Page 12 of Healing Bonds

“It’s ours. I didn’t mean it, Celine,” Ace apologized. “Wepay for the house. What’s mine is yours—you know that.”

“Oh, I’m just supposed toknowthings now?” I threw my hands up in the air in exasperation. “Like I’m just supposed to just understand whyyoushutmeout!” He flinched, his blue eyes no longer holding my gaze.

“I just need time to sort through everything in my head, baby.” He stood, his large hands reaching for my trembling arms. His hold steadied me, and I finally felt grounded after so long, but my bottom lip trembled. I was so tired of going through this all the time. “I love you, Celine, with all my heart. Don’t ever forget that. Do you remember our vows, baby?”

His handsome face blurred as tears filled my eyes. Of course, I remembered our vows. Reaching up, he traced my jaw, his fingertips brushing my cheeks, swiping away a lone tear as it rolled down my face.

“Nobody but you, in sickness and in health. There is nobody but you that I will love with my entire heart until the day that I die.” His voice was steady, his eyes a mesmerizing blue as they held mine. He captured all of my attention, and I struggled to reign in my emotions. My racing heart beat loudly in my ears, and my tears blurred my vision, blurring the image of my perfect husband. With trembling hands, I held his face.

“I haven’t forgotten my promise to you,” I croaked.

He shook his head, his eyelids fluttering closed for a moment. “You didn’t, but I did. I’m so sorry, Celine. I won’t ever forget again. My love for you is stronger than any situation we face,” he promised.

“Oh, my God. You two have me crying like a fucking baby over here.” Amber sniffled, earning a deep chuckle from Ace as he leaned his forehead against mine, his eyes closing as his grip on me tightened. His touch reassured me that we would always be okay, that he would always be mine to have and to hold.

“You’re just jealous that Ryan isn’t confessing his undying love to you,” he mumbled against my lips.

“And you’re still an asshole.” Amber snorted. “What a relief.”

“I love you,” I whispered against his lips before pressing a kiss to them. He groaned and deepened the kiss, his armsbanding around me, holding me tight against his muscular frame.

“Hey, hey! No sex in front of me. Save that for later,” Amber interrupted, reminding us once again that she was still here. “You two made up. Now, I need my best friend.”

That was six months ago, and now, I was sitting with a ghost of that woman as we got our nails done. Ryan and Ace were at work, and she hadn’t said a word. Ryan warned me that something happened last night after we left, that something had triggered a panic attack.

I was worried about my friend—my future sister-in-law. She was never quiet—not with me at least. It was worrying. Amber was an outspoken kind of woman. Hell, I could hardly ever get her to shut up. Whatever had triggered her anxiety attack last night was still bothering her today.

“Ames, how was your first night with Ryan?” I wiggled my eyebrows, knowing she had been talking about how much she missed him at night.

What I wasn’t expecting was her lack of reaction. “It was okay,” she mumbled.

“What’s wrong?” The nail tech looked up, slitted eyes darting between us.

I frowned at the woman. Did she have no decency? “I don’t want to talk about it, okay?” Amber snapped at me, and my eyes widened in shock. “I just want to relax. That was the whole point of this, right?” She looked around the small nail salon, but instead of looking relaxed, she looked trapped.

“I suppose, but usually, I can never get you to shut up, so why don’t you just tell me what’s going on? Did you not like the proposal?” She stiffened.

“No, it was perfect. He’s everything I’ve ever wanted, Cece. You know that.”

“Then, what the hell has you acting so strange?” I demanded. “Ryan told me you were upset last night. What did he do?” I asked, automatically assuming my brother managed to upset her, which wouldn’t be all that surprising. He tended to speak before he thought about what he was actually saying.

“He told you?” She looked at me, green eyes wide with panic and fear, a blush coating her freckled cheeks. She wasembarrassed. My fiery best friend who had no filter was embarrassed. This wasn’t like her.

“He told me you were crying a lot last night and thought maybe he made the wrong decision in proposing. That maybe he should have waited a little longer.” I couldn’t let her know that I knew about the panic attack. If she was this panicked about being upset, I didn’t even want to know what would happen if she knew that he’d told me about her anxiety attack.

She relaxed instantly, a small smile curling her red lips. “I just lost myself in all of the emotions, Cece. I never expected him to propose the night he came home, but shit, I couldn’t believe he was home, you know?” She shook her head. “It wasn’t a bad time. There was just so much happening back-to-back.”

“I cried too when Ace proposed. If you asked me all those years ago if we would get married, I would have laughed in your face. Me and the asshole…” My voice trailed off for a moment as I remembered the days we hated each other. “Who would’ve thought we would be a perfect match?” She laughed, a light shining in her eyes that was missing before.

“Just everyone around you two. Well, except Ryan. He’s such a protective jerk,” she scoffed, tossing her red curls over her shoulder.

“He really did make things difficult for us, didn’t he?” I flinched and glared at the nail tech, who had cut my finger with the grinding tool. The small woman rolled her eyes andmumbled an apology. They said there wasn’t beauty without pain, but if she cut my finger again, I would gladly be ugly.

“Why do you think I started dating him in the first place?” It wasn’t true. I ended up dating Ace because, despite his asshole personality, he was my rock my entire world was flipping upside down. He was my strength when I couldn’t walk any longer.

She snickered, arching a brow at me. “Please, you started dating right after Ace left. Nice try, bitch,” I retorted.

“Oh, right, well, that’s why I kept dating him when Ace came back to keep him away from you guys.” She shrugged, looking pleased with herself.

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