Page 37 of Reckless Rebel

“It’s not nothing, it's everything, thank you for trying so hard for her.” I nod my head towards Sofia who is already patiently listening to someone who works here as they show her the different colors.

Jace follows my gesture and watches Sofia with a smile on his face before he simply replies, “It’s what you do for family and she's the only blood I have left.”

I don’t say anything because I am too overwhelmed with emotions for him and for her, and we make our way over to the table to join Sofia as we all pick out something to paint. Sofia picks a mug like she wanted and so does Jace, but I go for a plate so I have more room to be creative. We paint peacefully until Sofia makes fun of Jace’s and he splodges his paintbrush on her nose as she squeals in protest.

“Picking on little girls isn’t really fair,” I state.

He turns to me with a wicked smirk. “So you’re saying I should pick on someone my own size,” he raises his eyebrows in mischief.

“Don’t even think about it,” I saw slowly, raising my own brush in defense.

He looks as if he is going to let it go so I lower my paintbrush, only for him to dive at me and I dart my hand out to get him in the face with my brush. He isn’t deterred, just lets me do it while he pins me to my chair and paints my own face in return. By the time we are done fighting against one another, our faces, necks and hands are covered in paint and Sofia is dying with laughter as she joins in.

I actively ignore the heat of his body against mine and the intense look in his eyes as his gaze drops to my lips and back. Just friends, that’s all, and friends have fun together like this, right? He clears his throat and moves back, but not before I feel his grip tighten on my waist slightly before it falls away. I inhale deeply before straightening up and we go back to painting. Jace and Sofia immediately start back and forth with their little jokes and everytime our eyes meet he offers me a secretive little smile that I can’t help but return.

The fun continues when we grab takeout on the way home and almost choke with laughter as Jace tries to fit his whole portion of fries in his mouth at once to amuse Fia. We end up making him laugh half way through and he snorts, forcing numerous half eaten fries to fly from his mouth and I laugh so hard I swear a pee a little. All in all it’s been a wonderful day and I know Sofia has had the best time, which is what matters to me.

We make the short drive home with Sofia finally calming down in the back as she gets sleepy, but everytime I try to calm down I look at Jace and laugh again. I’m still laughing as we pull up at the curb and climb from the car, I grab the couple of bags that belong to Sofia, and Jace grabs another, before opening her door and picking her up easily as she smiles sleepily at him.

I catch his eye once more and he exhales, “Stop staring at me, Red,” I laugh again, and he shakes his head with a laugh of his own as we head towards the path to the house.

“Well, at least one of us is having a good night.” A sharp voice cuts through the air, and I turn to find Rick standing from where he must have been waiting on the porch steps.

It’s only then it slams into me that I forgot all about our date I planned for tonight. “Rick, oh my god, I’m sorry, I lost track of time.” He isn’t even looking at me, just staring intently at Jace and he ignores me to call out to him.

“I can’t decide if you are stupid or just that arrogant.” Rick snarls.

I see Jace hesitate as he looks at Sofia who is barely awake curled into his chest before he looks back to Rick, “Only one of us is stupid, Dick, and it isn’t me.” He doesn’t spare him another second before he turns to me and lowers his voice, “I’m sorry, Riles, I didn’t know you guys had plans, I’ll catch you later.”

He doesn’t wait for me to say anything and I feel bad that he now feels bad, when I haven’t even had a chance to tell him what a great day I had. Rick and I both watch him go until it’s just the two of us outside and then he turns back to me.

“Rick, I’m so sorry, we have been out all day and I just lost track of time, I promise this has nothing to do with Jace.” Even I can hear the pleading in my tone, but it seems he doesn’t care.

“His initials are on your goddamn cheek, Riley!” He snaps, and I cringe at his statement as I remember what Jace painted on my face earlier, but I think it will be easier to ignore it and move on. “It’s still early, just let me go inside and shower and change, and we can still enjoy our night.” I’m practically begging him now, just so desperate for this to not be yet another argument.

He snorts a laugh, “You know, somehow, Riley, I’m just not in the mood now.” He shakes his head, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath before he opens them to look at me again, “I’ll just see you tomorrow.”

He moves to push past me but I grab his arm, “Rick, wait please.”

He shoves my hand off, “I did wait, Riley, for over an hour and now I don’t feel like fucking waiting anymore.”

I blanch back at his harsh tone and don’t say anything else as he storms away from me, even with the tears burning at the back of my eyes. How did a perfect day end so badly? And how the hell did I forget about my own boyfriend in favor of the Playboy Rebel?

20

Jace

Exchanging pleasantries with Gerry and Ava and telling them about our day, while we all pretend we can’t hear that little prick speak to Riley like she is nothing but trash is one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do, and when she says please to him I know I need to move.

I nod to Sofia on my shoulder who is almost fully asleep. “I’m gonna go put this one in bed before I decide to exercise my right to the second amendment.” I add a polite smile like the very idea of it is nothing but a joke, but I can feel the rage burning beneath my skin.

Surprisingly it's Ava who snorts a laugh at my humor that really isn’t actually a joke, and I speed my way through the house and away from where I can hear them before I make it a reality. Today was a good day, one of the best really and now that little dick has just ruined it. I push inside Sofia’s room and move to drop her onto the bed.

“Wanna dig out some pjs, Fifi?” She grumbles at my request, but grabs some and heads to the bathroom to put them on and brush her teeth while I wait.

When she comes back she is a little more awake, but I can still see how tired she is as she stumbles towards the bed and climbs in, letting me tuck her in.

“Why are some boys so mean?” She asks, and I freeze at her question.

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