Ace has longish dark hair and darker eyes that I'm trying very hard not to stare into because that's not much better than staring at his lips. He's not just a Grim Reaper. He's also the star quarterback of the football team.
Upset that I’m standing here like an idiot, staring at his lips after he asked me to kiss him, I glance at Rob, who shrugs.
Fine.
I awkwardly go to kiss Ace on the cheek, but he turns his head so my lips land on his.
Even though I pulled back and I didn't intend to kiss him there, I know I did wrong. Ace, though, seems to think nothing of it, waves to Rob, and winks at me before heading out the door.
He didn’t shut the door, so I move away from Rob to shut it.
Rob stalks away to the kitchen. I trail behind him and wince as he slams a cabinet shut after retrieving something. Whiskey maybe.
“Rob, I didn’t mean—”
“He’s drunk.”
“I know. I didn’t… I went to kiss him on the cheek. You could see that.”
“Yes, I saw. He turned his head, but, Katie…”
“Rob, please. I shouldn’t have kissed him. I should’ve just laughed it off and told him goodbye and left it at that.”
“I saw the way you were looking at him.”
I swallow hard. “You don’t have to worry about that. I—”
“Going to blame it on the wine coolers?” he asks bitterly.
“No. I’m stupid, okay?”
“Don’t,” he snaps. “Don’t put yourself down like that.”
“I shouldn’t… I don’t know what came over me.”
“And if it comes over you again?”
"I…" I swallow hard. I want to mention how maybe we could hang out more in my room, but my roommate, Lauren Franklin, is always there, and we’re only just now becoming friends. With hiring the bodyguard, I need to find a job, so it’s not like I can suggest that we get a hotel room or anything like that because it sure would add up quickly. We have the potential to go at it like rabbits.
Yeah, I need a job not only to pay for the bodyguard but also for birth control. I'm not sure if I'm still on Father's insurance, which I think he might have been paying for out of pocket. It's not like he runs a legitimate business, although maybe he has the bar that the father of my best friend, Erika Slade, used to run. Mr. Slade… yeah, that's another whole can of worms, but he's dead and gone now.
I almost wish the same could be said of my old man.
“Rob—”
“Don’t worry about it,” Rob says bitterly. “I nodded. Basically told you to kiss him. I’m the one who is reading into things. I’m sorry.”
“No, I hurt you, and I’m sorry.”
"Good. We're both sorry. We can move on now, right?" Rob only gets out one glass, though, not that he pours any of the alcohol, and I wonder if he's thinking about his mom, who turned to drugs after Rob's father died. She couldn't handle being a mom, and Rob has his own baggage. So does Ace. I wonder if he just got off the phone with his dad to set him off because I don't think he drinks like that normally. Or maybe he does. There's so much I don't know about the guys yet.
But I want to get to know them all better.
I go to rub Rob’s arm to try to soothe him and make things better between us, but he shifts away from me before I can touch him.
Hurt, I lower my head. “Do you want me to stay or go?”
“Maybe the night’s over,” he says.
Although it feels like there’s a giant hole in my chest, I nod and pretend I’m fine, but I’m not. We kiss goodbye, but it’s just a peck, pathetic compared to the kiss we just shared by the car, and that’s it. I leave his house, but I also think I left a bit of myself inside with Rob.
And maybe a piece went with Ace too. I'm gonna have to get that back, but I don't know if that's possible.
Fuck.