Chapter 16

I woke up the next morning with my head on a body instead of a pillow. I was on my side, my head resting on Ace's shoulder. He was nuzzled into the juncture of my neck where it met my shoulder. I could feel his breath, soft and warm against my skin.

I pulled away a little, only so I could see what Ace looked like when he slept. The last time we had slept in the same bed together was the first time Ace had witnessed Harry's anger. And the next morning, he had woken me up; I never got to see him asleep.

But now, I was able to openly watch as he took involuntary breaths, as his eyelids fluttered softly. He looked sweeter when he slept, I realized. There was no need for him to act like a "bad boy" in his dreams. And before I knew it, I was tracing the once harsh lines that lay on his forehead.

My fingers swept along the shape of his jaw and over his chin. They went back up to his forehead to trace his eyebrows. But when Ace's eyes began to open, I pulled my needy hands away. I was sure he didn't want me touching him when he was trying to get some rest.

When I finally saw his clear green eyes staring back at me, I smiled. He didn't. Instead, he frowned and brought his own hand up to my face and touched my cheek. It hurt a little but he only lightly swept his fingers across the bruises.

"Do they hurt?" He asked me. I noticed his morning breath wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. 

I nodded, "a little." But then I closed my mouth and started to get up. Just because his breath wasn't terrible in the morning, didn't mean mine wasn't either. I felt his hand on my hip, trying to pull me back into bed, which made me smile. "I'm just brushing my teeth, calm down."

Ace pouted a little, bottom lip jutted out and everything. I turned around and went toward his bathroom, rooting around my bag on the way there. Of all the things, of course I had forgotten to take my toothbrush.

"Do you have an extra toothbrush?" I asked him sheepishly.

He chuckled, "No."

Well then.

I sighed and pinched the bridge of my nose. Now I'd have bad breath for the rest of the day. I looked over at Ace and saw his eyes brighten. He hopped up and went into the bathroom.

He came back out, producing a toothbrush. "I was kidding. Here," he handed it to me. I smiled.

"Thank you."

I went past him into the bathroom and put toothpaste on and began brushing my teeth. Ace stayed, leaning against the door frame, watching me. There was something oddly domestic about him watching me brush my teeth but I didn't feel like addressing it.

Once I finished, I set the toothbrush down and looked at Ace. "Aren't you going to brush your teeth?" He nodded and picked up the same toothbrush I had just used. "What are you doing?" I asked him.

"Brushing my teeth Mad," he smirked.

"Where's your toothbrush?" I didn't want him using mine.

He held the one in his hand up. "Right here sweetheart."

"But I just-" I stopped. Oh he did not. "Ace! You made me use your toothbrush? Gross!"

He laughed, putting toothpaste on. "I didn't make you do anything. I never said it was an extra. And besides, why are you getting all worked up? Your mouth has been on mine before, how is this different?"

"Sharing a toothbrush is just nasty Ace James Craige!" I insisted. He started brushing his teeth and smiled at me through the foamy paste. I made a disgusted sound and went back into his room. At least my mouth was clean.

A few minutes later, Ace came out of the bathroom; but he was missing something. Oh yeah, his shirt. I had never seen Ace shirtless before but, man, it was a wonderful sight. He wasn't too muscular, but his stomach was toned, with a slight formation of abs, making my mind go crazy. His biceps flexed everytime he made a move, drawing my eyes. 

"It isn't nice to stare sweetheart," he told me, his voice low and incredibly sexy. I swallowed hard and looked away, toward his bed. Not a good idea. 

The bed just gave me more ideas that I refused to act on. I knew I was blushing; I was probably the color of a firetruck at this point. 

I took a deep breath and went back to what I was doing, which was sorting through my overnight bag, looking for something to wear. I could feel him standing right behind me, my stomach was turning in embarrassment. 

God, he was doing this on purpose.

I felt his hand on my waist and I turned around, about to tell him off for being such a hot jerk but the look in his eyes stopped me from doing anything. His green eyes were dark and he pulled me closer. Ace gave me a small but lingering kiss, making my eyes flutter closed. He kissed my lips once more before pulling away and going to his closet. 

I just stood there, trying to figure out what had just happened. "Um, what was that for?" I asked him, my cheeks still flaming.

"I told you last night Mad, I forgot my goodnight kiss."

"It's morning," my voice was dazed.

He chuckled and threw on a white tee-shirt. "A good morning kiss then."

If he keeps kissing me like that, he can have a kiss at any point in the day.

"Good to know," he smirked.

Oh dear, I really said that outloud. 

I blushed even harder, if that was even possible and went back to looking through my bag.

I hadn't realized that most of Ace's family would be downstairs already. I had actually forgotten that tonight was the final family barbecue before most of them left. 

We were holding hands on our way down, but when Ace had seen his cousins running around, he ushered me back up the stairs. 

"What the hell?" I asked him as he shut his bedroom door. 

He turned around and faced me. "You can see the bruises."

"So? They're just bruises."

He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "My family is very nosy Mad. First, they'll ask what happened. And when you refuse to tell them, they'll think it was me."

My eyes widened. "Um, why would your family assume it was you?"

"I'm not exactly the greatest kid sweetheart."

"You've never hit a girl before, have you?" I asked him cautiously. 

He shook his head and glared at me. "No, of course not. I'm just saying; that is exactly what they'd do."

"Is Katie here?" I asked. 

"Probably. Why?" He started pacing his room. 

I rolled my eyes and walked over to him, stopping his feet from moving anxiously. "She's a teenage girl. She probably carries around concealer and other makeup things." He didn't even say anything. He just spun, walked to his door and ran downstairs. I sat on his bed patiently, waiting for him. 

Katie was muttering a bunch of curses when the door finally opened after a few minutes. I lifted my hand in a wave and her eyes widened and she gasped. 

"Are you okay? What happened?" She asked in a rush. 

Ace shook his head and pushed her closer to me. "She's fine. She's just very clumsy. Listen, do you have any face cover up stuff?"

"Concealer?" She asked, acting like he was stupid. 

But I understood. I mean, come on, face cover up stuff? Priceless. 

We both nodded and she dug through her mini purse. She pulled out a small tube containing the very much needed makeup and she headed over to me. It took a good five minutes for her to apply enough to cover up my bruises and Ace had just watched from the corner of his room. He looked concerned, biting his thumbnail the whole time. 

"Voila! She's ready," Katie told Ace and set her things back into her bag. 

I stood up and did a little twirl for their amusement. "How do I look?" I asked, posing and fluttering my eyelashes. 

"You look beautiful," Ace spoke quietly and made his way over to me. "But you could have asked me that earlier before the makeup and I would have said the same thing."

I blushed, not used to him giving me compliments and good morning kisses yet. I whispered a thank you and kissed his cheek. 

Katie just sighed, "god I want a boyfriend."

Me too. But just one boy in particular.