Page 48 of All I Feel

Without giving it a second thought, I reached out for his arm and curled my fingers around the outer part of his shoulder. My mind registered the feel of the solid muscle beneath my fingertips, and I gave him a squeeze. When I spoke, I hadn’t expected my voice to sound so husky. “You’re the best, Ace.”

His gaze darkened.

And since that look had me feeling all sorts of things I’d never felt before, I dropped my hand from his shoulder and dashed off to my bedroom without another look back.

As I went about getting dressed, I tried to shake off the budding nerves. It was an odd feeling. This was Ace, and we were just friends.

Had I imagined that look he sent my way when I touched him? Even if I had, my own reaction to touching him wasn’t just in my head. None of it made sense. Why hadit felt so foreign to place my hand on his shoulder. He’d held me in his arms several times already, even just as recently as two days ago. Not once had any physical contact felt like it did today.

I couldn’t dwell on it. It wasn’t as though I’d get any answers by asking myself these questions.

So, I got dressed, put the finishing touches on my makeup, and ran my fingers through my hair that I’d taken the time to curl before Ace had arrived. Satisfied with my appearance, I returned to the living room, where I found Ace relaxing on my couch. There was something about the sight of him there that I liked a whole lot.

“Sorry about that,” I said as I entered the room.

He stood and moved toward me. “It’s not a problem at all.”

I swept my hand along the front of my body, gesturing to my outfit. “At least I look half decent now.”

“Tessa, there’s never been a time when you haven’t looked absolutely stunning.”

My brows shot up. “I was in nothing but a T-shirt when I answered the door. I can’t go out roller skating like that.”

One half of his mouth quirked with a smile. “Maybe not. But that doesn’t mean you looked bad.”

As much as I’d done to convince myself his gaze hadn’t darkened earlier, his words now told me that perhaps I hadn’t imagined it.

Since that was far more than I was prepared to handle, I simply offered a small smile and whispered, “Thank you.”

“Are you ready to go now?”

I nodded. “Yes. I’m sorry, again, about not being ready on time.”

“Promise not to get mad if I tell you a secret?”

“Sure.”

His eyes were bright as he revealed, “I would’ve been shocked if I showed up and you were ready to walk out the door. I know who you are, Tessa, and I was more than happy to wait for you.”

The last thing I wanted to do was burst into tears, but Ace wasn’t making it easy to control my emotions. I loved that he didn’t seem the least bit bothered by my habitual tardiness. It wasn’t a great trait, but Ace seemed more than content to accept me as I was. Ryan, on the other hand, always made comments about it.

I smiled at him, feeling my heart beat a little faster. “Shall we go?”

He swept his arm out in front of him and urged me to lead the way.

So, I did, grabbing my skates on the way.

And before I knew it, we were sitting on a bench just outside the rink, lacing up our skates. Ace didn’t have his own pair, so he was putting on his rentals while I donned my girly ones.

“Those are something else,” he noted.

I grinned. “Aren’t they fantastic? I love them.”

Ace laughed as I stood in front of him and showed them off. He pulled out his phone and snapped a photo of me. “They suit you.”

My hands went to my hips. “Well, will I be able to actually put them to good use today, or do you find this glorious activity to be challenging?”

With his second skate laced up, Ace stood and said, “I guess we’ll have to find out. I might need you to hold my hand.”