Page 20 of Jace

“Yeah,” I chuckle. “What’s wrong with fruit?”

“There is nothing wrong with it, I just never imagined you being the Betty Crocker type.”

“I think we can both safely say that there are a lot of things we don’t truly know about the other.” I hate the idea of her and Zac knowing more about each other than the two of us. It’s hard not to be jealous of the closeness they’ve shared and still do.

“True,” she nods, before leaning back against the counter opposite me. “You never really took the time to learn anything new.”

I know she isn’t saying this to be cruel, she is only simply stating the facts.

“Time to change that,” I say leaning in, I kiss the corner of her mouth and move to the refrigerator. “Starting with breakfast.”

Grabbing the bowl of fruit, I place the cut-up strawberries, blueberries, and raspberries on the counter. Next retrieving the plate of French toast and bacon to join it. Then I grab the syrup, powdered sugar and add everything else we may need, before pulling out a chair, waiting for her to join me.

“Coffee, or milk?” I ask ignoring the curious look she is still giving me. A hint of a smile tugging at the corner of her mouth.

“Coffee is good,” she replies while taking a seat and allowing me to scoot her closer to the counter.

After I get us both a cup, I set them down and start to step around her when she grabs my shirt and I pause.

Looking up at me, she worries her lip but only for a second. “Thank you,” her chest rises as she takes a deep breath. “This is really nice.”

I stare at her, loving her current disheveled look. Sleepy eyes, hair a little wild from tossing and turning throughout the night, she is incredibly beautiful on any given day but this version of her, it knocks me on my ass. If only she knew just how incredible she was without all the makeup, and fancy clothes. In this moment she is her true self and it’s my favorite version of her.

“You’re welcome, babe,” I say, placing my hand over hers I give it a squeeze, lifting our now joined hands up so I can press a kiss to the inner part of her wrist. Her breath hitches as I lower them and then join her.

We eat in silence for a few minutes and I wonder if it’s always going to be this strange. We’ve created this weirdness between us that I’m not sure how to correct. I want her to freely ramble with me like she does Zac. I want the uneasy feeling I know she has to disappear. But I also know that I have to give it time to develop. Aurora and I have had one speed since we met, we don’t know how else to navigate. Or we never gave ourselves the chance to.

That all shifts now, it’s long overdue.

“I did something.” Zac barges into my room and flops done in the chair. Running his fingers through his hair, he looks like he’s gone to battle and lost.

“What did you do?” I’m afraid to ask but I do anyway. I know it can only be something bad with how unsettled he is. The guy is always so put together, so calm and collected. Right now, he is nothing but a mess.

“What,” he groans surprising me, “not what, who?” He waves his hand. “Who did I do,” his eyes widen and I do my best to hold back my laughter. A disheveled Zac is comical. Like a squirrel trapped in a box. “I just know that I fucked up.”

Chuckling at his moral dilemma, I sit on the edge of my table and cross my arms over my chest. For weeks Zac and I didn’t talk. Hell, I barely talked to anyone here. I missed each one of them tremendously. It feels good to have that back.

“Aurora is going to be pissed at me.” He hangs his head and shakes it. “Dude, I don’t know what I was thinking. Well…” He lifts his gaze to meet mine once more. “I know what I was thinking. She fucking dropped down in front of me undid my fly and before I knew what was happening had my dick in her mouth. So I was thinking hell fucking yeah, but still.”

“Wait, what, who?”

“Presley,” he growls her name. I shouldn’t, I know this, but I chuckle and he groans. “Seriously she is like a little fucking spider monkey and the strength she has for such a little thing.” I laugh harder. “Stop fucking laughing asshole, I swear she sucked me off, tossed me to the couch and before I knew it, she was bucking around like she was riding a bull.”

At this point I am hunched over, laughing to the point of tears.

“I was fucked, literally and it all happened so fast.” He looks at me all wide eyed as he runs his fingers through his hair. “Then this morning she comes walking out of my room where I let her sleep and she acts like nothing happened. I’m torn man.”

“So she doesn’t remember?”

“I don’t know, I mean she didn’t say anything. She thanked me for letting her stay, told me she’d called a cab and had to get home because her son was going to be home at one. I stood there waiting for her to say something, anything, but she was gone before I knew it and I was left standing there feeling like I had whiplash.”

“How did you all get from you taking her home to being at your place instead?”

“We left the club; she couldn’t find her house key and after digging through her purse for more than fifteen minutes, I decided our only option was to go back to my place. I figured she’d pass out, and I’d call Aurora in the morning and pass her cousin off to her.”

“Your plan didn’t work out so well, did it?” I break out once again in a fit of laughter because the shit is hilarious.

“I’m not joking, Jace,” he whines. “Don’t get me wrong, it was hot, but we are talking about Presley. She is the one girl I shouldn’t be fucking.”

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