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“I can’t. Not yet. You just need to trust me.” A stone wall slams down over his expression, and my mouth drops open with a sigh of disbelief.
“You’re seriously not going to tell me?”
“I didn’t come here to fight, Remi.”
Not Princess.
Remi.
The knot in my stomach tightens.
“So what did you come here for?”
“I just wanted to see you.” His shoulders sag.
“Well, you saw me. Now you can go.” My eyes flick to the window.
“Remi, baby, don’t do this. Please.”
“You keep asking me to trust you, Ace, but it goes both ways. I know something happened with Michaela, but you don’t trust me enough to tell me, and that doesn’t fly with me.”
“That’s not...” Jaw clenched, he presses his lips together, swallowing the words.
“You should probably go before my mom hears you.”
“You’re really going to kick me out?” Disappointment clings to his words.
“You’re really going to do this?” I throw back. “We can go round in circles all night, but it won’t change the fact that you’re choosing to shut me out.”
“I fucking love you.” He advances toward me, grabbing my shoulders. “Do you have any idea of how far I’d go to keep you safe? To protect you? To make sure fuckers like Bexley and Michaela can’t touch you anymore?” His eyes burn into mine, possessive and angry. I want to melt into his arms, but I don’t.
Because Ace has to realize I don’t need saving.
I don’t want a bodyguard to fight my battles. I want a partner. An equal. I want someone to stand at my side and fight with me.
He starts to lean in, his warm breath and close proximity disarming me, but I slam my hands into his chest, forcing him to back up.
“What the fuck?” he grumbles.
“We’re supposed to be a team, Ace. Me and you. Together.”
Silence lingers between us, but it might as well be a vast ocean. He’s already made up his mind. And I won’t back down either.
“I love you,” he says again, as if those three words are a Band-aid you can use to patch up open wounds.
“I love you too, but right now, I don’t like you very much.”
His head hangs low, pain vibrating off him. But Ace doesn’t argue this time. He goes to the window and climbs out, his eyes lingering on me one last time before he disappears into the shadows like a ghost in the night.
“Don’t you think you’re being a little bi
t harsh?” Hadley asks as we make our way to first period.
I didn’t ride with Conner and Cole. After Ace’s late-night visit, I needed space, and I didn’t want to be hounded by Conner, no matter how helpful he thinks his advice is.
“Ace has to realize he can’t always shut me out, Hadley. That’s not how relationships work. Besides, this is Michaela we’re talking about. Just the thought of him anywhere near her makes me stabby.”
“You don’t really think something happened between them, do you? Ace is crazy about you, he would never do something to jeopardize that. Not after what happened at your party.”
