“Morning.”
My eyes flutter open to Ace gazing down at me. “Hmm, morning,” I murmur. “What time is it?”
“Time for me to do this.” He rolls over me, caging my body to the mattress. I can feel him hard and ready at my core, and a bolt of lust shoots through me.
“Do you have any idea how fucking badly I want you?” His words are a low growl in my ear. “I can imagine you hot, tight and wet. Fuck, Remi…” He grinds against me at a delicious angle. I’m about to tell him to just do it when someone bangs on the door.
“Rise and shine, fuckers. We’ve got school.”
“Fuck off, Con, we’re busy.” Ace slides his tongue along the slope of my neck as we rock in synchrony. It feels so good, but I need more.
I need—
“You’ve got two minutes before I come in there and—”
“Fuck off,” we both yell.
Ace lets out a groan, dropping his head to my shoulder. “He’s never going to quit now.”
“It’s okay.” I loop my arms around his neck, barely able to contain my smile.
Last night was fun, even if it got a little wild.
“My head’s a little sore.”
“You need water and breakfast.”
“Mmm, no,” I drawl. “I need you.”
“Princess, you’re playing with fire.”
“One minute!” Conner yells, and Ace’s expression hardens.
“I’m going to fucking kill him.”
“He’s just looking out for us. We can’t miss any more school.” Not if we want to stand any chance of graduating.
“Don’t remind me,” he grumbles, grazing his teeth along my collarbone. “Come on, let’s go feed you before my brother bursts in here and I have to kill him before he sees you naked.”
Ace climbs out of bed, and I delight in watching his body. His tattoos twist and move with every flex of his muscles.
“See something you like, Princess?” he asks, catching my eye.
“You know, I never did get my birthday ink.”
“Yeah? You still want that?”
I suppress a smile and nod.
“Leave it with me.”
“I’m not sure I want to go back to the Heights though,” I blurt out. “Not if it’s dangerous for you.”
Ace stills at my words, his eyes alight with wonder. “Come here.” He crooks his finger at me and I go willingly, not caring that I’m half naked.
“How did I get so lucky?” Hooking his arm around my waist, Ace pulls me close. My hands slide up his abs.
“I’m proud of you, ya know? For taking the job with Ellen’s brother.”
“Yeah, well, figured I need a legitimate way of earning some cash.”
“So long as you know I don’t need anything from you. This, what we have, it’s enough.”
“You deserve so fucking much, Remi, and for the first time in my life, I want to change. I want to be better.”
The honesty in his words floors me. “Ace, I—”
“Time’s up.” Conner bursts into the room. “Oh God, my eyes. My fucking eyes.” He darts back out and laughter rumbles in my chest.
Ace, however, looks murderous. “I’ll kill him. I’ll fucking ki—”
“Relax.” I press a kiss to his jaw. “He knows I belong to you. Besides, him and Hadley seemed to be having fun last night. And Cole…” My brows furrow. “Do you think the three of them… ya know?”
My stomach clenches, remembering the way the three of them were dancing together.
“Don’t know, don’t fucking care.” Ace lowers his eyes to mine and frowns. “You like the idea of that?”
“I don’t know.” The quiver to my voice betrays me. “I guess I’m just curious.” My eyes flare, a wildfire rising inside me.
“Fuck, Princess.” His lips glide to the shell of my ear. “I can’t stand the thought of sharing you. You’re mine. Every. Single. Inch. But imagining you all laid out before me, with some horny fucker watching… knowing that they can never have you… watching me tease and taste you and make you scream my name… I’m not going to lie, it does all kinds of crazy shit to me.”
“Jesus, Ace,” I breathe, my body trembling with need. My fingers dig into his shoulders as I imagine the scene he just painted.
“Seriously, bro, we need to—”
Ace cusses before storming over to the door and slamming it shut. “We’re going to need a minute.”
“What are you doing?” I choke out.
“Need you, Princess.” His voice is raw. “Need to taste you before I even think about leaving the pool house.” Ace lifts me up and my legs wrap around his waist. “Bed or shower?” he asks.
