitten all over again.
"You surprise me everyday Helix," he smirks. "You want to know why I dared you to kiss me?"
I nod. "It's been killing me." I admit. "I just don't get it."
He shrugs. "Yeah, neither do I." He says to my shock.
We couldn't both be confused. That wasn't getting us any closer to solving this. "Ace! You can't be confused too!" I yell at him. "Gosh, you're not good at anything are you?"
He laughs. "I was pretty good at seducing you," he points out.
I flush with a roll of my eyes. It's not like he was lying. He was pretty good at seducing me. Everything he did made me melt. It's not my fault he was attractive though. Not only was he attractive but so kind. With all our disagreements, not once has he bailed on me. Ace is always there to lend a hand or an ear. Every time my father dips out on me, he's right there to pick up the pieces. Not to mention he did everything he could to protect me and Tana during the shoot out. All while getting injured in the process. Ace was great in more ways than one.
"Aside from your poor choice in flirting, why did you choose me?" I ask again. "I mean, you could have anyone you want."
That didn't matter to him. "Okay, you're making it sound like I just have my pick of the liter every hour of the day." He laughs. "But now that you mention it, I did have who I wanted."
I scoff. "Please, there's so many better options out there. I-I'm nothing." I stutter.
"You're perfect."
My heart stops hearing him say that. It was so flabbergasting that I didn't know what to say. Ace Cain thought I was perfect. He had to have misspoken because there's no way he meant that out loud. What was he trying to do to me? If he was doing this as another prank, I wasn't laughing. It wasn't funny! These were real emotions he was toying with. I'm not going to sit here and just let him do it. That'll be ridiculous on my part.
I frowned. "Ace Cain don't you toy with me!" I yell. "Are you trying to play a prank? Because it's not—"
"Relax, I'm not pranking you," he chuckles. "Look, you're quite stubborn, combative, and very head strong." He says.
That didn't sound good to me. "Kick me while I'm down why don't ya," I roll my eyes.
"You didn't let me finish." He laughs. "But you're also so caring and endearing. I...I just think every part of you is perfect. So, I wanted you to kiss me...to see something." He kept it vague.
The smile on my face was hard to fight as I listened to him speak. Even though he didn't tell me why, he wanted to kiss me. It's not just because it was a crazy dare. Ace felt something. Something that he was hiding from me, but it gave me a bit of closure. Now instead of feeling weird about it, I could feel happy. Happy knowing that whatever it is we were feeling it was happening for the both of us. Our friendship is strange but it's a friendship, nonetheless.
Still holding my hand, I changed direction and went in for a hug instead. I squeezed him so tight that he didn't have time to react to it. The way he groaned told me I did a number on him, but it didn't matter. He was delighted to clear the air as was I. We can finally go back to normal after avoiding this very topic. My mind felt at ease, but not everything good lasts.
Letting him go, we start to head back to his car in a better mood than when we came here. At least for now as the tension as we walked back went down. We weren't prepared for what was about to happen. Well, Ace wasn't prepared for what was going to happen to his car. This was like a once-a-month ordeal to me.
Smiling, I bumped him gently. "You know, if you wanted to get smooches you didn't have to dare me to do it," I tease.
He laughs with a roll of his eyes. "Smooches? I forget who I'm dealing with sometimes. Yet, you never cease to remind me."
I laugh as he unlocks his car door with his keys and within in a matter of minutes, it burst into flames. I stood back shocked but not surprised as this kind of thing happens to my dad a lot. Luckily, he's never gotten hurt, but I don't think whoever does this intends to hurt him. More like make a point that somebody is watching.
Unfortunately, this happened to Ace's car who was livid. I can tell he wanted to scream but held it in as best as he could. As much trouble as I would get in for being out of the house, the only person left to call was my father.
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