Page 48 of Broken Bonds

“Working all day and sometimes late into the evenings, I saved enough to enroll in college and rent my own apartment. I have my own place to call home now, my own bed and shower that I don’t have to share with anyone. A home where Hank can’t come into my room during the night to beat his pain out on me. I’m thousands of miles away from everything I left behind. I go to bed at night feeling safe,” he swallowed, his Adam’s apple bobbing, “and I don’t fear the dark anymore.”

His past was so dark. It was even dark before Jack’s death, and it now made sense why he was such an asshole. He was protecting himself the only way he knew how. I understood it. How much had I lashed out after the accident? After losing Aidan?

“I’m afraid of the dark,” I admitted, feeling his gaze on me. I stared across the dark room, hating the way the shadows moved. “I always see Aidan’s body when I close my eyes, just crumpled on the ground. My last memory of him won’t leave me, and it’s tainted every other memory of him.”

Ace quietly sighed. “I know. It took me a long time to stop seeing Jack’s body when I closed my eyes. But sometimes… he still lingers.”

We were both so messed up. And despite Ryan’s warning, I was falling for this broken man. How could I not? He was rude, blunt, and mean, but he was also loving, kind, and just… perfectly broken.

Ace was perfectly, beautifully broken.

“Do you think we’ll be okay?” I always wondered if I would stop seeing Aidan, if I would forget about that day. I hadn’t gone a single day without thinking of either.

“One day…maybe.” His words didn’t give me much hope.

We didn’t ask any more questions, our game ending quickly. After a few more minutes, Ace picked me up and walked us back to the gym, where they were serving some canned food for dinner. We ate without speaking a word, letting the murmurs and laughter of everyone else fill our painful silence.

I endured a sleepless night due to the constant pain in my legs. After two hours, I couldn’t take it anymore and started to cry, my shoulders shaking. Ace woke up in a panic upon hearing my small cries and quickly found Donna, who confirmed my pain was only getting worse. She doubled the pain pills she was giving me and went back to sleep.

Ace held me until I eventually fell asleep, my tears soaking his shirt, my legs throbbing.

The next day, Ace helped me get to the showers, and this time, he waited inside the locker room. I hadn’t stopped crying silent tears since the night. I could hardly hold myself up in the shower, but I didn’t want to smell. I put the same clothes on after the shower except with fresh underwear. Wasn’t like I had anything else to wear.

Ace quickly showered and did the same thing before we ended up in the dance room again. He insisted on continuing our game, but this time, we kept the questions simple.

“Dream car?” he asked, drawing my attention away from the pain pulsing through my legs. I wanted to detach them so I couldn’t feel the pain anymore.

“More like cars—plural.” Ace laughed. “I want too many. Right now, I’m thinking of a sports car. I need something fast because my Jeep is slow. You?”

He hummed, contemplating his answer. “A truck—maybe one of those old box Ford ones. I’m not too picky. Do you think you’ll ever get on a bike again?”

Instantly, I shook my head. “No,” I snapped, immediately regretting being so harsh with my answer. I would never trust another person with my life on the back of a bike again. There were some things in life you just never overcame, and that accident—the scars it left on me both literally and figuratively—was one of those things.

He hesitated before he asked his next question. “Do you know how to ride, Celine?”

“No. Aidan liked me on the back of his bike. He wanted to have all the control.” Ace’s body stiffened next to mine, clearly not liking my admission.

“I can teach you once this is all over—give you all the control.” Christ, did he have to make it sound sodirty?

I shook my head, trying to clear the lustful thoughts of controlling Ace out of my head. We were talking about motorcycles.Motorcycles, Celine.

“I can’t go through that again, Ace. I barely survived the first time, and I’m still suffering the consequences.” I shifted my aching legs, hoping for some relief. But there was none to be found.

“It might help you get over the accident,” he said after a while.

He didn’t understand. And how could I expect him to? Ace loved his bike. And everyone, including Aidan, thought they were safe until suddenly, all the precautions they took weren’t enough.

“You don’t understand. It’s not the bike; it’s not my damaged legs—it’s him.” My throat was too tight. “I can’t just forget about him.”

This time, Ace said nothing, and we sat in silence. Thunder was the only sound in the room, and the loud screams of the wind were still ferociously shaking the building.

It was the perfect soundtrack to the tumultuous feelings inside of me.

Later, we were sitting in a circle on the hard, cold floor, eating dinner with everyone else who was trapped in that school with us. Ace and I hadn’t spoken since our awkward conversationin the dance room, and now, we were having to converse with complete strangers. It was a little uncomfortable.

The three creeps from the first night were right across from me, and their gazes shot between us. I wanted to know what they were thinking, but mostly, the feeling of fear crept up my throat, outweighing my curiosity. Something about them was just… wrong. I couldn’t explain it. And Ace seemed to sense it too because he kept our thighs pressed together—like he was trying to stake a claim and make them back off.

Oscar directed the conversation away from the homeless man and onto me. “How did you two youngins’ meet, Celine dear?” he asked, and every pair of eyes fell on us. Ace shifted uncomfortably beside me, roughly clearing his throat.

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