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He acted so protective back in the locker room, as if the fact that I was upset over Michaela’s little stunt genuinely affected him, but I don’t want to raise my hopes. Ace carries a darkness inside him, and I don’t doubt he has secrets. They lurk behind his frosty gaze, taunting me.
I know, because so do I.
He pulls up alongside my house and I climb off, careful to hold my skirt in place. Ace chuckles, watching me grapple with the helmet he insisted I wear.
“Here.” He leans forward to help me get the damn thing off.
“I’ll just...” I thumb over my shoulder to my house.
“I’ll be waiting.” That trademark smirk of his slides into place, and I wonder what he’s thinking. Part of me half expects him to follow me inside, but he doesn’t, and in less than five minutes, I’m back at the bike in a pair of jeans and a fitted black t-shirt.
“You shoulda kept the skirt,” he says as I climb on behind him, fitting my thighs around his hips. Ace slides his hand along my knee, sending shivers skating through me. His touch is like kryptonite, making me weak for him.
And I know I'm in deep trouble.
“So where are we going?”
“It's a surprise,” he says.
A thril
l shoots through me. I’ve cut the odd class before, but I’ve never skipped out on the whole day. My mom will lose her shit when she finds out, but I can’t find it in myself to care. All I can think about is Michaela standing there, laughing at me. They were all laughing. Kids who used to be my friends. Kids that turned against me all because Queen Michaela snapped her fingers and said so.
“Easy, tiger,” Ace says over his shoulder as he hands me the helmet.
“Sorry.” I curl my fingers from my stomach, but he catches one of my hands.
“Don’t let that bitch inside your head.”
“Easy for you to say,” I grumble, but he’s already kicked the starter. The bike rumbles to life beneath us, drowning out my words.
It suits Ace. Sleek and powerful, and emanating danger.
He takes the coastal road out of the Bay towards the Heights. Nervous energy vibrates inside me as I hold him tighter. It’s like the closer we get, the faster he goes, and I wonder if I’m going to meet the real Ace.
The Sterling Heights version.
I’ve only ever passed the Heights. It isn’t somewhere people from Sterling Bay make a habit of going. The changes start slow at first. The big houses with immaculate yards become few and far between, replaced with derelict buildings covered in graffiti and small, dilapidated houses.
I’m suddenly relieved I traded my prep school uniform for jeans and a T-shirt.
Ace eases off the gas as he twists and turns down a network of streets. He clearly knows his way around this neighborhood, so when he pulls up outside a store marked ‘Sinners,’ I wonder where the hell he’s brought me.
He waits for me to climb off before doing the same. This time, I manage to get the helmet off myself.
“Here,” Ace says, taking it from me and hanging it over the handlebars.
“What is this place?”
“Scared, Princess?”
“You’ll have to do something a little worse than bring me to the Heights to intimidate me, Ace.” I level him with a serious look.
“Oh, is that right?” He flashes me a wolfish grin. “Come on.” Without warning, Ace grabs my hand and pulls me toward the store. A bell jangles as we step inside, and I scan the place. The walls are covered in rattle can art and there’s a distinctive hum in the air.
“You’re getting a tattoo?” I ask.
“Yeah.” Ace is distracted, reading his cell phone.
