Page 117 of Broken Bonds

Ryan refused to let Ace come near me the rest of the day. Something had happened between them while Mom had brought me breakfast, and the anger between the two had yet to simmer down. Ryan carried me downstairs for the day, and we all lounged around. I dozed off a few times from the pain pills, but the day had been uneventful.

Amber cozied up to Ryan the moment she walked through the front door and saw him in the kitchen. There had been tears of joy and screams of delight when she first arrived. The two had been glued together on the couch, exchanging what they thought were secret kisses. But Ryan still kept an eye on Ace, which annoyed me. Why couldn’t he just leave Ace be?

After a few hours of insulting comments thrown back and forth, Ace decided to go to his apartment to give us some space, mostly because Amber had been the only thing stopping Ryan from beating the crap out of Ace all afternoon. Come to find out, while I’d been recovering, Ace had been working on moving back down here. And if that didn’t say something about his promise to stay, I didn’t know what did.

Ace stood from the opposite side of the lounge, and my eyes were drawn to him as he sauntered over to me, his mouth set in a lazy grin, his eyes lit in mischief. I couldn’t help but smile at him, despite the never-ending glare from Ryan.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Amber’s hand on Ryan’s chest, stopping him from standing.

Ace stopped in front of me and leaned down. His lips brushed against my cheek, and I blushed from the roots of my hair down to my toes. “I’ll see you later, princess,” he whispered, his lips brushing my ear, sending a shiver down my spine.

“Get away from my sister, bastard!” Ryan shouted over Amber. By the time Ace made it to the door to leave, Amber was standing in front of Ryan, preventing him from charging at Ace.

“Ryan, stop!” I begged, trying to stand, but I fell back onto the couch with a yelp.

“Sit down, Celine. You’ve got four broken ribs. Don’t even try to move.” His firm voice had me frozen. He turned back to Ace. “Get out of my house before I throw you out. You promised my sister you wouldn’t leave, and you broke her heart! I don’t trustone word that comes out of your mouth! You probably lied about your brother drowning, too!”

No!

Amber’s jaw dropped as she looked from Ryan to Ace, and then me.

“Ryan!” I screamed when my eyes finally landed on Ace’s pained expression.Oh, no.

“Don’t ever bring up my brother again.” Ace’s voice was low and threatening, and the hair at the nape of my neck stood.

Ryan had crossed a line.

Ace turned and walked out of the house, slamming the front door in the process, leaving Amber and me staring at Ryan.

“How could you?!” I shouted at him when he turned to look at me.

Ryan glared at me. “How could you so gullibly let him back into your life? What is wrong with you?!” he barked, anger radiating off his body in thick waves.

“Ryan Wilson, do not raise your voice in my house!” Our mom screamed from the entryway of the kitchen, hands on her hips, disappointment in her eyes. “How could you speak to Ace like that? Didn’t I raise you better, young man?”

“Ma, come on! After everything he put Celine through, you’re going to take his side over mine?” Ryan pointed at the door and then jabbed his finger into his chest, his face turning red with anger.

“He is a troubled young man, and I thought you, of all people, would understand what that feels like since you had to run away to the army to make up for your own guilt!” My jaw dropped open, and Ryan’s face paled. “Maybe he needed to run when he realized he liked Celine. We were not put on this earth to judge, my boy. We were put here to accept and guide.”

Amber’s hand sneaked into Ryan’s as she stood behind him, a gentle, unrelenting supporter.

“He hurt my baby sister. I’m just trying to protect her!” he huffed in desperation.

“He’s hurting just as much as she is. He hasn’t slept in days, didn’t eat until Celine ate, hasn’t left her side since Amber called him. People make mistakes, my child, and you have to forgive them and yourself.”

“He should’ve been here to protect her!” He pointed at me, his hand shaking.

“You should’ve been here!” Amber finally screamed, her face as red as her hair, fury lighting up her green eyes. Ryan balked at her. “You shouldn’t have left us here because you couldn’t handle your own guilt. You are as much to blame as he is.” Her hand slipped from his, and she walked over to me and sat on the couch, crossing her arms angrily.

Ryan stood with his arms hanging limply, jaw slack. “You, too?” Shaking his head, he glared at both of us. “You’re all wrong. I came home to make sure you were okay.” He pointed at me. “I came home excited to see my girlfriend, who I thought understood, but you don’t.” He turned to my mom, who stood there rigid, her arms crossed, her eyes blazing in fury.

“Get your ass in here right now and shut your foul-spreading mouth! I have heard enough, you ungrateful child!” Ryan slowly walked into the kitchen, leaving Amber and me looking at each other with wide eyes.

Ace

Anger like nothing I had felt before boiled beneath my skin. Swinging my leg over my bike and snapping my helmet on, I pulled out onto the main road, away from that storm back in Celine’s house.

Ryan knew better. I told him everything, and he betrayed me. He just threw the worst moment of my life back in my face like the careless, self-centered asshole I’d come to realize he was.

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