Beautiful Oblivion (20 page)

“
Dude
.” Warren butts his chest into Ace. “You don’t tell me what I can and can’t do. Reese knows I was shitting around.”

“Do you, Reese?” Ace doesn’t take his eyes off Warren, just presses in with a hard glare.

“Yeah, it’s fine.” I touch my hand to my throat. “
I’m
fine. No fighting, please.” I take a step toward the two of them.

“I’m going for a swim.” Ace sweeps over me with heavy eyes before wading in and diving into the lake.

Gavin comes back and helps Kennedy hook her phone up to his speaker until the sand vibrates to Coldplay’s
Yellow
. Some kids from Yeats start swaying to the beat, and the mood elevates around us.

Warren speeds off toward the coolers, ticked as hell, and I watch as he pounds beer like water.

“Old lady, huh?” Brylee shoulders up to me. “I take it you didn’t break things off with him yet.”

“It’s kind of odd knowing I have to break up with someone I was never really officially with to begin with.” I spot Ace’s dark hair glistening in the lake.

A girl from Alpha Kappa crosses his path while doing the backstroke, and my insides feel like they’re being boiled in oil. She bumps into his chest, and I can hear her high-pitched laugh carry all the way over to my ears like a curse. It guts me to think he might find her pretty, that he might want her in general.

“You know, I think I’ll go for a swim.” The cool water runs up my thighs as I speed in and dive under. I move like a seal all the way over until I graze against Ace’s leg and pop up next to him.

“Hey, beautiful.” Ace gives his signature killer grin, and my insides melt like candle wax.

I blink the water from my eyes and glance to shore. Gavin and Warren are back on the sand next to Brylee along with a bunch of people I don’t recognize.

“I’ll race you to Boulder Island.” I cock my head, doing my best to flirt openly. It feels good to be with Ace in public even if I am a hundred feet from shore.

“It’s on, but you’ll never win.” His dimples dig in and out. “I’ll even give you a ten second lead,” he teases.

“Oh, I won’t need it.” I glide my fingers up the inside of his thigh. “Ready, set,
go
.” I dive toward the overgrown rocks and missile right past him. Our fingers touch the blue granite at the exact same time, and I laugh as I submerge myself one last time.

Ace helps hoist me onto the heated rock and starts leading me to the back.

“No, this is fine,” I say, pulling him to the flat surface that faces out toward Kennedy’s huge summer bash. “I don’t have anything to hide.” We find a spot that’s partially in the shade, provided by a lonely pine shooting from the center of the mass group of boulders and take a seat.

Ace scoots in until our shoulders touch. “I don’t like the way he talks to you,” he says it low as if there were a chance Warren might hear.

“I don’t either.” I make a half circle over the rock with my toes. “He’s just being Warren.” I shake my head as I pick up a twig that’s drifted from the pine.

“I don’t hear him talking to anyone else like that.” Ace cuts me a looks that lets me know he’d knife Warren’s balls off if I let him.

“Nor should he.” I swallow hard. The truth is, I don’t know how to get rid of Warren without turning this into some kind of familial and business meltdown. “I think we should change the subject.” I rock into him. “We should talk about
us
.”

“My favorite subject.”

“Mmm.” I moan into him. “You always know what to say. Is that what they’re teaching you down in Collingsworth? How to Treat A Lady 101?”

“Nope. With you it just comes natural. So what do you want to talk about?”

“I want to see if you’re still into doing this with me—you know—our special summer thing.”

“The non-fling?” He teases. “Hell, yes. You still on board?”

“Yes.
God
—yes. In fact, I’m ready and willing to press on.” I drip my gaze down his body and sink it into his lap a moment. “You know—really be with you.” I’ve waited my whole life to be with Ace.

“Okay.” He dips into a nod.

“Okay?” I look up at him from under my lashes. “As in right now?” I tease. “You think Warren would want to watch?”

