Page 27 of All I Feel

Ace shifted his body so it was positioned over the coffee table, his forearms resting on it, peering down at me with asympathetic look on his face. “This probably wouldn’t be a good time to tell you that I was trying to lose.”

Narrowing my eyes on him, I asked, “Why would you do that?”

“Tell you or try to lose?”

“Try to lose.”

His shoulders lifted slightly toward his ears. “I didn’t want you to get back on your bad luck kick.”

My lips curved into a smile. “I know I’m not suffering from bad luck.”

Surprise littered his features. “You do?”

I nodded.

“How so?”

I nibbled on the corner of my lip. “I’ve got someone as wonderful as you in my life. That tells me everything I need to know.”

Ace’s expression softened. “And I’ll always be here.”

He barely got the words out, and he was gone. But that was only because he moved out to the dining room, where I heard the familiar crinkle of a plastic wrapper. My smile returned as he made his way back to me and held out his hand to help me off the floor. I placed my hand in his and when we were standing face-to-face, he held out two fortune cookies and said, “Pick whichever feels luckiest to you.”

I studied both cookies, and it was the one in the center of his palm that called to me. So, I took that. “Should I open it?”

“Yes.”

Ripping open the plastic, I plucked the cookie out. I broke it in half, pulled out the slip of paper, and read it. My heart exploded in my chest as I looked up at Ace.

“What does it say?” he asked.

I licked my lips and smiled. “A faithful friend is a strong defense.”

His features warmed. “That’s a good one.”

“Thank you, Ace. Thank you for being a faithful friend.”

He reached for my arm, tugged me toward him, and held me tightly in a comforting embrace. I felt so lucky to have him in my life.

Tipping my chin up, I said, “We should see what your fortune says.”

Ace released me, opened the package, and broke the cookie. Reading the fortune to himself, he laughed. “This one seems fitting.”

“Read it to me.”

“If life is a game, you’re winning by a landslide.”

My jaw fell open. Obviously, I thought Ace was doing well in his life as it was, but the fact that we’d just played the Game of Life made that fortune so much more special. “Are you making that up?”

He flipped the little slip of paper over and showed it to me.

“Wow,” I murmured. “These were good ones.”

“Agreed. So, do you want to try your luck with another rematch?”

I considered it, but I had no desire. Shaking my head, I asked, “Would you mind if we just sat and talked for a while?”

Ace studied me, his eyes roaming over every inch of my face. “Yeah, we can do that. I’d love to just sit and talk to you.”