An Aces Christmas

by Nicole Jacquelyn

  I felt naked and on display.

  “Get in the car,” Draco said as we reached Roxanne. “I’m gonna try and call Curt.”

  “You can have the front if you want,” Charlie said to me, her voice full of remorse.

  “I’ll take the back,” I replied tiredly, scooting past her to climb in. The protection of the car was a welcome relief. If I laid down on the seat, no one would be able to see me. I barely resisted the urge to do it.

  “I don’t think I’ve ever been more angry in my entire life,” Charlie said tonelessly, turning in her seat to look at me. “I’m so sorry, K.”

  “Stop saying that,” I replied in exasperation. “You were in those pictures, too. Why do you keep saying you’re sorry? They did this to you, too”

  “It’s different for me,” she said, shrugging. “I wasn’t out of it. My dress wasn’t falling off.” She paused. “And everyone already knows I like girls.”

  “But I don’t.”

  “Exactly,” she said, shaking her head. “Travis is an absolute dickbag.”

  “I can’t believe people are just believing this shit,” I said, leaning back against the seat. “They know us. They know me. Why isn’t anyone thinking to themselves, something isn’t right here. Kara doesn’t even drink and she was taken away in a freaking ambulance.”

  “Because people like to believe the worst,” Charlie replied. “Human nature.”

  “I don’t care if they think I’m a lesbian or bi or whatever,” I said, kicking the back of her seat. “But hooking up in a hallway? That’s just trashy.”

  Charlie laughed halfheartedly.

  “He’s not answering,” Draco said as he opened the driver side door. “I can just take you guys home and come back for him.”

  “Wait,” I said, feeling slightly calmer, knowing that I was hidden in the back seat. “If you drive me home now, Rose will know something’s up.”

  “Same if we go to my house,” Charlie said. “Farrah can sniff out drama from a mile away.”

  “Alright,” Draco said, getting in the car. “Then we can just hang here for a bit.”

  I gave myself permission to lay down in the back of the car and stared at the roof while Draco and Charlie talked in the front seat. They discussed different ways to get the photos deleted, but I know it was a lost cause. There were too many copies and too many people had them. They were out in the world forever now.

  “School’s almost out,” Charlie said, leaning over the back seat. “We need to find Curt before he does something stupid.”

  The minute the words were out of her mouth, a sense of foreboding hit me so hard that I felt it in my chest.

  “Isn’t Travis on the baseball team with you guys?” I asked.

  “Aw, fuck,” Draco said, throwing open his door. “Practice starts in ten.”

  I pushed my way out of the back seat, exiting on Draco’s side. By the time I reached the trunk of the car, Charlie was leaning inside it, grabbing a baseball bat from one of the boys’ bags. My eyes widened, but I kept my mouth shut as she jerked her head toward the ball fields.

  “Don’t go running,” Draco said to me as we strode toward the back of the school. He walked like he didn’t have a care in the world. “No need to draw attention.”

  “Everyone’s attention is on me already,” I replied, looking around as the bell rang and kids started trickling out of the school.

  “Not for long,” Charlie said darkly. As we walked, she flipped the bat, spinning it over her hand and wrist to catch it again. I’d watched her perfect that trick for years, but it hadn’t ever looked so menacing before. “When it starts,” she said, looking at me, “you stay way the fuck back.”

  “What?” I asked, tripping over my own feet. “Wait, what the hell are you going to do?”

  Chapter 7

  Brenna

  Present

  “Hey, handsome,” I called over my shoulder as Dragon walked past the bathroom door. “Everything okay?”

  “All good, baby,” he replied, backing up to stand in the doorway. “It all went smooth.”

  “How’s he look?” I asked, setting down my makeup brush.

  “Pretty much the same as when you saw him last month, I’d imagine,” Dragon replied, bracing his arms against the frame. “Better dressed, now.”

  “Funny,” I said flatly.

  “He’s good,” Dragon said, giving me a small smile. “Had that wide-eyed look that all of us have when we get out. Like he’s waiting for them to come chasin’ him, tellin’ him they made a mistake.”

