Page 8 of Snow Place Like Home
“Where to next, boss?” the driver asked.
Ace looked at me, and I couldn’t quite read something in his look. My heart raced, and I quickly called out my address to the driver.
It was quiet for a beat before he spoke. “Did you know I had a crush on you when we were teenagers?”
I rolled my eyes. “You did not.”
“Did too.” He shrugged as he leaned back against the seat, a sexy grin settling on his face.
“You’re drunk.”
“Not drunk, Sunny. Just don’t feel the need to hide it anymore.”
I studied him, trying to decide if he was teasing me. “So why didn’t you ever tell me? I’m sure you knew I had a crush on you for most of my adolescence.”
He did a slow nod, leaning forward and resting his forearms on his massive thighs. “I thought you might have. But we were kids, and I wasn’t going to act on something that I probably wouldn’t have handled well at that time. Plus, you know my family was always the talk of the town for the wrong reasons, and I wasn’t going to drag you into my shit. I was embarrassed by it back then.”
“And now?”
“And now I know that their actions have nothing to do with me, and I’m not going to let dumb shit stop me from telling you the truth.”
My heart sank a little for him, because as much as Ace was the luckiest guy I’d ever known, it was no secret that he’d had a rough homelife. But he was good at hiding the fact that it bothered him from most people, though I’d always felt honored that he’d opened up to me many times when we were teenagers.
“So you just kept this little secret to yourself?” I asked.
“I was leaving for school, and you still had another year of high school. It seemed like the right thing to do.”
My mind was slightly blown by this revelation.
“And then it passed?” I asked, my voice laced with humor, though my heart pounded against my chest.
“I don’t know if I’d say that.” He chuckled, leaning back against the seat again when the car came to a stop. “You leftfor college the year after I did, and then you were with that dickhead for years.”
“You were in a few relationships yourself, dating like it was your day job.” I gave him a look.
“Fair enough. And this is the first time that we’re both single since said crush.”
We are both single.
And of course, I still found him to be ridiculously sexy.
We’d stopped in front of my house. The driver came around and opened my door.
I didn’t want the night to end yet, but what was I going to say?
This was Ace Bonetti. My brother’s best friend.
Hell, he was one of my best friends as well.
And he didn’t live here.
I turned to step out of the car, and panic set in.
Would we ever have this conversation again?
I whipped around and leaned into the car. “I’m not sure how long you’re in town, but with the wedding being tomorrow, things will get busy.”
“I head back to Los Angeles the morning after the wedding.”
