43. Stolen Moments
After asking my mom to drive me to school, Ace followed close behind us in his car, even tagging along when we dropped my siblings off at elementary school and daycare.
When we finally made it to Embermoon High, I rushed out of the car and up the steps to the entrance, hoping to lose Ace while he parked.
I made it to first period without him catching up and picked a desk surrounded by other people so he
couldn’t sit next to me.
I should’ve known better.
Ace’s eyes found mine the second he entered the classroom, and all it took was one bone-chilling, threatening stare at the people around me and they all scampered to the other side of the room.
Acting as if nothing happened, he sauntered over to one of the now-empty desks next to mine and swerved it around so that it faced me. Then he took a seat.
And didn’t take his eyes off me for the rest of the class.
He did the same in second period. And again in third.
I tried to ignore him. I really did. But his gaze left warm, soothing sparks on the side of my face that traveled down my body, making it very hard to concentrate.
I’m not sure why no one said anything. The teachers had to know Ace wasn’t paying attention. I mean, he wasn’t even facing the right way.
Maybe they could sense his fragile mood and knew not to push him. Smart.
I finally snapped during fourth period.
I whirled around in my desk and pinned Ace with a glare. “Stop,” I hissed.
He tilted his head to the side as if to say, Stop what?
“I can’t concentrate with you staring at me. You might not care about school, but I do. You have to stop.”
He raised his eyebrows. “Are you finally going to talk to me?”
I scoffed. “No.”
He crossed his arms and leaned back further in his seat, making a show of getting even more comfortable. “Then I’m going to keep looking at you. It’s the only thing keeping me fucking sane.”
I wanted to stomp my foot and scream, to throw a fit like a child. Instead, I clenched my jaw and turned back to face the teacher.
And that was how the rest of the day went…and the following one.
It was hell staying away from him on his birthday, but he watched me the entire time.
He stood outside my house every night and followed me everywhere I went during the day. He sat and watched me during dance practice and even stalked my dad and me at the grocery store.
I wasn’t sure how Ace managed it. I didn’t see him in three days, and he only ate when my siblings brought him food.
And I didn’t even want to know what he was doing when he had to use the bathroom.
I had to give it to him, though. He knew how to grovel.
Perhaps it would have felt worthwhile if I’d been able to enjoy it on some level, but the truth was, it
was killing me. I hated being away from him. I hadn’t been sleeping either.
The whole thing was absolutely miserable.
*** The next day, I fell asleep at my desk in the middle of English.
I blamed my traitorous body. It only let me sleep when I was around Ace, and since I was only around him when I was at school now, I found myself struggling not to nod off during every class.
When I woke up, the first thing I noticed was that the classroom was empty. Well, almost empty. Ace was sitting next to me, watching me. His hand was on my back, running up and down my spine.
“What? I fell asleep?”
Ace nodded. “You were tired.”
“What time is it? Why didn’t you wake me up?” I looked at the clock on the wall.
Nearly two hours had passed.
“You’ve barely slept in three days,” Ace said. “You needed sleep.”
I shrugged his hand off my back. Feeling panicked all of a sudden, I began packing my backpack in a rush. “Oh my god. We missed our next two classes! I can’t believe you didn’t wake me up.
“Why didn’t Mrs. Dollan do anything? Didn’t she need her classroom for the next period?”
“She did. But I told her to find somewhere else to teach,” Ace replied nonchalantly.
My eyes snapped up. “You told her what? ”
“You’ve barely slept in three days. You needed sleep,” he repeated with a bit more bite to his tone. “I wasn’t about to let anybody wake you up.”
I would never understand why people just did as he said without asking questions.
It made zero sense.
I scoffed. “I’m still not talking to you.”
I hurried to my next class, Ace hot on my tail.
*** By day four of Ace and my fight, I was nothing more than a walking zombie. my jaw and turned
My whole body ached and I could barely keep my eyes open. All I could think about was Ace. I wanted to be near him, to touch him, to forgive him so everything could go back to normal.
But then I remembered what he did to me, and all my anger and resentment returned.
During Chemistry, we had to partner up for a lab assignment. I grabbed a girl whom I had only spoken to a few times and practically dragged her to a lab table.
By some sort of miracle, Ace didn’t try to stop me. He teamed up with Madoc, instead, and I was pleased their table was a decent distance from mine.
Of course, he didn’t do any work. And Mrs. Barlowe didn’t say a single thing! Like every other teacher, she just let Ace stare at me the whole time.
Truth be told, it wasn’t entirely bad. After several days of trying to keep my distance, I missed Ace. I felt…comforted having his gaze on me. I even found myself glancing over at him a few times.
One of those glances became a stare itself as my eyes trailed over his body without my permission. I wanted so badly to go to him, jump into his arms, and never let go.
Even just one touch would be enough.
And suddenly, I was standing in the middle of the classroom, just a few feet from him.
Did I fall asleep again? Enter a daze?
Whatever had happened, all I knew was that I needed to be with Ace.
I took another step closer…and another. Ace held my gaze as I approached, and with every inch I neared him, a little more of the weight on my shoulders lifted.
I blinked. What the hell am I doing? I felt deranged. Unstable. I wanted to cry but didn’t know why.
Ace froze, noticing my sudden misery. “Doe”—he held a hand out to me—“it’s okay.”
I shook my head, taking a step back. Ace tracked the movement, and his frown turned more desperate.
“I…I don’t…” I looked around to see if anyone was watching us, but everyone seemed consumed with their work.
Tears of frustration formed in my eyes. How did I end up here, so close to him, when I’ve been doing so well at staying away from him?
