Filed To Story: Kidnapped by My Mate Novel (Belle & Grayson)
“He’s at the age where men like him start to feel a little…territorial, but that’s not okay. Not with you. You’re different from everybody else in this town. Ace needs to be reminded of that.
“So, if you want my advice, I say you have to tell him that. Tell him how he’s making you feel.”
I scrunched up my nose. “I’d rather just keep ignoring him.”
“You can do that too. I’m all for you getting some space. Give Ace a taste of his medicine and make him the one without the information for once.”
I liked the sound of that.
“But I will warn you,” he continued carefully, “ignoring him isn’t going to work for too long. You know he’s going to hunt you down sooner or later.”
I groaned and stuffed my face in my pillow. “I know. I’m honestly surprised he hasn’t already.”
While I would never admit it to my mom and dad, part of me wasn’t responding to Ace for that exact reason: I wanted him to hunt me down. I wanted him near me again.
The sooner he got here, the sooner I would feel normal again. I was going through Ace withdrawals.
“Well, there’s actually a reason for that,” my dad stated. “Ace is in Canada right now.”
I lifted my head. “What?”
“Ace is in Canada,” he repeated calmly. “He flew there this morning.”
My brow creased. “He flew to Canada? Why?”
“I’m not sure,” my dad said. “All I know is that there are some big changes happening in Ace’s life right now. Which might be another reason why he’s been acting so strangely.”
“What sort of big changes?”
I didn’t know Ace was going through anything. Wouldn’t he tell me if something happened to him?
“I wish I could tell you more, honey. I really do. But I think it’s Ace’s right to tell you when he’s ready.
“I’m not even sure he would be happy I’ve told you he’s in Canada. Maybe we should keep this between us for now.”
I nodded even though I was already planning on giving Ace the third degree the next time I saw him. I just wouldn’t tell him where I got the information. “Why did you tell me?”
“Because I think you have a right to answers. And if I’m being completely honest, I don’t want you to feel like there’s some other reason he’s not here tonight. He’s not rejecting you.”
My defenses immediately went up. “Why would I care if he’s rejecting me? H-he can do whatever he wants.”
My dad raised a single eyebrow at me. “Are you sure about that?”
I went limp with defeat. “Is it that obvious?”
How was it that even my stepdad could tell I was secretly in love with my best friend? Talk about embarrassing.
He patted my leg once more. “It was bound to happen, sweetheart. The two of you belong together. We all know it.”
I sunk lower into my pillows. Yep, everyone knew it…except for the one person who really mattered.
My dad stood. “Take tonight to avoid him if that’s really what you want. Be by yourself for a little while and take comfort in the fact that he’s in another country, so there is no risk of him coming by.
“But remember that you’re going to have to face the consequences of that decision in the morning.”
He bent down and left a quick kiss on the crown of my head. “Love you, honey. Let me know if you need anything.” He turned and walked out of my room, closing the door behind him.
I sighed, and my eyes trailed over to the drawer of my nightstand. Ace was just one call away. I could end all of this right now. My dad was right, I was going to have to deal with him eventually.
But that seemed like a tomorrow problem, didn’t it?
I grabbed my laptop and hit play on my movie.
Half an hour later, I was still deliberately self-sabotaging as I watched the main character of my horror movie walk into a room I knew she shouldn’t.
I could barely even watch, pulling my blanket up past my chin so it almost covered my eyes. I felt so stupid. I was never going to be able to fall asleep after all of this.
Why was I doing this to myself? Why had I chosen the one night that Ace might not sleep with me to watch the scariest movie known to humankind?
I should’ve closed my laptop and done some homework.
But the fact that Ace had been so totally right about this movie made me even more determined to finish it.
Just then, the door to my bedroom flew open and a scream exploded from my mouth. It was so loud, it could have put a banshee to shame.
“Dotty, Ace is on the phone!” Thomas yelled as he burst through the room. He flinched at my shriek of terror. “Why are you screaming?”
My hand flew to my chest as I tried to slow my racing heart. Jesus Christ, I need a lock for my door.
“Thomas, you scared me! You can’t just come barging in here whenever you want without knocking!”
Thomas’s eyebrows pinched together. “You’re so weird.” He walked to the side of my bed and held his phone out at me. “Ace wants to talk to you.”
“What?” I looked down at the unknown number lighting up the screen and, sure enough, it was Ace’s. “Ace called you? How does he even have your number? You got this phone yesterday!”
Thomas shrugged. “I don’t know, but he said he would give me five dollars if I brought it to you in under two minutes.” He thrust the phone into my hand. “Take it!”
I rolled my eyes, extremely tempted to tell Thomas to get out and take his phone with him. Ace knew my brothers were my weakness and was obviously taking advantage of that.
How he got Thomas’s number was beyond me, but it only added to my level of annoyance.
At the same time, however, I wasn’t about to turn Thomas away when he was so excited to make five dollars.
I finally took the phone from him and brought it to my ear. Thomas, content now he had completed his mission, wandered out of my room, leaving my door wide open like the little weasel he was.
“Bribing a child, Ace? Seriously?” I grumbled into the microphone. “We’re stooping that low?”
“Well, I wouldn’t have had to stoop that fucking low if you would’ve answered your goddamn phone one of the millions of times I called,” Ace snapped back at me.
I winced at the fury in his tone and pushed my laptop off my lap so that I could fall back down onto the bed.
I resisted the urge to scream into my pillow. This was the whole reason I had been avoiding his call. I hated it when he was mad at me.
“What the hell, Doe?” Ace continued. “Why didn’t you answer me?”
“I did answer you—”
“Don’t push me, Doe. You know I don’t mean sending me a damn text message. Do you have any idea how long I’ve been trying to get a hold of you? How worried I’ve been?”
My muscles tensed with anger. “Just because I didn’t answer my phone when you called? My entire life doesn’t revolve around you, you know! I’m allowed to miss a few phone calls from you!”
Or a few hundred, I suppose.
Something burst through the cell and into my eardrum. Something between a roar and a growl. What it was, it was so loud that I had to pull the phone away from my ear. Holy shit, he was angry.
“You’re on thin ice, Doe,” Ace cautioned, his voice so low and dangerous that my instinct was to crawl under my blankets and never come out.
I wouldn’t let his anger get the best of me though. Frustration welled inside of me like a boiling pot about to spill over.