Chapter 8
Ace scooped ice cream into two large bowls and looked around the condo while he waited for Stephanie to change into sweats. The layout was the mirror image of his place but this space felt so much more like a home. Partly because of the plants, pictures, and personal touches that he saw as he looked around. But more than that, it was something intangible, something not visible to the human eye. It was a sense. A feeling. An atmosphere.
It was an unfamiliar feeling for him. The only reason he recognized it was because he’d felt it when he’d go to his friends’ houses as a kid. He’d never experienced it at his own home. The house he grew up in was massive, gorgeous and sterile. There was no life. No activity. His mother spent ninety percent of her time split between their personal home gym and her bedroom and his father spent the majority of his time in his study.
As he washed the spoon he’d used to scoop the ice cream he remembered his family’s only daily interaction. Dinner at six sharp. Every night was like Groundhog’s Day. The same conversation that was limited to his father discussing politics, his mother discussing her friends and their many indiscretions, and his brother discussing himself. Ace never complained about his childhood. How could he? He never had to worry about food, clothes, books, having a roof over his head or someone laying a hand on him. He was privileged.
Still, all the money in the world hadn’t stopped him from being lonely. He hadn’t belonged in that world. He never fit in there.
In the Marines, he’d made good friends. Men that he trusted with his life. He’d had a purpose and excelled in missions which moved him up through the ranks faster than most. But even in that structure of camaraderie, he never felt like he truly belonged.
Hindsight being twenty-twenty, when he looked back at his ill-fated relationship with Kendall, he realized now that the reason he’d gone all in with her was because she gave him a false sense of something that he’d always wanted. She was familiar. He’d known her his entire life and had shared with her one of the biggest milestones in his life, losing his virginity. They also had a common bond of experiences that weren’t sexual in nature at all. They were from the same hometown. Things like spending weekends and summers at Tybee Island. Watching fireworks the first Friday of every month on River Street. Hanging out at City Market. All of those factors combined with the fact that she was hot and good in bed had made putting a ring on it seem like a logical next step.
His relationship with her had been a knockoff version of the real thing. It wasn’t authentic. He’d known something was off even before he answered that accidental Facetime call from his brother and fiancée, both naked and trying to shoot a sex video to preserve their cheating for posterity. He definitely knew something was wrong when his first reaction hadn’t been surprise, shock, anger, hurt or jealousy. He hadn’t felt anything. He’d been totally numb. That wasn’t the response of someone that was in love and about to marry their soulmate.
Tonight he’d felt more possessive over Stephanie, a woman he barely knew and hadn’t even kissed, than he’d ever felt over Kendall, his first everything and the woman he’d planned on marrying.
A sound caught his attention and he looked up to see Stephanie walking towards him. She was wearing blue sweats and a faded Cubs T-shirt. Her hair, which had been down, was now pulled up off of her face. His chest filled with warmth, just like it had this morning when she’d returned his trash bin. She was the cutest thing he’d ever seen.
“Sorry, I took so long. I got a call and I had to take…” Her voice trailed off when she saw the bowls of ice cream waiting on the counter. “You didn’t have to do that. I was just—”
“It’s no big deal.”
“Thank you.” The sincerity in her voice broke his heart a little.
He’d noticed that even the smallest gestures he’d made tonight, like opening her door and getting her a glass of water at the bar, had genuinely taken her off guard. He had no idea what her story was, and why she wasn’t used to anyone taking care of her, but he planned on finding out.
Silently they moved to the couch with their bowls holding large heaps of rocky road ice cream. When they sat, Stephanie curled up in the corner and tucked her bare feet beneath her. She looked so cozy and comfortable. All he wanted to do was sit next to her, wrap his arms around her and pull her onto his lap. But since he couldn’t he did the next best thing and sat beside her.
As they started eating he glanced at the red LED numbers displayed on her cable box and saw that it was after midnight. In less than eight hours he’d be on a plane heading towards an undisclosed location being briefed on his assignment that had no end date. He hated that he felt like they were on borrowed time, but the clock was literally ticking.
Not wanting to waste a minute he figured he’d jump right in. “You never answered my question.”
Her hand stilled mid-air holding a spoon full of ice cream. “What question?”
“Mason. Is he the reason that you don’t have to cook anymore? Is he Mr. Fresh and Healthy?”
“Oh, no. He’s not.” She grinned before finishing her bite.
“You two never dated?”
She swallowed her ice cream before clarifying, “Oh, we dated, even got engaged. But I never lived with him or cooked for him.”
He was happy that she’d moved from one-word answers, but her responses still left him with more questions.
“So who is Mr. Fresh and Healthy?”
“The twins.”
“You dated twins?” She didn’t really strike him as the type of girl to be polyamorous, especially with brothers…
“No!” She let out a burst of laughter. “I raised twins.”
He’d never seen her with any kids. There were no toys around the house. No bikes and swing sets. “You’re a mom?”
“No.” She laughed again, this time her head fell back. “The twins are my brother and sister. You met Simone, she has a twin brother Scott.”
“And you raised them?” Now that didn’t surprise him like the thought of her dating twins or having invisible kids did. She read as extremely responsible and nurturing.