  “They made a mistake putting him in there in the first place,” I muttered, scooping my makeup and brushes off the counter and into the little basket where I stored them.

  “Doesn’t matter now,” Dragon replied calmly. “He went in, did his time, and now it’s over.”

  I scoffed. I’d been in this life as long as he had—longer, if we were technical about it—and we both knew that for our grandson, it would never be over. He could move past it, the strong ones did, but he would always be missing the years of his life that he spent behind bars. He’d always remember what it was like in there. The loneliness. The fear that he’d never admit to.

  “What time are we supposed to be at Trix’s?” Dragon asked.

  “Seven,” I said, glancing at the watch on my wrist. When the doctor had told me that my blood pressure was too high and I needed to get more exercise, the kids had bought me a fancy watch that connected to my phone and measured my heart rate. It was sweet of them, but I didn’t like the bulky thing. I was only wearing it because we’d be seeing the kids later.

  “I better hop in the shower, then,” Dragon said, starting to strip right there in the hallway. “You grab me some clothes?”

  “You realize I’m in here, right?” I asked in exasperation, watching as he pulled his shirt over his head.

  “Looks like you already showered,” he replied, jerking his chin toward the towel wrapped around me as he unbuckled his belt. “Too bad.”

  I rolled my eyes, but couldn’t hold back a grin when he was naked.

  “Should’ve been here about fifteen minutes sooner,” I told him, moving past him into the hallway.

  “Shoulda waited for me,” he countered, reaching under the towel to pinch my ass.

  “Then we’d be late,” I called as I went into our room to grab him some clothes.

  I was pretty sure the only reason he’d asked me to pick them for him was because he was trying to get me out of the bathroom. It wasn’t as if he had a variety to choose from. For as long as I’d known the man, he’d worn the same thing. Jeans in various states of disrepair, white t-shirts that I bought in a multipack wrapped in plastic, and in the colder months, either a quilted flannel or a hoodie—dark colors only. I’d once bought him a red flannel that sat unworn in the closet for ten years before I’d finally given it to charity. Even that had been too flashy for his tastes.

  After I’d gathered his clothes and stacked them on the bed, I went to the closet to get my own clothes. We were just having dinner with family, nothing fancy, but it was almost Christmas, so I wanted to be a little festive.

  I’d already pulled on a pair of jeans and a camisole when Dragon came into the room.

  “You got dressed?” he asked, scowling.

  “Well, I’m not going to our daughter’s house in a towel,” I replied reasonably.

  He shot me a look.

  “We don’t have time for that,” I said with a laugh.

  “There’s always time,” he replied mutinously. “You were sleepin’ when I left this mornin’.”

  “Sorry, baby,” I said, pulling a dark green sweater over my head. “I don’t want to be late tonight.”

  “Not like anyone would notice,” he said as he started to dress.

  “I would notice,” I said in exasperation. “You’ve already had your reunion. I spent all day at the clubhouse getting ready for tomorrow. I’d like to see my grandson, alright? If I wasn’t trying t
o give Trix and Cam some space, I would’ve been camped out at their house already.”

  Dragon paused. “Shit,” he said, his eyes soft on mine. “Sorry, baby. I wasn’t thinkin’.”

  I smiled at him. “I don’t mind that you still want to fuck me after all these years,” I said dryly. “We just don’t have time right now.”

  “Listenin’ to you say the word fuck will never get old,” he said, his eyes crinkling in the corners as he smiled at me.

  I turned to grab some socks out of the dresser and heard him hum in happiness behind me.

  “You got me new socks,” he said quietly.

  “You’re welcome,” I replied, moving to sit next to him as we both put on our socks.

  As soon as both my feet were on the floor again, I sat with my hands on my lap and took a deep breath. “It’s finally over,” I said, staring at my hands. “Jesus.”

  I wasn’t surprised as Dragon’s hand burrowed into the hair at the nape of my neck. “And we got through it, just like I said we would,” he replied, turning my face toward him. “Just like everything else.”