“Oh my God, you’re crazy.”
“For you, always.”
Laughter spills out of me. Crazy, love-drunk laughter. “Shower. We should probably get cleaned up, anyway.”
“Shower it is. But first, Princess,” Ace locks his eyes on me, full of promise. “I’m going to need to dirty you up.”
“We need to talk,” I say to Hadley at lunch. The five of us are sitting in the cafeteria, much to the dismay of our classmates.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“You know exactly what I’m talking about.” I discreetly flick my eyes to Conner and Cole, who are busy looking at something on Ace’s phone.
The three of them are a force to be reckoned with. Even in their matching Sterling Prep uniforms they stick out. Ace is big and scary, and the white shirt and blazer does nothing to hide his inked skin. Conner wears his uniform with more finesse. He looks like a playful rogue, the kind of boy who will charm the panties off you and say thanks for the ride after. Then there’s Cole. In some ways, he looks even scarier than Ace. It isn’t so much how he looks but his presence. There’s a darkness shrouding him that you can’t help but be affected by whenever he’s near.
“A girl never kisses and tells.” Hadley smirks, putting a potato chip into her mouth.
“So there was kissing?” I mean, I’d seen her kiss Cole, and Conner had been all up in her space, but Ace dragged me off to the bedroom long before the three of them crashed.
“The three of you didn’t… ya know?” I lower my voice.
“And if we did?”
“Hads!”
“Relax. Nothing happened really…”
I’m not convinced by her words. But who am I to judge? I let Ace get me off while they were all right there.
I blush. “Last night was a little crazy, huh?”
“Girl, it was the most fun I’ve had in forever.” She’s wearing a secretive smile, and I want to push her for details, but something tells me whatever happened is going to stay between the three of them.
“So, you like both of them?”
“Maybe I just wanted to have fun and let my hair down. I spend my days brushing shoulders with the SP elite. It’s not a fun place to be for me. Sometimes it’s nice to just be… free.”
“You’re right, I didn’t mean to judge.”
“Because you’re one to talk.” She fights a knowing smile.
“Oh God, you saw that?”
“I didn’t see so much as hear. It wasn’t any wonder I was like a bitch in heat.” Just then, Conner leans over and snags a handful of chips. “Pig,” Hadley mutters, swatting him away.
“Yeah, but you love it.” He shoots her a megawatt smile. Cole isn’t smiling though. He’s glaring at his brother with murder in his eyes.
“Just be careful,” I whisper to Hadley. The last thing we need is her to come between the twins, not when everything finally seems good between all of us.
“Ugh, fourth period calls.”
“Not for me, I have practice,” Cole says, standing.
“Ready for the game Friday?” Hadley gets up too.
“I guess.” He shrugs, taking off without saying goodbye.
“Is he always so—”
“Miserable?” Conner leaps to his feet and slings his arm around Hadley’s shoulder. “Stick with me, baby. I’ll show you a good time.” He winks at her and the two of them share a secretive smile.
“Okay, this is just weird,” I say. Ace stands up and offers me his hand.
“Bro, we’ve got a fan club.” Conner flicks his head over to where the football team are. Bexley is in the center, glaring right at us.
Ace tenses beside me.
“Ignore him,” I say, pressing my hand against his stomach.
“I really fucking hate him.”
The scrape of Bexley’s chair pierces the air as he stands up, narrowing his eyes at Ace.
“Ace,” I say again.
A crackle of anticipation electrifies the air, a murmur of whispers rising as everyone waits to see what will happen.
“Come on then, Jagger.” He throws his hands up. “I’m right here. What are you waiting for?”
My grip on Ace tightens as his body trembles beneath my fingers. “Don’t let him bait you.”
“I was thinking,” Bexley says, “that maybe you can give me a few tips. I heard you’re real handy at making homemade movies.”
People’s whispers turn to snickers.
“Fuck keeping the peace.” Conner steps up beside us. “Let’s just end this now.”
