Page 57 of All I Feel

“Those first few minutes after I heard that woman’s voice when I was on the phone with Ryan were gut-wrenching. And in the immediate days after, I was so upset. When I learned more about how long it had gone on, I was devastated. But as I’ve kept my distance and spent time with Ace, I find that I don’t spend much time thinking about Ryan at all any longer. In fact, I spend a lot of my time thinking about Ace. It’ll be something he said or did to make melaugh. Or, over the last twenty-four hours, it’s been about the way it felt to have him kiss me.”

Savanna squealed with delight and clapped her hands. “So, the kiss was good?”

My eyes moved to Lark. “I’m sorry if this grosses you out.”

She held her hands up in surrender. “I’m not grossed out. Not yet anyway. And since nothing would make me happier than to see the two of you together, I want you to share whatever it is you need to share.”

With a gentle nod, I returned my attention to the group. “The last thing I want to do is make comparisons, but I was with Ryan for eight months. We kissed a lot during that time. Not one of the many kisses I shared with Ryan ever made me feel the way Ace’s kiss did. And Ace didn’t even get around to using his tongue.”

“Okay. Yep. That would’ve been too much,” Lark blurted.

Laughter filled the air before Harper said, “Tessa, this sounds wonderful. Are you not happy about it?”

“I’m worried.”

“Why?”

Shaking my head as one reason after another filtered through, I explained, “I’ve just gotten out of a relationship. It can’t be good to just hop into another, even if the guy is consuming most of my thoughts.”

“Are you happy when you’re with him?” Mia asked.

I smiled. “I am.”

“And you said he wants something more than just friendship with you, right?” Savanna confirmed.

I gave her a nod.

“I don’t think there should be a problem,” Mia said. “Yes, you just got out of a relationship, but it clearly wasn’t rightfor you. Plus, you said it yourself. You don’t spend all your time down in the dumps over what Ryan did. Maybe it’s that way for a reason.”

“Maybe it’s that way because you’re now spending time with the guy you should’ve been with from the start,” Chloe added.

Smiling at them, I said, “I adore Ace. He’s been wonderful to me recently, but he’s always been that way with me. I’ve never seen what was between us as anything more than friendship, and I’m guessing that’s how it was for him all these years. But this happened, he’s all I’ve been thinking about, and evidently, he likes me.”

“So, what’s the problem?” Harper asked.

“She’s worried about losing him,” Olivia said.

Lark seemed confused by that. “What?”

“She’s right, Lark. Ace is important to me, and I wouldn’t want to do something that’d ruin our friendship. I’d rather have him like I do now than not at all.”

Tipping her head to the side, my best friend countered, “But what if you’re stopping the both of you from having what you’ve been meant to have all along?”

One half of my mouth quirked. “I think you just want me to officially become a member of your family.”

“That’s true. But it doesn’t negate what I said.”

“I agree with Lark.” Mia was beaming at me. “You could be missing out on having the best experience of your whole life. Imagine how it’ll feel to kiss him and mean it.”

I bit my lip, and my eyes darted to the kitchen again. I caught Ace looking at me. He winked and looked away, leaving me sitting there with a flush creeping over my skin.

“I can’t wait until I’m alone with Hawk again tonight,” Chloe declared.

Laughing, I asked, “Why is that?”

“Because this conversation is exactly what I’ve needed to feel like I’m truly on the mend, and that man made it happen for me. I think he deserves a show of my appreciation.”

Glancing one last time at Ace in the kitchen, at the rogue strand of hair that always caught my eye, I wondered what I could do to show him how much I appreciated everything he’d done for me and how much he meant to me.