Double Jinx (Wattys2017)

Chapter 33

When I woke up the next morning, I was surprised to find that I was no longer on the floor. I was in my bed. I sat up in a hurry, expecting to see Ace beside me. But he wasn't. Instead, he was on the floor where I had fallen asleep last night.

Did he move me up here and take my place?

Damn him. It was very difficult to stay mad at him when he continued doing such sweet things.

I watched him sleep for a long time, longer than needed. His bloody shirt and button up had been carelessly flung to the side, crumpled in a pile near the foot of my bed. I watched the bare skin on his back ripple with each deep breath he took while sleeping. And paired with such a heavenly face, it was hard to not imagine what lay hidden beneath the blanket tangled around his legs. Not a single blemish on that back, no sir.

Besides the few faded scars from his childhood.

My hands itched to touch those scars, to run my fingers along the irregular skin as if I could wipe away fifteen years worth of pain. But I couldn't. I couldn't touch him anymore because I was barely holding on as is. If he begged me to take him back, I wasn't sure I could say no again. When it came to Ace, my willpower disappeared.

Maybe that's why he lied to me for so long. I never stood up to him, never made him work for anything. Since the day I met him, I've done anything and everything to make him happy. Amidst all my trying, I forgot how easy it was to lose myself around him. We were doomed since the moment he picked up Filly, but I didn't want to believe it. I wanted to believe we could beat the odds.

But the odds were stacking against us.

Ace shifted in his sleep, tucking an arm under his pillow. He held the pillow tighter, burying his face into it as he breathed in deeply. Then his eyes flashed open, looking down at the pillow as though it it were on fire. He shot into a sitting position, his wild gaze darting around the room until those gems finally spotted me.

A quick breath left his lungs as he sighed in relief. He swallowed shakily, holding a hand to his forehead, "Sorry. Bad dream."

I was still angry with him but my next words slipped from my mouth as a whisper before I could stop them, "Are you okay?"

He seemed surprised to hear me ask this, "Um ... yeah. I'm fine."

He looked better. His bruises were just as dark and his cuts were beginning to scab over, but the bags under his eyes weren't nearly as heavy and his shoulders no longer sagged with exhaustion. He probably would have gotten a better sleep if he had been on my bed but it looked as though the floor treated him well.

"Good." I mumbled back, dropping my gaze.

When I said nothing else, he shook his head and stretched his arms high into the air, his joints popping as he did so, "Still mad at me, huh?"

Well of course I was. Did he think one night of sleep would change my mind? I had no dreams of clarification or epiphanies of any kind. My anger towards him remained.

I ran my fingers through my hair, "It's too early for this, Ace." I flicked my blanket away from my legs and made a move for the door. Much like Ace said yesterday, we needed to talk. But I needed time before we could do that. To think, to panic, whatever. But I couldn't get that time when Ace wouldn't leave me alone.

As if he read my thoughts, he jumped up from the mountain of blankets and pillows surrounding him, and raced me to the door. Unfortunately, he's always been faster than me. He stood before it with his arms spread out to the sides, blocking my escape.