Chapter 14
“Are you sure you don’t want any more?” Stephanie asked as she cleared the empty bowl that had been filled with soup just moments ago.
“I can’t eat another bite.” Ace smiled up at her causing her heart to pitter-patter. “Thank you, again. You don’t have to do all this.”
“You don’t have to keep saying that. I want to,” she repeated for the dozenth time before taking the dish to the kitchen to rinse it out, shutting the door softly behind her so he could get some more rest.
Ace had been discharged from the hospital two days ago and Stephanie had taken him home. To her home. Dr. Gresham had consented to release him, but only if he wasn’t alone for the following seventy-two hours. She’d been more than happy to agree to that arrangement and he’d had no problem crashing at her place.
And that’s exactly what he’d done. He’d crashed. After sleeping a good fourteen hours the night that he stayed in the hospital, he’d come home and fallen asleep for another eight. Then after waking up to eat, go to the bathroom and take his medication, he clocked another ten hours of solid sleep. And that was basically how the schedule had remained. About every eight to ten hours he’d wake up, use the restroom, eat and fall right back to sleep. Oh and thank her and tell her that she didn’t need to do all of this, like it was some kind of hardship.
It wasn’t.
The past couple of days she’d slept more than she had in…she couldn’t remember how long. She’d also read a book and caught up on some shows on Netflix. It had been like a mini-staycation with Ace.
She’d watched him sleep, which she’d assured herself wasn’t stalker behavior since she was supposed to be watching him. She’d memorized every line on his face that wasn’t covered by his newly acquired beard. The facial hair looked good on him, it somehow managed to make him look even manlier, which she would’ve thought was an impossible feat. She’d also gotten pretty dang good at predicting when he might wake up. His breathing pattern would change and his expression would tighten. He usually started showing signs about thirty minutes before he’d actually wake up, so she’d use that time to make him food and have it ready for him.
She tried not to think about what had happened to him, it scared her too much. She hated that he’d been hurt. She hated that there was a bullet hole in him. She hated thinking about what would’ve happened if he’d been hit even a centimeter lower in his liver or a centimeter higher and the bullet had pierced his lung. She never wanted to think about a world without Ace in it.
A loud knock sounded and the bowl she was washing slipped from her hand and crashed into the sink, thankfully it didn’t break. She grabbed a towel and hurried to the door, doing her best to reach it before another knock sounded. She hoped the initial knock hadn’t disturbed Ace since she was sure he had already fallen back to sleep.
In her rush, she hadn’t bothered to check who was on the other side of the door before she opened it. She immediately regretted her haste. Mason stood on her porch holding a bouquet of flowers.
“Hello, beautiful.”
Not wanting to draw out this interaction, she skipped the pleasantries. “This isn’t a good time.”
She started to close the door, but he reached out and placed his hand on it. “Steph, don’t do that. Don’t shut me out like you always do. You need to talk. I know that you’re grieving and holding it all in isn’t going to help anything. I’m putting aside our differences to be here for you, the least you can do is let me.”
Seriously?It shouldn’t surprise her that Mason would try to use the death of her parent as an angle to make him look like the bigger person, but sometimes the levels of douchebaggery he reached were mind-blowing.
Why Simone had thought it was a good idea to disclose their personal life to Stephanie’s ex-fiancé was baffling to her. But, in all fairness, she’d never opened up to her little sister about the reasons for their breakup, so as far as Simone was concerned the two of them had just “grown apart.” Not to mention, her sister had always gotten along with Mason, mainly because he had money and would buy her things. Of course, he only bought Simone gifts when he wanted something from her, usually to stay with Scott so they could go out.
Mason was good at manipulating people. If he wanted something, he usually got it. Which she knew was the real reason he was still upset about her breaking off their engagement. It wasn’t personal. He didn’t miss her. He simply hadn’t gotten his way so he couldn’t let it go. He couldn’t let her go.
She knew that he wasn’t going to take her rejection well, but that didn’t stop her from saying what needed to be said. “Mason, I don’t want to talk to you. I have nothing to say and I’m not interested in hearing anything that you have to tell me. We’re not together. We’re not friends. We’re not anything. Please don’t come back here. You’re not welcome.”
“Is this because of that bodyguard you were making a fool of yourself with the other night? Please tell me that you’re smarter than that. He doesn’t care about you, not like I do.”
It was funny that in his attempt to put Ace down he’d actually said something that worked in Ace’s favor. She hoped and prayed that if Ace cared about her, it was nothing like the way that Mason did. Mason only wanted her when it benefited him. He wanted her on his terms. He wanted her to be a prop in his life. He wanted her to be seen and not heard. That wasn’t the way she ever wanted to be cared about again.
She wasn’t going to explain that to him though, it would be a waste of breath. “Goodbye, Mason.”
When she tried to shut the door, he pushed it open and forcibly stepped inside. “Listen, just hear me out—”
“No.” She lifted her arms to try to block him from entering but he continued forward, knocking her hands down as he did.
She stumbled over her own feet and instinctively her eyes shut as she braced herself to land on the hard tile. Instead she felt an arm wrap around her waist and her feet leave the floor. The next thing she knew she was standing behind a wall of muscle that she immediately recognized as Ace’s back.
It took her a second before she realized he had Mason by the throat and was walking forward, forcing her ex out of the house. When both men were outside, Ace dropped his hand from its choke hold and it was Mason’s turn to stumble backwards.
“If you touch her again, it will be the last thing you do.” Ace’s voice was calm, deadly calm as he spoke.
Mason was able to regain his balance before ending up flat on his ass. When he stood straight again he threw the flowers that he still held in his hand down on the ground. “Is that a threat? Are you threatening me?”
Instead of answering him, Ace turned and walked back in the house and shut the door.
“Are you okay?” he asked, concern radiating off of him as he ran his hands up and down her arms, his eyes scanning her from head to toe.