by Lucia Grace
Copyright © 2016 Lucia Grace
All Rights Reserved
Kindle Edition
Published by: Lucia Grace
Cover Design by: ACE Designs and Author Servicing
Edited by: Wild Rose Editing
Formatted by: Champagne Formats
All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book, or portions thereof, in any form without written permission except for use of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales, is entirely coincidental.
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Epilogue
Playlist
Bonus Scene
Acknowledgements
About the Author
Books by Lucia Grace
To my OGs—
Without your support and encouragement my dreams wouldn’t be possible. Thank you for always having my back and believing in me as fiercely as you do. I love you all.
Here’s to unforgettable memories, unstoppable laughter, and everlasting friendships.
And to my real life Ace—
Nobody deserves a happily ever after more than you. So here it is.
Damon is all yours, sweetness.
XOXO
Dream big.
Laugh often. Love always.
Past – Fourteen years old
The second bell rings out signaling the one-minute warning until we all have to get to our next class. A chorus of groans and the slamming of locker doors erupt around me.
I clutch the yellow slip of paper in my left hand that excuses my tardiness to third period. I asked Mr. Johnson to sign it just in case I’d be late for Mr. Perry’s English class. I’m glad I did.
I stayed after the bell to discuss my last math test with Mr. Johnson in hopes he’d let me do a bonus assignment to bump up my grade.
I hate math just about as much as it hates me.
Slamming my locker door shut with my shoulder as I turn, my arms full of books, I head out of the freshman wing toward my English class. Someone shoves into my left shoulder from behind, knocking the books and yellow slip out of my hands. I stumble forward a couple of steps, but right myself before I fall onto my face.
Pushing my glasses up my nose and blowing the hair out of my face, I look up to see Teddy Wilkes rushing down the hallway. Just catching his side profile as he turns his head back around after glancing over his shoulder. He doesn’t even turn back or at least ask if I’m okay in his haste to make it to class on time. The jerk.
Of course it had to be him. That guy has been the bane of my existence ever since I moved to Pleasant Beach when I was seven. Always making fun of my glasses or of how short I am.
I shake my head, then bend down to my knees to retrieve the items on the tiled floor when I’m startled by shouting.
Not just anyone. Him.
Damon.
“Hey, asshole, why don’t you watch where you’re going next time?” he shouts just as Teddy takes the corner, disappearing from sight.
I don’t have any time to question why he’s in the freshman wing since he’s a sophomore before he kneels down next to me. Helping to pile all my stuff.
“I’m telling you, that guy is a fucking douche bag and has no fucking clue,” he mutters as he shakes his head.
“You don’t need to help me, Damon. I’ve got it. You’re going to be late.”
“It’s fine, Ace,” he grinds out between clenched teeth. “I was on my way to study hall anyway.”
I don’t say another word, not wanting to irritate him any further. I’ve known Damon long enough to know that he doesn’t do anything he doesn’t want to be doing. So I just let him pile the rest of my stuff and then pick it up as he stands.
His large right hand comes into view in front of my face where I’m still kneeling on the floor. I peer up at him through my lashes, push my glasses back up my nose, and then place my much smaller, paler hand in his so he can help me up.
“Thank you,” I breathe out, momentarily losing myself in his gentle touch.
He lets go all too soon, shifts my books from his left arm to his right, then hands me the stack.
“No need to thank me, Ace,” he replies, a small smile playing with his full lips. His hazel eyes surrounded by dark curly lashes shining bright. Both dimples denting his dark-skinned cheeks.
I get lost in a memory where he was giving me the same exact look. It was the first time I ever laid eyes on Damon Miles. Back when I first moved to Pleasant Beach, seven years ago. My mom, pops, and I moved into the house next door, he was playing outside as the moving truck pulled up. The growl of the engine must have caught his attention, because while I was watching the little boy bouncing his basketball in his driveway, he stopped to look across the street. We locked eyes, I waved shyly, and then he just stood there, smiling at me. Just like he is right now.
I swear, even at seven years old, I knew I’d never love anybody else but him.
I’m brought out of my memory as Erica Schwartz, another freshman, walks up to Damon out of nowhere. As soon as she reaches his side, she wraps herself around his right arm and plasters her push-up bra enhanced boobs against him. Long, red fingernails clasping on tightly to his hand.
“That was the best ten minutes I’ve ever spent in a janitor’s closet,” she rasps out before she leans up to place a kiss on his cheek. A red lip stain marks his dark caramel-colored skin. Erica lets out a high-pitched giggle as she apologizes, then uses her thumb to wipe away the mark.
My jaw drops as my heart cracks open. That’s why he was in the freshman wing.
