Page 90 of Gathered Sparkle

Setting the clothes on the counter, I catch a glimpse of the bandage on my arm. With a sigh, I peel it off carefully, wincing at the raw edges of the graze. The skin looks better, healing slowly but still tender. I grab a tube of cream from the medicine cabinet and smooth a thin layer over the wound, then cover it with a fresh bandage.

Brushing my teeth, I run a comb through my hair, debating for a second whether to put on makeup. But it’s Ace. I don’t need to hide behind foundation and mascara with him.

And he’s waiting for me.

I pull the hoodie over my head, slip on my sneakers, and rush downstairs to the kitchen. Pulling two breakfast burritos out of the oven, I wrap them in napkins and head to the door.

The sunlight is brighter than I expect as I step outside, the air warm against my hoodie. I scan the driveway, frowning when I spot Ace sitting on the bottom step, two pairs of skates lying next to him.

Skates?What the hell?

I walk down toward him, my steps careful as if not to disturb whatever has him sitting there so still. When I reach him, I hesitate for a moment before sitting down next to him, just far enough away that our arms don’t brush, and reach out one of the burritos in my hand.

“You’re on,” I say, waiting for him to make the first move.

His ice-blue eyes flick to mine, and a smile tugs at his lips as he takes the burrito. “Thank you.”

At first, we eat in silence.

And God, is it good.

But while the sound of napkins crinkling and the occasional chirp of a bird fills the air, my thoughts are louder.

Am I sitting too close?

Should I shift farther away?

Would that seem weird? Or maybe it’s better to sit still and act as if I’m not overthinking everything about this moment?

Ace finishes before I do and wipes his hands on his napkin. I take my time, trying to match his ease as I chew my last bite and clean my hands too.

When I put down the napkin, he reaches out, hooking his pinky around mine, and a waft of his burned wood with dark patchouli scent waves over. The scent and gesture make me freeze for a beat, my eyes dropping to where our fingers are linked.

“How’d you sleep?”

“Good.” I look up at him. “Too long. I think I’ve had such a lack of sleep these last few years that now it feels like I’m trying to catch up.”

“Don’t spill bullshit,” he teases. “You’ve always been a long-nights, long-sleeper kind of person.”

I chuckle, looking away to hide all the emotions that bubbled up. His memory of me feels like both a warm embrace and a stab of something sharp. “Maybe.” He doesn’t push further, only nodding, then turns his gaze toward the driveway. “How about you? How’d you sleep?”

“Good,” he answers simply.

“What are we doing out here?”

Ace finally turns to look at me again. “I was talking with Levi and Koen while you werecatching up on sleep,” he says, giving me a pointed side-eye that makes me laugh.

“And?”

“And,” he continues. “We decided to go with the plan outside the Lane Building. On the street.”

“You did?”

“It’ll mean some adjustments to the plan, but Levi’s idea makes sense. More people, more visibility, and a bigger impact. It’s… ambitious.”

Ambitious is an understatement. It’s reckless and bold andutterly Lane.“And you’re okay with that?”

“I am,” he says, hooking his pinky tighter with mine as if trying to ground me in his certainty. “What do you think? You okay with the change?”

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