Page 46 of Broken Bonds

I liked how safe he made me feel.

I liked this asshole as more than just a friend.

I was well and truly fucked.

capter nineteen

CELINE

We woke up in the middle of the afternoon, although with how dark it was, it certainly didn’t feel like it. My stomach grumbled, so I gently shook Ace awake since I certainly wasn’t going to go get food by myself. I was too nervous to go wandering alone, and I knew he’d be angry if I tried walking by myself.

“Stop stealing my things!” the homeless man shouted, garnering everyone’s attention in the room. Oscar and his daughter walked over to diffuse the situation, but the shouting only got louder. Couldn’t they leave the man alone?

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me,” Ace growled in frustration, pulling at his hair.

I looked away from him to the guy currently arguing with Oscar. He was still shouting as Oscar and his daughter led him out of the gym, trying to calm him down. Poor guy. Why did people have to be such dicks?

“How about some scrambled eggs and pancakes for you two?” Barbara asked, walking over to our spot with two paper plates filled with food. It smelled heavenly, making my stomach rumble again. And even better—I didn’t have to move to go get it.

“Oh, please, I’m starving.” I leaned up as much as I could from the floor to take the two plates from her with a smile,handing the bigger one to Ace, who finally smiled for the first time since he’d been awake. I guessed what they said was true—the way to a man’s heart was through his stomach. Seriously, I hadn’t seen him smile that big since…

Since we had peanut butter and jelly sandwiches at the beach house.

“Thank you, ma’am,” he said, already raising the plastic fork to his mouth, full of eggs. He hummed in content as he chewed, looking like he might be having a mini orgasm. I coughed to cover my laugh.

After breakfast, we brushed our teeth and wandered the school, looking for a cool place to rest without strangers surrounding us. Oscar still couldn’t get the generator to work, so we were powerless.

Ace was still carrying me everywhere and glared when I objected. The pain was unbearable, but I didn’t tell him that… like saying it out loud would just cement the fear that I may never walk again.

We came to a big room, the walls covered with mirrors. It reminded me of the dance studio in my old high school. Ace walked in, settling us into a cool corner, leaning his back against the mirrored wall. It wasn’t too hot, thankfully, but the darkness made every shadow seem ten times scarier.

“You know, I don’t really know anything about you besides your accident.” His chest rumbled as he spoke, and shivers wracked down my spine.

“I didn’t realize the goal was to become best friends,” I retorted, wishing I knew how to protect my hopeful heart from him.

He huffed in annoyance. “You can really be a bitch sometimes.”

I rolled my eyes. “And you are an asshole most of the time.”

His fingers suddenly grasped my chin, and he turned my head to look at him. My heart skipped a beat in my chest, my pulse fluttering at the base of my throat. His fingers were warm and calloused andGod, it felt so good to have him handle me like this.

“I want to know, Celine.” His voice washed over my skin, making my mind go all hazy and blank. “I want to know who you were before Aidanandwho you are now.”

I blinked when he suddenly released me, leaving me cold and… empty. “Fine,” I sighed. “We can play twenty questions.”

He rolled his blue eyes. “What’s your favorite childhood memory?” he asked. I frowned. And here I thought he would ask my favorite color. Seemed I wasn’t that lucky.

“When I learned to ride my bike for the first time,” I said lamely. I looked away from his eyes, choosing to look at my hands instead. Looking at him—into his eyes, at that—felt too intimate.

“Why?”

I cast him an annoyed look. “That’s not how this game works. It’s my turn now.”

He huffed, the air blowing against my neck. “Answer the question, Celine. Stop being difficult.”

I was being difficult? Talk about the pot calling the kettle black.

“Ryan and my dad taught me. I had to be about six or seven, and I couldn’t keep up with Ryan on training wheels. I begged my dad to teach me for weeks, but he would just shake his head and tell me not yet. Then, I begged Ryan, but he let me go on his bike, and I ended up having roasties—road rash,” I explained at Ace’s confused look, “all over my legs.”

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