  “He was so young,” I whispered, my throat tight.

  “And he’s a man, now,” Dragon reminded me. “One that doesn’t want his grandma cryin’ all over him.”

  “I know,” I said, swallowing hard.

  “You gonna be able to keep it together?” he asked, leaning forward to kiss me softly.

  “I’ll try,” I replied, making him laugh.

  “That ain’t good enough.”

  “Yes, I’ll keep it together,” I said grudgingly. I looked at my watch again.

  “They’re five minutes away,” Dragon said. “We ain’t gonna be late.”

  “He was so sensitive as a kid—”

  Dragon made a sound of amusement in his throat.

  “What?” I snapped. “He was.”

  “Alright,” Dragon agreed unconvincingly, fighting back a smile.

  “You disagree?” I said, raising one eyebrow.

  “I think he was in love with the same girl most of his life,” Dragon replied. “And he had no idea how to deal with that shit. Sensitive? No. Confused as fuck and tryin’ to figure it out? Yeah. He had a soft spot for her.”

  I glared at him.

  “You think anyone would call me sensitive?” he asked, tightening his hand in my hair.

  “No,” I scoffed.

  “You think they’d say I was in love with my woman?”

  I didn’t respond.

  “Exactly,” he said in satisfaction. “I got one soft spot and that’s you—and the kids are an extension of it.”

  “He was just a kid.”

  My man just shrugged.

  “I just—” I said, shaking my head as I got to my feet. “It’s been four years. He had to be there for four years, and god only knows what happened or how he’s changed.”

  “Hey,” Dragon said, pulling me toward him. He didn’t stop tugging until I was in his lap, my legs straddling his thighs. “You know he was protected in there. We made sure of that.”

  “I know,” I said, running my fingers through the hair at his temples. “Physically, he was protected.”

  “Can’t protect the kids from everythin’,” Dragon replied reasonably. “In there or out here. But from what I’ve seen, he’s fine, baby.”

  “But what if he’s different?” I asked quietly.

  “He’d a been different no matter what,” he reminded me. “He’s not a seventeen year old kid anymore.”

  “I know,” I replied, dropping my head to rest on his shoulder.

  He held me like that for a few minutes, his hand rubbing my back with long, slow strokes.

  “You better get your shoes on if you don’t wanna be late,” he finally said, patting me on the ass.

  As we hustled to get out the door, I wondered if my man was right—if our grandson had been in love with Kara. He’d always been so hard to read. Had I really never noticed it? Was he still in love with her?

  Chapter 8

  Kara

  Past

  As we strode toward the baseball diamond, I scanned the familiar faces for Curtis. A lot of the team was already there, but the coach hadn’t showed up yet, which made my stomach churn with anxiety.

  “Most of us have gym last period,” Draco said, glancing at me. “Makes it easier to get here on time.” I nodded and gave him a small smile. I wasn’t sure if he thought I cared about why the guys were there so soon, or if he was just trying to distract me with a little small talk, but it worked. Knowing he and Charlie had my back bolstered me a little.

  “There he is,” Charlie said under her breath.

  I snapped my head to the side to see where she was looking. As I followed her gaze, I realized she wasn’t talking about Curtis. She was staring at Travis.

  I tasted bile in the back of my throat. He looked normal. He looked like the kid that I passed all the time in the hallways at school—just another boy that talked tougher than he was and thought he had more game than he actually did. He was immature and sometimes mean, but he wasn’t a monster.

  The monster in this scenario was the huge number of kids that had seen photos of me topless and out of control and laughed at me instead of asking me what happened.

  My steps slowed, but Charlie’s and Draco’s didn’t. They moved forward with purpose.

  Where was Curtis? I scanned the team again.

  “He’s not here,” I said, hurrying to catch up to them. “Let’s go. He’s not here.”

  “No,” Draco said, not even bothering to look at me.

  “That motherfucker,” Charlie said, disbelief making her words come out breathy.

