Page 3 of Scattered Glitter

“Better?” he asks as he hands them back to us.

Rosalee still doesn’t look convinced. “I don’t know if it’s better to get roofied or to have your saliva in my cup.”

Ace laughs again, shaking his head. “Your sister doesn’t like me, does she?”

Rosalee’s glare intensifies. She’s clearly unimpressed by any of this, but I’m having too much fun to care.

“It’s not that. She doesn’t like anybody but me.” I grin, finally taking a sip of my drink, the strong liquid burning down my throat.

Whiskey?

“Huh.” Ace tilts his head, those ice-blue eyes still fixed on me. “I don’t think I like anybody anymore except for you, either.”

Fuck, I don’t think I’ve ever felt my heart flutter like that.

We drink for a short while, talking and laughing, the energy between us crackling with something I can’t quite put my finger on.

Rosalee keeps glancing at her watch, and finally, she nudges me. “Nova, it’s late. We have our first day tomorrow.”

I glance at Ace, feeling a strange reluctance to leave. “You in school tomorrow too?” I ask. “We’re new… would be good to know someone.”

Ace chuckles, shaking his head. “No, but I’m here every night.” His eyes linger on mine in a way that makes my stomach flip.

I nod, a little disappointed but not surprised. We stand up to go, but when I reach into my pocket to check my phone, my hand comes up empty. Patting my other pockets, panic rises as I realize his phone is missing too.

Turning to Ace, I find he’s already watching me with a knowing smile. “You’re not very good at keeping track of your things, are you?”

What the hell?

He stands and reaches into his pocket, pulling out my phone and holding it up with a grin. “If you want to learn how to pickpocket without the guy noticing, give me a call.” He slips my phone back into my hand with a smirk.

I’m stunned, a rush of adrenaline and surprise flooding through me. But before I can say anything, Rosalee tugs at my arm. “Come on, let’s go.”

My mind is still spinning as we turn and walk away.

Nobody has ever noticed me stealing from them.

I’m not a fucking noob.

As we head back out into the night, my phone pings with a new text from an unknown number.

Sleep well, Trouble.

How the fuck did he manage to get my number?

I grin like an idiot while butterflies take flight in my chest. Rosalee leans in to read the text, then sighs, shaking her head. “Really, Nova? The first guy you’re ever interested in, and it’sthat guy?”

I think about those ice-blue eyes and that infuriatingly handsome smirk.

Yeah, it’s that guy.

The memory lingers, fragments of Ace’s ice-blue eyes and Rosalee’s glittery jacket swirling in my mind, refusing to let go. This isn’t the first time they’ve haunted me—those moments of reckless joy wrapped in the weight of everything that came after. But tonight, something about it feels sharper, more vivid, as if time has folded in on itself and brought them back to me.

Maybe it’s the guy beneath me, the way his cologne clings to the air, something woodsy and warm that remindsme of the night Ace wrapped an arm around my shoulders and called me Trouble for the first time. Or maybe it’s his Rolex, its gold face glinting like the one Ace stole from some business guy just like this one. I used to slip it off Ace with a smirk, daring him to steal it right back.

Damn him.

The ache in my chest deepens like an old wound that never quite healed. Time is supposed to dull the pain, but it hasn’t. Not for me. It’s only sharpened the edges, carving out hollows I can never seem to fill. Eight years later, Ace’s face has started to blur at the edges, but the feel of his presence and the sound of his voice are things my mind refuses to let go of.

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