14. Secrets and Screams
Half an hour later, I was still deliberately self-sabotaging as I watched the main character of my horror movie walk into a room I knew she shouldn’t.
I could barely even watch, pulling my blanket up past my chin so it almost covered my eyes. I felt so stupid. I was never going to be able to fall asleep after all of this.
Why was I doing this to myself? Why had I chosen the one night that Ace might not sleep with me to watch the scariest movie known to humankind?
I should’ve closed my laptop and done some homework.
But the fact that Ace had been so totally right about this movie made me even more determined to finish it.
Just then, the door to my bedroom flew open and a scream exploded from my mouth. It was so loud, it could have put a banshee to shame.
“Dotty, Ace is on the phone!” Thomas yelled as he burst through the room. He flinched at my shriek of terror. “Why are you screaming?”
My hand flew to my chest as I tried to slow my racing heart. Jesus Christ, I need a lock for my door.
“Thomas, you scared me! You can’t just come barging in here whenever you want without knocking!”
Thomas’s eyebrows pinched together. “You’re so weird.” He walked to the side of my bed and held his phone out at me. “Ace wants to talk to you.”
“What?” I looked down at the unknown number lighting up the screen and, sure enough, it was Ace’s.
“Ace called you? How does he even have your number? You got this phone yesterday!”
Thomas shrugged. “I don’t know, but he said he would give me five dollars if I brought it to you in under two minutes.” He thrust the phone into my hand. “Take it!”
I rolled my eyes, extremely tempted to tell Thomas to get out and take his phone with him. Ace knew my brothers were my weakness and was obviously taking advantage of that.
How he got Thomas’s number was beyond me, but it only added to my level of annoyance.
At the same time, however, I wasn’t about to turn Thomas away when he was so excited to make five dollars.
I finally took the phone from him and brought it to my ear. Thomas, content now he had completed his mission, wandered out of my room, leaving my door wide open like the little weasel he was.
“Bribing a child, Ace? Seriously?” I grumbled into the microphone. “We’re stooping that low?”
“Well, I wouldn’t have had to stoop that fucking low if you would’ve answered your goddamn phone one of the millions of times I called,” Ace snapped back at me.
I winced at the fury in his tone and pushed my laptop off my lap so that I could fall back down onto the bed.
I resisted the urge to scream into my pillow. This was the whole reason I had been avoiding his call. I hated it when he was mad at me.
“What the hell, Doe?” Ace continued. “Why didn’t you answer me?”
“I did answer you—”
“Don’t push me, Doe. You know I don’t mean sending me a damn text message. Do you have any idea
how long I’ve been trying to get a hold of you? How worried I’ve been?”
My muscles tensed with anger. “Just because I didn’t answer my phone when you called? My entire life doesn’t revolve around you, you know! I’m allowed to miss a few phone calls from you!”
Or a few hundred, I suppose.
Something burst through the cell and into my eardrum. Something between a roar and a growl. What it was, it was so loud that I had to pull the phone away from my ear. Holy shit, he was angry.
“You’re on thin ice, Doe,” Ace cautioned, his voice so low and dangerous that my instinct was to crawl under my blankets and never come out.
I wouldn’t let his anger get the best of me though. Frustration welled inside of me like a boiling pot about to spill over.
“What do you even have to be worried about?” I fumed. “You’re not here. How could you even know if something happened?”
I expected him to yell at me again, but to my surprise, Ace was silent for several seconds as he
d at my shriek of processed my words.
Just as I was about to ask if he was still there, he spoke again.
“Is that what all of this is about?”
I paused. “What do you mean?”bed and held his He let out a deep breath on the other side of the phone. “Thank fuck. Goddess, I was worried.”
I imagined him running a hand down his face; the way he always did when he was relieved or tired.
“My sweet, little Doe. I miss you too, sweetheart.”
He was speaking much softer now, his tone smooth and deep and comforting.
Despite my best efforts, my body instantly reacted, and most of the tension I’d been feeling faded.
But as happy as I was for him to confirm he still loved me, I was determined not to give in to the urge to roll over and surrender just because the opportunity to make amends had presented itself.
Not this time!
“What are you talking about? I never said I miss you,” I stated stubbornly.
“No, you never said it, but I still know you do. I feel the same way. I hate it when we’re apart. You’re my best friend.”
I flinched. That was the last thing I wanted to hear right now. “Best friends tell each other where they’re going instead of just disappearing without any notice.”
“I texted you,” he pointed out.
“It was the vaguest text ever! All you said was ‘Something came up.’ You didn’t tell me where you were going or what you were doing or why you had to leave school so suddenly.”ck down onto the And don’t even get me started on the fact that you were seen leaving with the drop-dead-gorgeous new girl.
I chose to leave that part out. He didn’t need to know about the jealousy burning a hole in my heart.
“I’m sorry, Doe,” he went on. “I was a huge jerk today, wasn’t I? Fuck, and then I left you by yourself and…I can see why you’ve been avoiding my calls.
“It doesn’t make it okay, but I understand why you did it. I confused you today.”ou have any idea
Uh, yeah, like you are confusing me right now. ed? My entire lifeHow could someone’s words bring me so much comfort while utterly bewildering me at the same time?
“I miss you too, Doe,” he repeated once more. “I hate being away from you just as much as you do and I wish I were with you right now. More than anything.”
I blinked up at my ceiling. The longer Ace’s buttery-smooth voice traveled through the phone and into my ear, the harder it was not to forgive him. inct was to crawlI let out a deep breath, exhaustion replacing my anger. I hadn’t realized how much tension I’d been carrying and allowed my body to slump and relax for the first time since he left me that morning.
