Page 93 of Gathered Sparkle

He freezes, and I see the shock on his face. But I can’t stop now. The floodgates have opened, and the words tumble out. “Do you know what I’ve done to survive, Ace?” The words tear out of me. “Stripping, stealing, drinking until I couldn’t feel anything anymore…” My voice cracks, but I can’t stop. “I let myself be used. I let men touch me, let strangers think I was worth nothing because it was easier than feeling as if I’d lost everything. I spent years fucking random guys trying to forget what it felt like to lose you, lose her, lose myself. Do you have any idea what that does to a person? How it hollowed me out until there was nothing left?”

My chest heaves, and I force myself to meet his gaze, daring him to flinch. “I’ve fucked so many guys I lost track, and you want that? You wantme?” A sob breaks loose while shame crashes over me. “You still think I’m worth it?”

Ace’s expression doesn’t falter. He doesn’t look away, doesn’t wince. His jaw tightens, but there’s no judgment in his eyes, only unflinching certainty. “I don’t think.I know,” he reassures me. Then, with a faint, crooked smirk, he adds, “And don’t worry about it. You caused me so much emotional turmoil that my soul feels like it got fucked sideways too.”

I blink at him, startled by the bluntness, and I don’t know whether to laugh or cry.

His dark-fucking-humor.

A watery laugh bubbles out of me, helpless and a little unhinged, and the tension breaks like a dam.

He watches me with a smile, waiting until my laughter fades before reaching out again and cupping my cheek. “Wanna be mine, Trouble? Because damn, I’m still yours.”

Tears prick my vision, and I blink hard, trying to clear them. “I’m still yours too. But…” I swallow hard. “I’m also Sylus’s, and Koen’s, and—”

“Nicholas’s, I know.” Ace pulls me a little closer. “I talked with Sylus and Koen about it earlier when you were asleep.”

“You did?”

Ace nods. “And honestly, I think it’s a good thing. That you have all of us. That we’re all in this for you.” I blink at him, stunned. “It’ll never be the way it once was, Nova. I can never be the same. I bet you can’t either. And I don’t want it to be. I spent eight years longing for the past, for what we had, and it nearly broke me. But now? I long for the days ahead and a future I never thought I’d have with you…” He pauses to let his thumb stroke over my cheek. “If that future includes the people who pulled me out of the hole I was left in after losing you, the people who pulled you out of yours when I couldn’t, I think it sounds like they belong here with us.”

“You do?” My voice cracks, and I sniff, trying to hold back the tears that threaten to spill over.

“Oscar used to say the people meant to be in your life would find their way there, no matter how improbable it seemed.” His lips quirk into a faint smile. “And honestly,this?You, me, them, fucking Jinx…” he motions to the house, “… it’s so improbable, it has to be fate.”

Ace brushes away a tear that slipped down my cheek without me noticing. His hand lingers for a moment, his touch impossibly tender as he leans in, his gaze dropping to my lips and his voice lowering to a whisper. “Or magic.” He pulls back to meet my eyes. “You mine, Trouble?”

I don’t hesitate this time. “I’m yours.”

“Then stay still for me,” he murmurs, his breath brushing against my skin as he leans closer.

When his lips meet mine, it’s barely a kiss. It’s a soft, fleeting touch, more shared breath than contact. But it’s enough to make my entire body react, to make my pulse thunder in my ears as butterflies swarm in my stomach.

I hear my sixteen-year-old self screaming with joy and have to hold back a sob, overwhelmed with everything I’m feeling.

Ace pulls back so his forehead almost touches mine, his hand still cupping my cheek. His eyes remain closed for a moment as if savoring the connection.

And in that stillness, I know—I’m home.

We stay like that for what feels like forever, our breaths mingling in the quiet. My pulse still thrums from the kiss when Ace lets the tip of his nose glide over mine before reluctantly pulling away.

“Come on. We’ve got to make sure you look cool while handing out decks of cards.”

I let out a laugh, wiping the corner of my eye where another stray tear threatens to spill. “Cool? On these?” I gesture to the skates, wobbling dramatically for emphasis. “You’re aiming a little high, don’t you think?”

His lips twitch, the faintest hint of a smile breaking through. “You underestimate yourself.”

“Or maybe I have a healthy fear of falling on my ass.”

“Hey, at least I don’t make you do parkour.”

“Ha-ha.”

Ace and I wobble onto the driveway, though the contrast couldn’t be more glaring. He glides effortlessly as if he’s done this a thousand times while I teeter and clutch his hand like it’s a lifeline.

I can almost hear Rosalee in the back of my mind, mocking both of us in that way only she could.“Honestly, watching paint dry would’ve been less painful than this.”

The ache sneaks up on me out of nowhere.

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