Love Me Like a Love Song

Hands On You

Ace

I drove down crooked road and parked by the river before hopping out of my truck and walking to the back where Steele had dropped the tailgate

"What'd you wanna talk about?" He asked, sitting beside me on the tailgate. I didn't say anything at first, I just watched the water laze by

"I wanna know why the bet was made." I whispered, bringing my knees up to my chest

"I'd had my eye on you way before that bet was made, but you're the only girl who seems to scare me. I don't know how many times I'd walked up to you to talk, only to realize who I was about to talk to and walk away." He explained, shaking his head with a small smile on his face "I figured the bet might give me some extra courage. But it didn't. At that bon fire, sat there trying to think of a way I could talk to you without seeming desperate, but I couldn't. So I just kinda sat there and played stalker. If it hadn't been for David grabbing at you, I don't think I would have grown the balls to talk to you." He grinned, glancing over to me

"Why didn't you tell me about it though? I mean, the bet I would have been fine, I probably would have screamed and tried to beat you, but I would have gotten over it! Why did you hide it from me?!" I asked, turning to look him in the eyes. I watched as guilt took over his features, looking like he'd just watched someone kick a kitten

"I know, I should have told you, I know that! But I just...I couldn't bring myself to do it." He mumbled, looking at the ground

"What do you mean by you couldn't tell me?" I asked, throwing my hands in the air. I could feel the heat creeping up my neck and annoyance making an appearance in my tone

"I mean I didn't wanna watch the hurt in your eyes when you realized how big of a fuck up I am!" He yelled, jumping off the tailgate and walking over to the river bank, squeezing the bill of his cap

"You thought I would be hurt by that?! How about when I saw the video! Do you think that made hearing it any easier?! No! It hurt more watching the video than it ever would have hearing it from you!" I screamed, starting to cry

"What do you want me to do, huh?! Do you want me to drop to my knees and grovel? Because at this point, I will! I'll go stand on the fucking water tower and scream how much I love you to the whole town. Just....just tell me what you want..." He mumbled, walking back over to me and grabbing my face gently in my hands

"I want you to be honest...and tell me if that bet really meant anything to you." I whispered, not being able to look away

"I swear - I swear to god, Ace, that bet meant nothing. It did at first, but then you turned out to be this amazing girl who didn't take my shit. Your fucking perfect, and I'm sorry I screwed up so bad. I'm so sorry Ace." He muttered, rubbing the tears from my cheeks with his thumbs as he held my face

"Okay..." I cried, reaching up to wipe my cheeks "I forgive you. You gotta re-earn my trust...but I forgive you." I mumbled, letting out a choked laugh

"You got it." He grinned, pressing his face to mine.

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"No, you wanted me to prove it, so this is how I'm going to start!" Steele yelled from half way up when I asked him to climb down

"By killing yourself?!" I yelled back to him

"I'm not gonna die!" He laughed as he climbed higher. After we'd talked, he demanded that I let him drive somewhere before we went to go get his truck from the school parking lot. He'd drove into town and planned to be at the top of the water tower before school let out at 3:30