I felt out of control. And disoriented. I needed a break. I needed to get away.
I turned and fled from the classroom, sprinting to the nearest restroom.
Standing in one of the stalls, with my hands on the walls on either side to stabilize myself, I tried to get my breathing under control. The world seemed to be tilting under my feet.
Don’t cry. Don’t cry. Don’t cry.
My inner monologue was pointless. Tears were racing down my face, splashing onto the tiled floor. I felt pathetic. And small. And confused.
As if on cue, Ace burst into the bathroom. Before I got the chance to slam the stall door in his face, his arms wrapped around my center and gently pulled my back against his front.
The relief was instant. Those familiar sparks raced through me, forcing me to relax.
“Doe. My poor girl,” Ace whispered in my ear. His voice sounded haunted, reminding me that he was hurting just as much.
I squeezed my eyes shut and forced myself not to lean against him even as my body screamed in protest. “Don’t call me your girl, Ace.” I struggled against him. “Let me go.” was Ace. I wanted His low growl vibrated through my back. I gasped. I’d missed that sound.
“You are my girl, whether or not you want to admit it. I’m not letting you go. I ~can’t~ let you go.” He held me a bit tighter. “Now, please stop fighting me. I don’t want to hurt your shoulder.”
I tried to fight him, I really did. But after an entire minute of trying to pry his arms off me and not budging him even a little, I slumped forward with a defeated sigh.
Ace sensed my surrender and started to purr in approval. One of his arms moved over my chest while the other encircled my waist. He pressed his face to the top of my head and inhaled deeply.
Neither of us said anything for a while. We simply stood there, basking in each other’s touch like two
halves finally made whole again.
Ace pressed a hard, almost desperate kiss to my head. “I’m so… so sorry, Doe,” he rasped against my hair. “Please believe me. ~Please.~ It’s killing me to see you in so much pain.”
More tears fell down my cheeks. Why do I always have to be so weak around him?
My voice was nothing more than a whisper. “I told you I wouldn’t run from you again. Why didn’t you believe me?”
Ace let out a quiet sigh. “I know. I should have trusted you. I shouldn’t have jumped to conclusions.”
“I was just scared.”
“I know. You were scared, and I yelled at you. And hurt you. I was in the wrong. You deserve to be mad. You ~should~ be mad.”
“Well, it’s a good thing I am,” I grumbled.
He hummed. “I’ve missed you, Doe.” He leaned down, letting his mouth brush over the hair above my ear. “I didn’t like being away from you for so long.”
I didn’t like it either. “You shouldn’t have been such a dick then.”
He growled and nipped at the tip of my ear in warning. An embarrassing whimper escaped my lips.
Then he dipped his tongue out and licked the same spot, cooling it.
I gripped his arm around my chest. “We…we should probably get back to class.” The words felt like an arrow through my midsection.
Ace shook his head and molded his face to my neck. “Please, Doe,” he begged. “I can’t do this anymore. I can’t be away from you any longer.self, I tried to get “Neither can you. You had to leave in the middle of class to cry in the bathroom because you couldn’t touch me when you needed it. We need each other.”
I nearly scoffed. “Be away from me? You haven’t left me alone since our fight. Every time I look over my shoulder, there you are.”
“Just like it’s supposed to be.” He turned me around by my waist so I was looking up at him. “I know you didn’t mean it when you told your family we broke up.”
I was still mad at Thomas for telling him that. “What if you’re wrong?”
His lips turned up as if he was amused by the idea of me actually breaking up with him. “Oh?”
“You don’t know what’s going on in my head.”
“That’s where you’re wrong. I can read you like a book, Doe. You can’t hide anything from me.”
halves finally made whole again.
Ace pressed a hard, almost desperate kiss to my head. “I’m so… so sorry, Doe,” he rasped against my hair. “Please believe me. ~Please.~ It’s killing me to see you in so much pain.”
More tears fell down my cheeks. Why do I always have to be so weak around him?
My voice was nothing more than a whisper. “I told you I wouldn’t run from you again. Why didn’t you believe me?”
Ace let out a quiet sigh. “I know. I should have trusted you. I shouldn’t have jumped to conclusions.”
“I was just scared.”
“I know. You were scared, and I yelled at you. And hurt you. I was in the wrong. You deserve to be mad. You ~should~ be mad.”
“Well, it’s a good thing I am,” I grumbled.
He hummed. “I’ve missed you, Doe.” He leaned down, letting his mouth brush over the hair above my ear. “I didn’t like being away from you for so long.”
I didn’t like it either. “You shouldn’t have been such a dick then.”
He growled and nipped at the tip of my ear in warning. An embarrassing whimper escaped my lips.
Then he dipped his tongue out and licked the same spot, cooling it.
I gripped his arm around my chest. “We…we should probably get back to class.” The words felt like an arrow through my midsection.
Ace shook his head and molded his face to my neck. “Please, Doe,” he begged. “I can’t do this anymore. I can’t be away from you any longer.
“Neither can you. You had to leave in the middle of class to cry in the bathroom because you couldn’t touch me when you needed it. We need each other.”
I nearly scoffed. “Be away from me? You haven’t left me alone since our fight. Every time I look over my shoulder, there you are.”
“Just like it’s supposed to be.” He turned me around by my waist so I was looking up at him. “I know you didn’t mean it when you told your family we broke up.”
I was still mad at Thomas for telling him that. “What if you’re wrong?”
His lips turned up as if he was amused by the idea of me actually breaking up with him. “Oh?”
“You don’t know what’s going on in my head.”
“That’s where you’re wrong. I can read you like a book, Doe. You can’t hide anything from me.”
