18
It had been a week since Ace had taken her to talk to the therapist he’d seen, and Lauren had never felt closer to him than she did after they’d left her office. To hear him open up like that, tell her everything about himself, even though she knew most of it, told her this man had so much hurt and anger still bottled up inside him.
Of course she knew that, had seen it so many times over the years, but she supposed she’d never truly seen how much he was hurting until he laid it all bare for her and the therapist.
She was having dinner at her parents’ house tonight, and she’d asked Ace to come with her. She wanted him there, wanted them together when she told her mom and dad that being with him was the best thing that could have ever happened to her. He would always be her protector, but he was also a dark knight, not the white horse riding one that only did good and saved the princess.
If he were a character in a fairy tale, he’d be the villain. He’d be the one that did anything to get the girl, no matter what, despite everyone rooting against him, because he’d be that determined. And God, was she glad she was that girl.
She looked over at Ace who had insisted on driving, saw the way his jaw was hard, clenched, and wondered if he was nervous. Reaching out and holding his hand, she gave it a light squeeze. He glanced at her, smiled, but it still seemed a little forced.
“I hope you’re not nervous,” she said.
He smiled and shook his head, but she could tell it wasn’t to disagree with her. “Hell, if I were your parents I would kick my ass for even wanting to be with you.”
That broke her heart, but then again a lot of what happened with Ace or what he said had that effect. “They already love you, and I know that this will be welcomed by them. Don’t sweat the small stuff,” she teased, hoping to lighten things a bit. The truth was she was nervous, because her mom had mentioned how she worried about her and Ace being together, even if she only wanted Lauren to be happy.
He pulled into the driveway ten minutes later, and once they were out of the car he reached for her hand and twined his fingers around hers. She walked in, smelled something spicy yet sweet fill the air, and her heart started pounding a bit faster. They were really doing this.
“You’re late, honey,” her mother called out, and instantly she felt her cheeks heat. Glancing at Ace she saw him smirking. Yeah, they’d been late because he’d cornered her and fucked her senseless up against a wall. Even now she was sore between her thighs.
“Sorry,” she said and cleared her throat when her voice cracked. Ace chuckled.
They made their way into the kitchen, where her father was already sitting down with a paper in front of him. He looked up, smiled at them both, and then set the paper down and stood. After hugging her and clapping Ace on the back they all three sat. Her mom came in moments later with a dish of lasagna. The table was already set with dinnerware, a salad, garlic bread, and even a bottle of red wine.
“I am so glad you two decided to come over for dinner. It’s been forever since we’ve had you two together under our roof,” her mother said and started dishing out the food.
Before they started eating, she wanted to just get this out in the open, make it known why they’d really come here. “We actually want to talk to both of you,” Lauren said.
Her mother stopped dishing food out and sat down. Lauren looked at her dad, saw the focus he had on her, and then he looked at Ace. Lauren was so nervous right now, and she hated that, hated that she even felt that way. She loved Ace more than anything, and nothing should make her afraid to express her feelings, not even the opinions of her parents.
“You obviously have something big to tell us,” her dad said, but there wasn’t any anger or worry in his voice. He looked at Lauren’s mom and smiled. “Your mother told me about the talk you two had a while ago, about you and Ace.”
Lauren looked at her mom, surprised. “You did?”
Her father nodded and reached out across the table to take Lauren’s hand.
“I love him, Mom and Dad,” she said and swallowed. She grabbed Ace’s hand under the table and gave it a squeeze.
“I love your daughter more than you’ll ever know. And although I know I’m not good enough for her, I’ll do my best every single day to be the man she deserves in her life.”