I try with all my might to keep the tears swimming in my eyes at bay. Crying in front of Damon and Erica would only add insult to injury.
When will I ever learn?
Damon at least has the decency to look a little ashamed and maybe even slightly embarrassed. But is it because I found out? Or simply because he was caught fooling around at school?
He goes to say something, lighten the blow I’m sure, but before he can Erica pulls him along. Never paying any mind to me standing there.
He turns his head to look over his shoulder as he takes the same path Teddy took only moments ago. His easygoing, charming self nowhere in sight as a look of apology crosses his face.
But that doesn’t matter. It won’t ever matter.
Because he isn’t walking away with me. He’s walking away with Erica on his arm. Leaving me behind—dism
issing me—just like he’s always done.
Present
“Whoa, where are you going, sweetheart?” I catch Ace before she tumbles backward, after almost plowing her over. The chick I just picked up from the reception to take up to my room never even stopped humping my fucking leg. But I managed to keep us all upright.
Tracey gives the girl on my arm a quick glance before stammering out her response. “Uh, sorry, Damon. I didn’t see you there.” She steps back, making sure to give us all some space.
I scoff. Really? At twenty-two years old I’m six foot four. Broad shoulders. Dark skin. Hazel eyes. Pretty hard to miss as I’ve been told. ”Right.” She must sense my skeptical tone because her eyes bounce to mine before going back to the floor.
From the corner of my eye I see the chick on my arm give Tracey a smug look because of my reply. Yeah, I’m done.
I look to her. She’s a waitress from the catering staff. Not even remembering her name, I look to her nametag for reference. “Milli, can you give us a second? Maybe wait out front for me?” I ask, knowing full well I won’t be finding her again—not after seeing her eyeing Ace like that. I’ve already lost interest and found it again in Ace.
She pouts then flutters her fake eyelashes that are caked with makeup. “Sure thing, doll,” she drawls out in her high-pitched voice. Before walking away she pinches my ass. I shake my head as I watch her leave then bring my gaze back to the one girl I can never have.
“Classy,” she mumbles, probably thinking I wouldn’t hear her.
But I did.
I gently grab Tracey’s arm and lead her toward the alcove in the back of the reception hall. On a huff she pulls her arm from my grasp as I reply, “She didn’t have to be. Not for what I was planning.” Tracey flinches and my heart stutters a bit in my chest.
Asshole move maybe, but it’s the truth. And I need to keep my guard up around this girl.
“Oh believe me, I know you don’t have standards, Damon.”
“I have standards, Ace.”
She rolls her eyes.
It has my palm itching.
“Don’t give me your sass, Tracey. It’s true. It’s just of the easy variety,” I reply, a lazy smile plastered on my face.
This time she scoffs. I clench my fist, staving off the need to turn her ass red.
“That would explain it then.” She goes from focusing behind me to looking to the ground.
Now I’m clenching my fists to stop from grasping her chin and bringing her expressive eyes to mine.
“Explain what? And, Ace, look at me.”
Her eyes come up to mine again and hold as she responds. ”You’ve never even noticed me. Not like that.”
She’s timid and shy. Always has been. But with me even more so, although I don’t know why since we’ve known each other forever. Been friends almost just as long. Being a year younger than me through school kept us out of the same circles, but being neighbors kept us in touch. Despite that she still barely makes eye contact. Still barely speaks to me. Why? I have no idea, but again her eyes hit the floor.
Always the damn floor.
“Again. Look at me, Ace.” When she does I continue. “What do you mean I’ve never noticed you? Like what?”
She looks down again before responding. I fist my hands.
Fuck do I hate that. Like a punch to the gut.
“Never mind. It doesn’t matter.”
I take a step closer to her. Only a foot separates us. “If you thought it, and felt it, it matters, Ace.”
Now her eyes are on mine. Her mouth opens on a small gasp and my eyes fall first to that small gap between her front teeth that drives me crazy with lust, then to her full, pink-stained lips.
I’d give anything to drop my lips to hers. Taste her. Devour her. Consume her.
But I can’t, because I can’t taint her sweetness with the bitterness of my past. And I would taint her. Because the darkness that consumes my soul is so thick I can barely carry it around. It’s a dark cloak that blankets my life. Controls each move I make. I hide behind my lifestyle, the girls, the sex, and the laid-back attitude so no one will see all the dirty inside. But she has the ability to see through it all and break down my walls.
So instead of taking her lips in the searing kiss I’d give anything for, I step back and clear my throat. “Tell me what you mean, sweetheart.”