  As I looked over her shoulder at the guy we were moving toward, I felt my stomach drop. He was laughing, showing someone his phone. I knew exactly what they were looking at. Even after the photos had spread like wildfire at school, he’d still found the one person who hadn’t seen them and needed to make sure he did.

  We reached them before I was ready. I wanted to sink into the grass and disappear as Travis glanced up and sneered.

  “Hey, Kara,” he said, smirking. “Nice shirt. Liked the prom dress better, though.” He hummed deep in his throat.

  I was completely stunned.

  The next few seconds passed by so fast they were almost a blur. Charlie stepped forward, flipping the bat again, but before she could even get close, Draco had shoved her back and snatched the bat from her fingertips.

  Later, I would wonder if Travis had a death wish. If he’d even looked past me and realized that Draco was there. If he had underestimated the boy I’d grown up with, or just assumed that he’d get away with what he’d done.

  With one more step, Draco twisted and swung the bat low, hitting the back of Travis’s knees with a thunk that made me wince.

  Travis dropped like a sack of potatoes, and before he could get off his knees, Draco was on him. I lost count of how many times Draco’s fists made contact.

  I was numb as I watched. Horror and fear played somewhere in the back of my mind, but I don’t think I was able to even fully comprehend what was happening. I’d never seen anything so brutal.

  “Fuck,” Charlie spat as she hurried toward the boys on the ground, circling them.

  “Hey!” someone yelled from behind me. “Break it up. Harrison, what the hell are you doing?”

  “We gotta go,” Charlie yelled, jumping onto Draco’s back. The slight weight of her was enough to shock him out of his fury, and he paused long enough for her to whisper something in his ear. With a nod, he rose to his feet as she slid off his back.

  “Jesus Christ,” the baseball coach said, his breath coming out in heaving gasps as he came to a stop beside me. “The hell did you do, Harrison?”

  “Ask Sholes,” Draco said, taking a step backward.

  The coach looked back and forth between Draco and Travis, who was rolling around on the ground, moaning. He sighed, pressing his fingers against the bridge of his nose.
>
  “Get home,” Coach quietly told Draco. “Straight home and give your parents a heads-up. I have to report this.”

  “Thanks, Coach.”

  “Don’t thank me. Goddamnit, Draco. I hope it was worth it,” Coach said somberly.

  Draco looked at me. “He had it comin’,” he replied.

  Charlie picked up the bat as we left, hurrying toward the car.

  “He’s calling the cops, D,” she said, glancing behind us. “Shit.”

  “Come on,” Draco said emotionlessly. “We need to find Curt and get the fuck out of here.”

  “Why?” I said, my tongue finally coming unstuck from the roof of my mouth. “He’s just an asshole. Why would you—”

  “It’s over,” Draco said, grabbing my hand as he forced us to move faster.

  “But it’s not,” I said, swallowing hard. “He’s calling the police. He’s—”

  “Where were you guys?” Curtis called out as we got to the parking lot. He was sitting on the trunk of Roxanne, his feet resting on the bumper. “I thought you were takin’ the girls home.”

  “Change of plans,” Draco said, tossing Curt his keys. “Let’s go.”

  “The fuck happened?” Curtis asked in confusion.

  “Where the hell were you?” Draco snapped, rounding the car. He threw open the passenger side door and motioned for me and Charlie to climb in.

  “I was waitin’ for Sholes,” Curtis said. “Let the air out of his tires so he’d have to stay after.”

  “Good plan,” Draco said as I scrambled into the back seat.

  “I saw that you guys hadn’t left, so I came over to see what was up,” Curtis said as he and Draco got into the car. “Someone want to tell me what the hell happened?”

  “I took care of it,” Draco said. “Go. Our house.”

  “You took care of it?” Curtis asked, his voice dropping. He stared at his twin.

  “Man, I’d like to make it home before the cops get there, yeah?” Draco snapped. “Get fuckin’ movin’.”

  “Oh, Jesus,” Curtis said, firing up the Chevelle. “Did you kill him?”