“No,” Ace says. “Come on, let’s go.” He slides his hand into mine and starts moving.
“You know, Remi, I thought you were better than this. I thought you were better than him. But I guess, if you hang around with trash long enough, eventually you start to stink too.”
I turn slowly as the entire cafeteria takes a collective breath. “What did you just say to me?” I’m shaking at his words, anger licking my insides.
“You heard me.” His lip curls in disgust.
“Hey, Bexley?”
“Yeah?” He glances at his friends with a smug expression.
“Go fuck yourself.” I storm out of there and don’t look back.
“Whoa.” Ace catches my wrist and pulls me into him. “Where you going, Princess?”
“I hate him. I hate him so much.”
Ace pulls me down the hall and into an empty classroom. Tears burn the backs of my eyes, but it only frustrates me all the more.
“He did that on purpose,” I cry. “He tried to use me to get to you.“
“Let him try.” Ace leans back on the edge of a desk, fitting me between his legs.
“Why are you so calm about this?”
“Because I already won. I have the one thing he wants and can never have. You.”
“I stupidly let myself believe that maybe things would be easier now. But Bexley… Michaela… they’ll never stop, will they? No matter what we do, what we say, they’ll never stop.” My eyes drop to the floor. I’m so fucking tired of being held to these unattainable standards.
“Look at me, Remi.” Ace curves his hand around the back of my neck and guides my face to his. “Fuck. Them. You think I don’t want to go out there and make him bleed? You think I don’t want to ruin Michaela for what she did? I do. I want it so fucking badly. But we have to be smart, baby. We have to play this a little differently. I have too much to lose now.”
“Ace…” I lean in, touching my head to his. “I wish I didn’t care…”
“Caring makes you human. It makes you who you are. And I’m so fucking gone for you, Remi, I can’t see straight.”
“Yeah?” A smile tugs at my lips. When he says things like this, it’s as if everything else—Bexley, Michaela, and my dad—it all just melts away.
“Michaela and Bexley will get what’s coming to them, I promise.” He kisses my forehead. “Now, are we going to fool around in here, or are we going to go out there and show everyone that no one messes with Remi Tanner and her very sexy, very whipped boyfriend.”
“Whipped, huh?”
“I’m pretty sure if you asked me to burn down this school, I’d do it.”
My eyes flare. “Is that a promise?”
He chuckles, pulling me closer. “My little monster. Oh, how I can’t wait to be inside you again.”
“Hurry up and get over yourself then, because I need you, Ace, and I’m not sure I can wait much longer.”
“Patience, Princess.” He stands, taking my hand and tugging me toward the door. “But I promise, it’ll be worth the wait.”
When I finally leave school, I’m expecting to ride with Conner, but there’s no sign of his car. Ace, however, is there, leaning against his bike, my helmet in his hand.
“I thought you had to work?” I ask.
“I do, but I wanted to give you a ride home.”
“You mean, you wanted to check up on me.” Warmth spreads through me. Ace is so different lately. He’s still the same tough guy from the Heights on the outside, but his walls are slowly coming down and he’s finally letting me in.
“Is that a crime?”
“No.” I step into him, fisting his shirt. “It’s very sweet.”
“Sweet?” He jerks back, looking mildly offended. “I’m not sweet.”
“You are sometimes.” I fit my body against his, letting my lips drift to his ear. “With me.”
“Only ever for you. I still have a rep to protect.” Amusement plays in his voice.
“I know I sound like I’m pushing, but have you thought about when you’ll talk to James yet?”
“I’m really going to need my balls back at some point.” He smirks.
“I just don’t want us to be blindsided by anything else. This thing between you and James, it needs figuring out.”
“And if I don’t like what I find?”
“Then we’ll deal with it. Together.”
“Okay. I’ll tell him we want to talk. I think Ellen said something about him working late tonight, but maybe we can catch him tomorrow.”
“Really, you’ll do it?”
“As I’m quickly learning, Princess, there isn’t much I wouldn’t do for you.”
