33. Secrets and Shadows
A week or so after I gave my first blowjob, Ace and I were still on top of each other every chance we got.
Ace brought me back to his house every day after school. We barely made it through his front door before Ace slammed me against the wall and his mouth against mine. Today was no different.
We stumbled into the living room, our tongues tangled together, and onto the couch, where Ace’s fingers made their way into my panties, leaving me gasping and convulsing under him.
It was how we spent most of our evenings. We were insatiable. The attraction I felt for the man was insane.
After we had satisfied each other, Ace laid me down with my head on his lap so he could run his hand
through his hair and massage my scalp.
“Where’s your dad?”
His eyes found mine, his brow raised. “My dad?”
How does he manage to look so good from this angle? I would have about a million double chins.
I nodded. “It’s just, we’ve been spending a lot of time at your house, and I haven’t seen him once. In fact, I don’t think I’ve seen him in months.”
Ace studied me for a moment. “He’s…” He paused. “He’s been out of the country.”
“Out of the country? Why?”
I didn’t miss the way his jaw hardened.
“Because he’s a fucking coward.”
I sat up. “What do you mean?”
Ace leaned his head back against the couch as if he were already exasperated by the conversation.
I knew that look. He was about to lie to me.
Ace opened his mouth to respond, but I quickly cut him off.
“You know what? Never mind.” I scrambled off the couch, my chest already tight with dejection and annoyance. “I think it’s time you take me home. I don’t want to be late for dinner again.”
It wasn’t a lie.
Now that Ace and I were spending so much alone time together, my mom was complaining about how little she saw me and made me promise to eat dinner with the family at least three times a week.
Ace followed behind me as I walked to the foyer to grab my shoes. “Doe, what’s wrong? Why are you mad?”
“I’m not mad,” I replied as I slipped on one of my white sneakers and started to lace it up.
Ace gave me a blank stare that told me he knew I was lying.
I rolled my eyes. “Why do you think I’m mad?” I figured I might as well have him tell me since he seemed to know what I was thinking all the time.
“I think it has something to do with what I was going to say about my father being gone. Which is ridiculous because you didn’t even give me a chance to respond.”
I didn’t look at him as I angrily tied my other shoe. “That’s because I already knew what you were going to say.”
“And what exactly do you think I was going to say?”
I sighed. “You were going to give me some vague, confusing response that made no sense. You were going to lie to me.
“And then, when I kept asking questions you didn’t want to answer, you were going to distract me by kissing me or sucking on my neck.”
Ace’s eyes were becoming darker with every passing second. “You don’t know that.
I wasn’t going to—”
“Oh, yeah?” I stood to face him, pinning him with an angry glare.
“Fine, then tell me why your father has been out of the country. Why haven’t I seen him in months even though I’m at your house nearly twenty-four seven now?”
When Ace hesitated, I quickly continued.
“Or better yet, why don’t you answer any of the questions you’ve given me vague responses to over the last few weeks?
“Why did you leave school in the middle of the day to go to Canada of all places?
How did you meet Clara? What did you and Madoc do to Ben that was so bad that he still hasn’t returned to class?
“Why do you have a skeleton key to our school? Why did my dad get so mad when he saw that you bit me? Why did you bite me?”
“And what the heck did you do to that huge wolf we saw in your backyard, and why did you come back covered in blood?”
Ace blinked, his lips parting a bit. I had finally floored him.
“You…you remember that?” he asked.
What? “Remember what?”
“When I bit you in my car. And the wolf, and the blood,” Ace stated. “You remember all of that.”
“Do I remember when you bit my neck like a damn vampire? Or when the giant monster wolf tried to break into your house? Yes, of course I do! You’re the one pretending like none of it happened.”
I could practically see Ace’s mind racing behind his wide eyes. He seemed genuinely shocked.
Confused.
It only added to my frustration. How stupid did he think I was?
“How’s your head?” he asked me suddenly.
“What? What does that have to do with anything?”
Ace looked at my hairline as if he could see into my mind and check it for pain.
“Does it hurt? Do you have a headache?”
I rolled my eyes. He’s trying to distract me again. “Stop changing the subject—”
“No, I’m serious, Doe. Are you getting a migraine?”
I thought about it. “No. My head feels fine. I actually haven’t had a migraine in a few weeks.”
It was a miracle really. My head had never felt better. I’d realized it a few days earlier but hesitated to tell Ace about it because I didn’t want to jinx it.
“Now, can we get back to what we were talking about?”
I crossed my arms, determined to continue even as my lip began to wobble with emotion. “You think
you know me so well that you can tell what I’m thinking but forget that I know you well too.
“I can tell when you’re lying to me or trying to distract me so you won’t have to tell me the truth.
“I’m not stupid. And I hate that you treat me like I am. Like I’m some little girl that needs to be babied, who can’t handle the truth.”
The way Ace’s eyes softened brought me precariously close to breaking down in tears.
“Doe,” he said in a gentle tone. He reached for me.
I jerked back, putting space between us. “And if you touch me right now, you’ll just be proving my point.”
He dropped his arms to his sides and began flexing his hands. “I don’t think you’re stupid, Doe. And I don’t think you need to be babied.”
“If you really thought that, then you would tell me the truth. You would stop keeping things from me.”
I paused, searching his face. “Tell me what’s going on in your life. I want to be there for you.”onses to over the Ace stared at me without saying a word. His expression, which was confused and vulnerable only moments ago, was grim and impossible to read.
His walls were up. His mind was made up. He wasn’t going to give me a straight answer. Wouldn’t give me a straight answer.
I nodded, tears pooling in my eyes. “Got it,” I whispered. My voice was broken.
Exhausted. “I want to go home.”
I turned and walked out the door.id you come back
you know me so well that you can tell what I’m thinking but forget that I know you well too.
“I can tell when you’re lying to me or trying to distract me so you won’t have to tell me the truth.
“I’m not stupid. And I hate that you treat me like I am. Like I’m some little girl that needs to be babied, who can’t handle the truth.”
The way Ace’s eyes softened brought me precariously close to breaking down in tears.
“Doe,” he said in a gentle tone. He reached for me.
I jerked back, putting space between us. “And if you touch me right now, you’ll just be proving my point.”
He dropped his arms to his sides and began flexing his hands. “I don’t think you’re stupid, Doe. And I don’t think you need to be babied.”
“If you really thought that, then you would tell me the truth. You would stop keeping things from me.”
I paused, searching his face. “Tell me what’s going on in your life. I want to be there for you.”
Ace stared at me without saying a word. His expression, which was confused and vulnerable only moments ago, was grim and impossible to read.
His walls were up. His mind was made up. He wasn’t going to give me a straight answer. Wouldn’t give me a straight answer.
I nodded, tears pooling in my eyes. “Got it,” I whispered. My voice was broken.
Exhausted. “I want to go home.”
I turned and walked out the door.
