White Diamonds / l.h ✔️

12

~Hera's POV~

"What do you want?" I complained to Ace as he stood in front of me on my front porch, having woken me up from my sleep just to make me come answer the door. "Right now?" He asked, arms crossed over his chest. "For you to let me in." He answered as he sent me an expectant look and waited for me to let him in.

I grumbled in annoyance and stepped to the side, quickly ushering him in with a wave of my hand. Ace walked on in and I shut the door a little loudly, locking it behind me. Holding my robe tightly around my body, I sent him a look, silently asking what on earth he was doing here. It was only ten AM and he'd just showed up to my front door without even asking if he could come over, demanding for me to let him in. But that's Ace for you, I guess.

Not to my surprise, Ace just raised his brows right back at me, crossing his arms over his chest. At one point, I would've said that Ace was easily the most attractive man in my life. Then again, he had been the only man in my life for a long time. We had been close friends since the twelfth grade, making him my only other friend aside from Sydney and Ember. Although I wasn't really sure if Ember counted as being my friend, being that she was actually my manager. To be honest, I still thought Ace was attractive, but after having seen Luke...well, I was pretty sure that nobody could be as beautiful as that man.

Ace was probably about five foot eleven, only an inch taller than me, and his hair was a messy bunch of dark brown curls. He was pretty buff and had big muscles, his gray eyes staring down at me expectantly. It was clear that he wanted me to say something to him, but I couldn't exactly say what he wanted me to say. "What?" I asked, frowning at him. "What are you doing here?" I asked, peering into his gray eyes with curiosity.

"Do you...maybe have something to tell me, Hera?" Ace asked back, expectantly raising his brows at me. I just stared at him and lightly shook my head, furrowing my brows in confusion. As far as I knew, I had nothing to tell him, so I wasn't sure what he was talking about. "No...?" I asked, confused. He narrowed his eyes at me and huffed. "So you just weren't going to tell me about your boyfriend, then?" He huffed, pouting.

I paused, blinking up at him as a wave of realization washed over me. A smile rose on my lips. "Oh." I chuckled, shaking my head. "Now I understand." I said. "Sorry for not telling you." I added, giving him a sheepish smile as I rubbed a hand over my eyes.

He frowned and cocked his head to the side. "Why didn't you tell me, anyways?" He asked, a curious glint in his gaze. I was silent for a second, trying to think of something to say as a response. Just like Sydney, Ace thought that the "relationship" Luke and I were in was real, and just like Sydney, he couldn't know that it wasn't. "Well," I began awkwardly, biting my cheek while I racked my brain for a response. "Luke and I were just trying to keep everything on the down low, you know. Trying things out and all that. We thought it'd be best to not tell anyone until we were ready." I explained, somehow managing to keep my voice steady and my face from wavering into an expression that showed how nervous his questions actually made me.

For a second, he just stood there silently, his gray eyes peering at me in thought. I did the same, staring up at him silently while he examined me. "How long have you two actually been dating, then? It's been only around two months since you've announced it." He said, causing me to pause. Ember hadn't really briefed me on what to say in the event that someone ask me that question, so I knew that I'd just have to wing it, it seemed. "Seven months now." I blurted, saying the first thing that popped into my head.

"Seven months?!" He gasped, gaping at me with his mouth open and his eyes wide with surprise. I sighed softly and lightly nodded my head, peering at him with a slight frown on my face. "Yes." I lied, biting my lip. He raised a brow as he managed to calm himself, staring at me with a frown. "But...you haven't even remotely hinted about you having a man in your life. How did you two even meet?" He asked, a furrow in his dark brows. I paused and bit my lip, fiddling with the fabric of my silk robe. "We met at a party." I lied again, telling him exactly what Ember had prepped me to say when asked that question.

Ace hummed and I walked around him, hearing his footsteps following after me as I headed into my living room. "Is he good to you?" He asked protectively, hurrying up until he stepped in front of me, a little frown on his lips.

Surprised, I blinked up at him and lightly nodded my head. "Yes, Ace." I sighed, rolling my eyes. "There's nothing you need to worry about. I promise." I assured, giving him a smile. Ace had always been very protective of me, during high school and even after we'd graduated, that obviously hadn't changed. He was like an older brother, even though he was only a few months older than me.

Luckily, he seemed to calm down at my words, his shoulders relaxing as he let out a soft sigh. "Good." He smiled, plopping down onto my couch. "You should go get showered. Looks like I really did just wake you up." He said, a little smile on his lips as he peered up at me. I rolled my eyes and pulled my robe over my chest more, hiding my cleavage. "Unfortunately, yes, you did." I huffed, turning around and starting up the steps.

I left Ace in my living room while I went up to my room, taking a quick shower before I got dressed. When I got out of the shower, I dried off before pulling on a pair of panties and a bra before I pulled on a skirt that had silver sparkles on it and a black crop top, not bothering with shoes. Ace and I would probably just hang out at my house today, anyways.

As I jogged down the stairs and into my living room, I saw that Ace was still lounging on my couch where I'd left him, eating one of my strawberry yogurts that I'd had in the fridge. I frowned and placed my hands on my hips as I peered down at him, watching him eat the yogurt like he hadn't eaten a day in his life and didn't know what utensils were. He wasn't using a spoon. Instead, he squeezed the yogurt container until it squeezed the yogurt up, where he then used his tongue to eat it.

"You're disgusting." I sighed, watching as he used his pointer finger to get the yogurt out of the bottom of the container, sucking it off his finger. He just laughed, finishing off the last of the yogurt before he set the empty, slightly crushed container onto the table in front of the couch. "I'm hungry, is what I am." He responded, giving me a grin.

"Yeah." I snorted, shaking my head as I sat down beside him. "You're hungry, not a caveman." I said, crinkling my nose up in disgust as he wiped his finger on his pants, wiping off the saliva from his finger.

"But you're certainly lacking in etiquette, like a caveman." I muttered.