“O-okay,” I replied. It was the only thing I could think to say.
“Yeah? Is it okay? Can you forgive me? I hate that I made you so upset.”
There was still a small spark of rage left in me, just big enough to continue arguing with him if I
wanted to.
But I didn’t want to.
“I’ll think about it,” I murmured.
He let out a sigh of relief. “I guess that’s good enough for now. I’ll make it up to you, I promise.”
I chewed my bottom lip. “Ace?”
“Yes, sweetheart?”
“Are you coming over here tonight? To s-sleep with me?”
“Of course I am. I always sleep with you. You know that. Have you been worried about that?”
“Only a little,” I mumbled. My cheeks heated. “I just sleep better with you by my side.”
Plus, I have just watched the scariest movie of my life and will no doubt be plagued with nightmares all night if he doesn’t come over.
“Fuck, you’re blushing right now, aren’t you? I love it when you blush.” Ace let out a deep groan that made the space between my legs tingle slightly.
“I sleep better when I’m by your side too. So, you never have to worry about that.
I’ll always sleep with you. Did something happen to make you think otherwise?”
I let out a humorless laugh. “Other than you being in Canada all day?”
Ace paused. My stomach dropped.
“How the fuck did you know that?” he demanded.
Shit, why the hell did I mention Canada? “I-I, um…”
“Did your dad tell you?” Ace continued.
My silence was answer enough for him.
He swore under his breath. “That’s great. Just fucking perfect.” Sarcasm dripped from every word. “I was in Ontario earlier today, yes. I’m landing in Colorado in an hour and a half.”
So, my dad told the truth then. Why did he get to know but I didn’t?
“Why didn’t you tell me? And why did you need to go to Canada, anyway?”
Ace sighed. “It’s complicated, Doe. I can’t really get into it right now, but I promise, I’ll explain the whole thing to you later. For now, let’s just say, I had a family emergency.”
I rolled my eyes. “I know you don’t have any family in Ontario, Ace.”
“They moved there recently,” he replied without skipping a beat. at the same time?Lies, lies, and more lies.
“Is there anything your father didn’t tell you about my business?” Ace asked. “I’ll have to talk to himch as you do and about what he can and cannot share with you. He needs to learn some boundaries.”
My nostrils flared. “My dad can share whatever he wants with me. He’s the only one who isn’t keeping secrets and, therefore, he’s the only person I can trust at the moment.
“You will not take that away from me because you feel like having this mysterious second life that you want me to know nothing about for no good reason.”
I could hear Ace grinding his teeth on the other end of the phone. “I don’t have a second li—”
He cut himself off and took a deep breath to calm himself down. “I don’t want to fight anymore. I’ve been away from you all day and just want to hear your voice.
Tell me about your day.”
I screamed internally. Why did I even try?
“It was fine,” I replied curtly.
He waited for me to say more, and when I didn’t, said, “Okay, fine. Don’t tell me about your day. What are you doing right now?”
I looked down at my laptop, which still had the paused horror movie open on it. I reached over and slammed the computer shut. “Nothing.”
“I can hear the lie in your voice, Doe.”
The audacity of this man. “Huh, funny, I guess you’re not the only one who can keep secrets then. I’ll see you when you get here later tonight. I have homework to do.” th nightmares all I quickly hung up the phone before my courage abandoned me. I squeezed the cell to my chest, feeling it heave up and down with my frustrated breaths.
A moment later, it dinged with a text. It was from Ace’s number.
Unknown We’ll finish talking about this when I come over later tonight.
I’m still sorry about today. I love you.
With a huff, I deleted the text and blocked Ace’s number from my brother’s contacts.
“Thomas!” I yelled, tossing the device onto the carpeted floor near my door. “Come get your phone!”
“They moved there recently,” he replied without skipping a beat.
Lies, lies, and more lies.
“Is there anything your father didn’t tell you about my business?” Ace asked. “I’ll have to talk to him about what he can and cannot share with you. He needs to learn some boundaries.”
My nostrils flared. “My dad can share whatever he wants with me. He’s the only one who isn’t keeping secrets and, therefore, he’s the only person I can trust at the moment.
“You will not take that away from me because you feel like having this mysterious second life that you want me to know nothing about for no good reason.”
I could hear Ace grinding his teeth on the other end of the phone. “I don’t have a second li—”
He cut himself off and took a deep breath to calm himself down. “I don’t want to fight anymore. I’ve been away from you all day and just want to hear your voice.
Tell me about your day.”
I screamed internally. Why did I even try?
“It was fine,” I replied curtly.
He waited for me to say more, and when I didn’t, said, “Okay, fine. Don’t tell me about your day. What are you doing right now?”
I looked down at my laptop, which still had the paused horror movie open on it. I reached over and slammed the computer shut. “Nothing.”
“I can hear the lie in your voice, Doe.”
The audacity of this man. “Huh, funny, I guess you’re not the only one who can keep secrets then. I’ll see you when you get here later tonight. I have homework to do.”
I quickly hung up the phone before my courage abandoned me. I squeezed the cell to my chest, feeling it heave up and down with my frustrated breaths.
A moment later, it dinged with a text. It was from Ace’s number.
Unknown We’ll finish talking about this when I come over later tonight.
I’m still sorry about today. I love you.
With a huff, I deleted the text and blocked Ace’s number from my brother’s contacts.
“Thomas!” I yelled, tossing the device onto the carpeted floor near my door. “Come get your phone!”
