Page 45 of Fastlander Fallen

Two words, and they changed his mood completely.

It was the best two words to start the day with. Corey had texted him.

Hey hi good morning….delete, delete, delete. Ace stood and paced into the hallway and back, hooked his hands on his hips, and stared at the phone on the bed.

She’d said he liked playing with her head. Was she getting him back?

His phone lit up and he just about blurred to the bed to check it.

I saw the dots that tell me you were typing, and that means you’re awake. I’ve been thinking.

Can I call you? Send.

Now it was his turn to watch the dots. And then nothing. And then the dots. And then nothing. Dots, and then, Sure.

He hit the call button immediately and cleared his throat, but he still sounded sleepy as hell when he spoke. “Are you messing with me?” he asked, needing to hear her voice to decipher a lie.

“What?” she asked in a tired voice. It was husky and sexy.

“You said I like playing with your mind. Is your good morning text you playing with my mind back?”

“Oh my God. Are you an overthinker too?” she asked. There was humor in her voice, and his hackles rose. She was making fun of him.

“No,” he ground out.

“If I was a shifter, would I hear the lie in that?”

He ran his hand down the scruff of his face. He needed a shave. “I overthink some things,” he admitted.

“I overthink all things. I couldn’t sleep.”

“Me either. You okay?” He was being genuine. He really wanted to know.

“I’m…yes. I’m good. I’m great. I’ve been thinking that I respect what you did.”

“What did I do?”

“You told me where I stand before I got too big of a crush on you. I talked to Hallie last night. I was stung and hurt, and feeling a little rejected and not that pretty, and a little confused, but she asked if I would rather you got me to fall for you and then hurt me, or for you to say exactly what your intentions are from the beginning, and I chose option B. So thank you, Ace. I will be a phenomenal member of the friendzone.”

He snorted. “I don’t even know where to start. Okay, first of all, I didn’t mean to hurt you, second, you should always feel pretty because you are a smokin’ hot woman, and third…thank you for letting me off the hook. I’m…” He lifted his eyes to the picture of him and his dad. “I’m a mess right now. I’m fucking sad. I don’t know what I’m doing with my life. I’ve been steady as it goes since the day I moved here, and now I’m thinking of changing everything up. I met you, and you gave me that fucking bagel, and that’s in my head, but I know how I felt yesterday when you followed Owen inside and when I saw you talking to him at the bar, and I know how I felt when you pushed me away, and I know how I felt when you were on another bike going up another road I wasn’t invited, and I want to be honest, okay? I do. But my entire existence has depended on me being a secret, do you understand?”

“I don’t even know where to start,” she murmured, repeating his words. “Okay, first of all, why are you sad?”

He didn’t have the words that would explain it. He tried, but every time he started, the words got all caught up in his throat and felt like concrete. He lifted his phone and took a picture of the photograph on his wall, and then sent it to her.

“Is that your dad in the picture?” she asked softly.

“Yeah,” he said gruffly.

“Is he gone?”

“Yeah.”

“How long ago?”

“Three months.”

“Shhhit. Ace, that’s not very long.”

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