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“I know you hate going to things like this, but I’m glad I was able to get you to come. I love hanging out with you.”
He couldn’t help but smile, too. She was just so damn optimistic, so positive all the time, that even when he was in his dark moments and she was near he couldn’t help but feel the light that came from her. “You could ask me for anything and you know I’d give it to you.” And that was the truth.
She smiled even wider, showing off her straight white teeth, and grabbed his hand and squeezed it. They stared at each other for a few seconds. Then the lights dimmed and the music started playing. It wasn’t music he particularly liked, but Lauren was singing along to it, and that made this all worth it.
He looked at her hair, the long strawberry blonde colored strands that she’d curled at the ends and clipped up. The tiny diamond stud in her nose glinted when the light caught it. God, she was so fucking gorgeous, and all he wanted to do was be able to call her his.
After about another ten minutes and three songs later, he excused himself to the bathroom. Once inside he looked at himself in the cracked and dirty mirror. He scrubbed a hand over his hair, moved it down his face, and scratched at his cheek. His tattoos could be seen under the collar of his shirt, snaking up his neck to his shoulder. His arms and chest, even his back was covered in ink, something he’d done to try to black out his past, hide his former life so he wasn’t constantly reminded of it when he looked down at his flesh. But that was his former life, a world totally unlike what he was living now. It still was hard to erase his memories, to just forget. He tried. Dammit, did he try, though.
After his old man died of a pill overdose, Ace had a lot of guilt on his plate. He knew it wasn’t his fault that his dad was an abusive piece of shit. But that didn’t make the emotions that came forth over the past any less real.
Over time he’d realized that shit happened that was out of his control. His old man had been a drunk, a nasty fucking asshole that had thought beating up on his son, even at a young, vulnerable age, was an okay thing to do.
He pushed those thoughts out of his head and used the bathroom. After he washed his hands he stared at himself again, wondering what would happen if he just grew some balls and told Lauren how he felt about her. His biggest fear was that things wouldn’t be the same, and that she’d say friends was all they could be. She knew more about him than anyone, and surely that fucked up shit had to have impacted her at some point, and at some level.
The door to the bathroom opened, and a few guys came in, their slurred, loud words telling him they were trashed.
“Dude, did you see that girl dancing up by the stage?” one of the guys said.
“The one with the big fucking tits and ass that pops? How could I miss her? I don’t think any dude with fucking eyes could miss that hot piece of ass.”
They both started chuckling.
“Damn, I’d like to stick my dick so far in her cunt she would be choking on it.” The guys grinned.
Ace faced them, crossed his arms, and waited for them to try to say some shit to him. “You two assholes should watch your damn mouths. Show some motherfucking respect.”
They turned and looked at him, their eyes widening when they clearly saw he could hold his own. Then they turned and left the bathroom without even going.
God, those two motherfuckers. It was hard not to think about a beautiful woman. Hell, he did it all the time with Lauren. But to boast about it in a dirty fucking men’s room? Fuck no. Now, he needed to go out there and make sure Lauren was safe, because who in the hell knew what dick was trying to move in on her.
4
Lauren swayed to the music, the noise loud and the singing all around her filling her head. She knew Ace didn’t like this scene, but she wanted him to experience things with her. She’d definitely go some place with him if he asked, even if it wasn’t a place she cared about.
And it was all because she just wanted to be with him. He consumed her thoughts, and she knew she needed to tell him how she felt. If she kept it in anymore she’d surely suffocate on it all. She just hoped it didn’t tarnish things between them, because she’d rather have him in her life as a friend than as nothing at all.
