Page 33 of All I Feel

Moving my fingers through her hair again, I said, “Clearly, he had an abundance of confidence. He’d have to, if he thought he could get away with cheating on you for so long. But it’s worse that he believed he could do that, and you’d just overlook it. Like he believed he was the prize in the relationship, when it was you all along.”

A small smile spread across Tessa’s face. “That was sweet of you to say.”

“I wasn’t trying to be sweet, Princess. I was telling the truth.”

She leaned into my hold as warmth and affection stole over her expression. Following a beat of silence, Tessa said, “It’s done and over, and I have no desire to go back to him. I know I need to just move on, but it’s hard. I feel stuck.”

“What do you mean?”

Gone was the softness from her appearance. She was consumed with regret. “Today was such an eye-opening experience. I feel like such a fool. How could I not have seen Ryan for who he is, Ace?”

I hated that this guy had been the one to cheat on her, and Tessa was questioning herself as though she was the problem. I was tempted to tell her that anyone could see Ryan was the idiot, but I couldn’t. I didn’t have any sympathy for Ryan, though. The problem was that the last thing I wanted was Tessa questioning her own judgment or believing she’d overlooked something and was responsible for putting herself in this position.

“You’re not a fool. I think it’s normal when you feel strongly for someone that you always want to assume thebest. It wouldn’t make sense to believe they could do anything to ever hurt us.”

A small smile returned. “I think you might be right. That’s a great way of looking at it.”

I gave her a squeeze. “Moving on might not be easy, but you shouldn’t feel stuck or like you can’t trust your instincts. And no matter what it takes, I’ll do anything I can to help you through this. To make sure you get all the happiness you deserve.”

Leaning her weight into me, Tessa slipped her arms around my torso and hugged me tightly. “Thank you. You’ve been such a good friend to me, and I feel so lucky to have you in my life.”

The desire I had to be so much more to her than just a friend consumed me like never before. But no matter how badly I wanted to act on those feelings, I couldn’t. Not yet. Not until she was ready.

I smiled, hugging her back, and promised, “You’ll always have me in your life, Princess.”

If we were both meant to be lucky, she’d have me in her life in a way neither one of us had considered, and it’d be the best thing that happened to either one of us.

I didn’t wasteany time.

I was up earlier than usual the next morning because what I needed to do couldn’t wait. Not even if it meant I’d wind up arriving late to work.

As quickly as I could, I grabbed some breakfast, got myself ready, and was out the door in a flash. There wasno guarantee I was even going to be able to accomplish what I intended to, but failing to act wasn’t an option.

Arriving right on time, I exited my truck and entered the building. I was met by a receptionist. “Hi, can I help you?”

“Yeah, I was hoping to have a moment to speak with Ryan Hastings.”

“Do you have an appointment?”

I shook my head. “No. This isn’t a legal issue. I’m here on a personal matter.”

“I’m sorry, sir, but Mr. Hastings has a full schedule today.”

Jerking my chin down, I asked, “Can you let him know that Ace Townsend is here? I won’t need more than five minutes.”

“Give me one moment.” The receptionist eyed me curiously as she lifted the phone out of the cradle. She held the receiver to her ear, tapped a few buttons, and waited. “Yes, sir, I have a Mr. Ace Townsend here. He says he’s here on a personal matter and would like five minutes of your time.” She paused, listening to his response. “Of course, sir. I’ll send him back.”

“I appreciate that. Where can I find him?”

“Right around the corner and down the hall. It’s the third door on your left.”

“Thank you.”

I took off in that direction and came to a stop outside the closed door. Knocking once, I didn’t wait for him to respond and tell me it was okay to come in. He was sitting behind his desk in a high leather back chair, and all I could think was that there wasn’t anything about him that made him and Tessa a good match.

“Ace,” he said as I approached his desk. “What can I do for you?”

I pressed my fists onto the top of his desk and leaned in. “Tessa is done with you. Whatever plans you have to pursue her and try to win her back need to be forgotten.”