Page 40 of All I Feel

Oh God. My brother was here, too. Why wasn’t he at work or at his own place?

“Phoenix!” Dad shouted again.

My brother came running into the room. “What, Dad? What’s going on?”

“You have plans?”

“No. I’m just going to go home, shower, and eat. Why?”

“Grab a shower here. I’ll take everyone out for dinner. Should we call Archer?”

My mom stood and moved to my dad, placing her palm on her chest. “Stone?”

“Yeah?”

“This is not the time for a celebration.”

I couldn’t miss how hard it was for him not to roll his eyes. “Alright, I get it. It’s a breakup, and it’s not easy. But we should celebrate the fact that Tessa’s no longer with a guy who’s clearly not the one for her.”

Mom didn’t say a word. She simply stared at him, her eyes communicating something that only he could read. And I sensed he got whatever that was when the muscles in his body went rigid, and he looked in my direction. His eyes stayed on me for a long time, then shifted to Lark and narrowed slightly.

“Why did you say that your brother was looking out for Tessa? What does that mean?” he questioned her.

Before Lark could even think of responding, Phoenix boomed, “What? What did I miss? Why would Ace be looking out for Tessa?”

Harper shared, “Tessa found out the night we were out celebrating my birthday that Ryan was cheating on her. And just a few days ago, she learned that he’s been doing so with his ex-girlfriend for the last six months of their eight-month relationship.”

The air in the room changed, fury pulsing from two men who loved me more than anything. I shouldn’t have expected anything less. Phoenix had always been protective; though, it was tame in comparison to Archer. But I’d always been a daddy’s girl, so there was no doubt this would hit him hard.

Somehow, despite the overwhelming anger I suspected he was feeling, my dad’s voice was gentle when he spoke to me. “Oh, my sweet Tessa. Come here.”

My body instantly responded to his request.

Maybe it was years of having his loving arms around me—of knowing he always had my back—but a moment later, I was practically crushed against his chest as he held me tightly. And feeling that love surround me, I should’ve known I’d break down in tears again.

As my dad hugged me, the women in my life filled him in on what they knew about the situation. I used that time to calm myself down and get my emotions under control.

That’s when Phoenix asked the one thing that I’d hoped both he and my dad would’ve overlooked. “What does Ace have to do with this?”

I pulled my cheek from my dad’s chest and felt his arms loosen only a touch. “He was the only one who knew that night I learned the truth. I’d gone outside at Lou’s after I heard that woman in the background when I was talking to Ryan. I wanted to pull myself together so I didn’t ruin Harper’s birthday. Ace must’ve noticed because he came outside barely a minute later. He stayed with me while I settled down, and he showed up at my place the next morning to take me out for breakfast because he knew that Ryan had planned on showing up.”

“That was very sweet of him to do,” Mom said, her eyes sparkling.

I nodded my agreement. “Yeah. He didn’t take me home until later that night, long after Ryan had shown up, called, and texted in an attempt to get a hold of me. Ace didn’t think it was wise for Ryan to have the opportunity to talk to me so soon after I’d learned everything. He believed Ryanwould’ve used the opportunity to manipulate me, so Ace gave me the chance to deal with what I was feeling and get myself to a less vulnerable place.”

“Oh, wow.” I didn’t have to look at Harper to know she was swooning. Her voice said it all.

I continued. “And he checked in with me all week, making sure I was doing okay. He even brought dinner over and stayed to eat, play board games, and watch television so that if Ryan decided to show up, he’d be there.”

“Dinner?” Phoenix said, his eyes unfocused. It was as though he could hear what I was saying, but his mind was lost somewhere else.

“Yes. He didn’t want me alone, and we both needed to eat.”

“Looks like I might need to give Ace a call,” my dad said.

“What?”

The last thing I needed was my dad getting all worked up about Ace being a decent guy and helping me through something terrible.