Page 17 of Loving Leila
As I’m locking the truck, I see Ace strolling toward the vehicles. The look on his face is not a happy one when he sees me.
“What the fuck, Merlin?”
I’m taken aback by the anger behind his words. Anger aimed at me, it seems. “Excuse me?”
“I don’t know what you did, but she’s a crying mess up there because of you. Again. Didn’t figure you’d hurt her enough when you dumped her ass the last time, so you coming to finish the job?”
At his words, I can feel my own anger fire to life. “What the hell are you talking about? And what are you even doing here?”
“I came to see my friend. The one I lost when you stupidly threw the best thing to happen to you away. The one I stopped being able to be friends with because of the damn bro code. Lo and behold, I find her a wreck because of something you’ve done. Again.”
I can actually hear his teeth click against each other as he snaps his mouth shut. He clenches his jaw and his fists as he glares at me. Ace, like me, is a big man. We’re fairly evenly matched in size and strength, so I know it’s going to be one hell of a brawl if we get into it. I brace for him to throw a punch.
But in the end, all he says is, “Why don’t you just leave her alone, man? If you can’t love her, and make no mistake she deserves to have someone worship her, then just leave her be. Don’t keep hurting her like this. It’s not right, Merlin. Just leave her be.”
I feel like I’ve been sucker punched in the gut. “All this time, and you’ve been bottling that up inside?”
He grips the back of his neck, his knuckles white. “Yep, pretty much.”
“Why didn’t you say anything back then?”
“Would you have listened?” he asks, his tone ripe with skepticism.
That gives me pause. “Probably not, I guess.”
He gives me aso there you have itlook but says nothing more. I sigh. I want nothing more than to get to Leila; however, Ace deserves an answer too. Almost as if of their own accord, I find myself shuffling my feet, nerves surfacing.
“You’re right. Blinded by the grief of losing Maverick, seeing the hell that Sherri was going through over his death, I stupidly thought I was doing the right thing for her when I broke it off. All I did was hurt everyone I cared about, and myself, instead.”
“What the hell happened this time?”
“That’s between Leila and me. But I’m here to try and make things right between us. I love her. I should have told her a long time ago.”
“Yeah, you should have. Well, I wish you luck, because the mood she’s in, I’m not sure she’s going to want to see you, let alone listen to you.”
My heart sinks. I didn’t expect it to be easy; however, I had hoped she’d have calmed down a bit by now.
“I’m outta here. I mean it though. Good luck, brother. It’d be good to have her back in the family. We’ve all missed her.” He claps me on the back, then heads for his truck.
I watch him leave. I’m stalling, and I know it, yet somehow I can’t seem to get my feet to move. For long minutes, I stand staring at the spot where I last saw Ace’s truck. A soft chirp from my pocket pulls me out of my thoughts. Hauling my phone out, I see it’s a text from the very man himself.
All it says is simplyDon’t fuck it up. Love you, brother.
Jesus. No pressure then.
Well, I guess there’s no time like the present. I tuck my phone back in my pocket, check the lock on my truck, and walk toward Leila’s apartment. I’ve never been so nervous – I don’t even think I was this nervous on my first mission. What if I’ve screwed up my chance with her? What if I’ve hurt her too much to forgive me? She was madder than a wet cat when she threw me out.
Before I’m ready, I find myself standing in front of Leila’s front door. I raise my hand to knock but chicken out at the last minute. I shake my hands out, blow out a breath I wasn’t aware I was holding, and try again. Another three times. Good God, dude, man up.
I scrub my hands over my face, take a deep breath, and knock before I can change my mind. My heart crawls into my throat as I wait for Leila to open. This isn’t going to be easy – that’s if she even lets me into her apartment considering how mad she was earlier.
“Did you forget something, Ace?” she says as she opens her door.
When she sees me standing there, her smile disappears, and she goes to close the wooden portal in my face.
Leaning in, I stop her from locking me out. “Leila, I know I’m the last person you want to see, but can we please talk for a minute? Please?” I feel her waver in the amount of pressure she’s exerting on the door. “Please just hear me out, and then if you decide you still never want to see me again, I’ll respect your wishes. And I promise to let the guys know I won’t be mad if they stay in touch. Please?”
The door swings open again, and she’s standing there scowling at me. “That’s a lot of pleases. You must really have something to say if the almighty Kyle Jackson is willing to beg.”