Her eyes soften a touch at the endearment then they turn hard. She raises her chin as she answers. “I’ve had to watch you parade around with girl after girl in school. Then woman after woman thereafter. All while being invisible in the background. That’s what I mean. You’ve never noticed me. Not like you’ve noticed them.”
Her honesty catches me by surprise. The few cosmos I saw her drinking earlier must be loosening her up enough to bring her guard down. Because I know for a fact she’d never say anything like that to me on a normal day. She normally hides her feelings from me. Or she thinks she does. I’ve always known she has felt more for me than just friendship. That’s because I’ve always felt more, too. She thinks I’ve never seen her, but she’s wrong. She’s been all I see. No matter how many women there’s been. It’s always only ever been her. But I can’t go there. Not with her. Because I’d ruin her.
“That’s not true.” I decide to give her some truth, too.
“It is true, Damon.” She shakes her head sadly. Her big brown eyes hold mine this time. Expressing so much sadness, longing, want, and acceptance.
Acceptance that she’ll never be what I want.
Fuck is she wrong.
Maybe for one night I can break down my walls. For her. Show her how I really feel about her. How she consumes me. Maybe for one night I can give in and let her have that one piece of me no one else gets. Pretend what it could be like for the two of us.
For one night.
With that thought and renewed vigor, I step closer to her. My body caging her in against the alcove. She snaps her gaze up to mine and gasps loudly. Her eyes wide, pulse thrumming in her delicate neck. She’s trying to step back, but there’s nowhere for her to go.
“Wha-what are you doing, Damon?” She sounds breathless, her warm rapid breaths hitting and warming my chest because of our height difference. The sweet scent of the fruity drinks she consumed mixing in with the air around us.
The wedding reception carries on behind me, but I can’t hear a thing. Ace’s warm breaths searing through my dress shirt are all I hear. All I feel.
“You don’t think I see you? That I’ve never seen you? Or noticed you? Well, you’re wrong.” I slide my hand along her cheek, my fingers combing into her thick, long hair. Softer than silk.
My palm cradles her jaw as I tilt her face up toward mine. “I see you, Ace. I’ve always seen you. Like the way you bite your luscious bottom lip when you’re nervous. Or the way you twirl your hair when you’re lost in thought.” Her hands come up to my chest. “Or how about the way you toss your head back when you laugh, really laugh, and when you cover your hand over your mouth when you giggle.”
Tears are welling up in her gorgeous brown eyes. Absorbing my truths. But they don’t stop me.
“I’ve noticed all of that, Ace. All of that and more. I’ve seen you. That ratty old stuffed bunny you used to carry around as a child. The small birthmark that graces your back where it meets your neck.” I bring my hand down her neck, stroking a finger along said mark. Taking note of the contrast of our skin—her lighter to my darker—jacking my dick to a whole new level.
“I’ve watched you. Learned you. Taken you all in, sweetheart. I’ve seen you. I know you.”
She opens her mouth to say something, that small gap just barely visible, wreaking havoc on my control. But she closes it again quickly. She’s at a loss for words.
She tries again.
But I cut her off.
“Take my hand and come with me.” I’m done waiting. Done talking. Now that I’ve made up my mind to take this for one night, I’m ready and it’s time.
I hold my breath but try to act cool. She can’t see how much I want her—crave her. Because if she does I know she’ll pull me in. She barely hesitates before she places her small, soft hand in my larger one.
Shocking me.
I release the breath I was holding. Smile sliding back in place. “Good choice, sweetheart.” A small smile lifts her lips, too.
I grasp her hand firmly but gently, so she can’t pull away, then entwine my fingers with hers as I pull her from the reception. Not giving a fuck who sees her leave with me.
I take notice of Kayson and Ember sharing an intimate, slow dance in the middle of the dance floor as we pass by unnoticed.
Good. I don’t need their questioning eyes taking in my frantic state, as I rush us through the hall to make it past Milli unnoticed. Then outside onto the boardwalk separating the reception and the hotel to get to the elevators, the warm August night air surrounding us.
I take long strides into the lobby, causing Tracey to almost jog. “Can you slow down a bit please?” she whispers emphatically.
“Sorry.” I smirk at her.
She blushes.
Fuck.
I get us to the bank of elevators within the light blue and white lobby and slam my finger on the up arrow. Hitting it repeatedly. I don’t want to risk the wait of the elevator changing Ace’s mind.
When I feel her shift I glance over at her and see she’s trying to move away from me as she attempts to pull her hand free, all the while avoiding looking in my direction. Her plump bottom lip is caught between her white teeth. I stop that shit immediately by letting her hand go and wrapping my arm around her waist. My right hand covering the expanse of her hip. A couple fingers lying on her tight ass.