Ace rumbles out a laugh. “I bet he would.” He closes his eyes a moment. His dark brows create clean lines that frame his face. “Boathouse. You and me, Fourth of July.”

“Really?” My entire body seizes at the thought of finally being with Ace in that special way. “That’s just in a few days.” My toes curl at the thought.

“I know,” he says it low, sad. “Are you okay with that?” He glances down at my bikini bottom as if it were the forbidden zone.

“I’m more than okay. I’d let you have me now if you wanted.” It comes out far too quiet and serious, pulling us down to a place I’m sure we don’t want to be. “It could be my official break up with Warren. You know, a performance piece.” I pinch a quick smile.

Ace and I share a quiet laugh.

“That might be the ultimate F.U.” He rocks into me. “But I think the Fourth is perfect. That gives us a few days to finish being Reese and Ace, and then we can start something new.”

“Something new.” I nod into the idea. “I like the thought of starting something new, but we’ll always be Reese and Ace.”

“No,” he says it sad, measured. “This is going to change everything between us. Nothing will ever be the same, Reese.”

I hold his serious gaze as if it were made of blown glass.

“It’s going to be incredible,” I whisper.

“It will.”

The afternoon wanes into evening, and all the hard bodies, and those of the silicone-enhanced variety, are still busy partying on the edge of the lake. Kennedy has the entire event catered by the best Mexican restaurant in town, and it smells like heaven as they grill the street tacos right here on the sand.

Brylee dances next to me and pulls me in until I’m moving to the music right alongside her. Ace and Gavin had to leave earlier to head to work, but they said they’d be back by evening, and now I’m stalking the shoreline like a predator for the hottest boy in Loveless. I haven’t said a word to Brylee about my special date on the Fourth because Warren planted himself between us for the better half of the afternoon. But, he’s gone now, and I can’t wait another second.

“Guess who’s going to see some real fireworks this Friday?” I swivel my hips against hers like I’m flirting.

She pauses for a second as she narrows her gaze into me. “If I didn’t know better, Westfield, I’d think you were hitting on me.” Brylee shakes out her blonde mane before wiggling her chest in my face. “So is that when we’re going to take the plunge and migrate to the other team?” She chest bumps me, throwing me off balance.

“Not you and me.” I avert my eyes as I sway to the music. “Me and someone
special
.”

“No way!” Brylee squeals so loud that an entire group of got-the-clappa’s turn to look at us.

“Yes, way.” I motion for her to keep it down.

“So is that how you do it? You pencil it in?” She smears it with sarcasm. “Sex on Friday.” She holds up a finger to say something else, and Neva pops up behind her looking like a zombie.

Shit!

I straighten.

Honest to God, Neva scares the crap out of me, but what scares me even more is Brylee’s inebriated need to repeat what I just said.

“Who’s having sex on Friday?” Neva doesn’t bother to keep her voice down just as Warren comes up behind her. “Oh, let me guess.” She leans in, and I can smell the Jack Daniels on her breath. “You and—”

Double shit!

Without putting much thought into it, I clock her.

The crowd gasps. Neva knocks me to the ground and begins railing away at my face with her fist. I try to bat her off, but Neva sits hard on my stomach and takes the air from my lungs with one severe bounce. She gives my hair a good yank just as I feel her body lifting off mine. Warren plucks her away, but she lands a foot in my eye before I can move.

“Shit!” Ace pulls me up and draws me into him, and my entire body sighs with relief. I wrap my arms around him, burying my throbbing face into his chest.

Neva lets out a scream, and we look over.

Warren hustles her toward us. “You fucking dislocated her jaw.” He cuts me a hard look as if I deliberately did this to piss him off. Little does he know I was just trying to save him from hearing that I was turning my virginity in to Ace come Friday—that all of the money in the world isn’t enough to make me want to lie down for him.

“Let’s see it.” Ace pulls her hair back, exposing a nice split in her lower lip, a jagged line of blood runs clear down to her chin.

Oh, God. In no way did I ever want to hurt her. Okay, so maybe a small part of me did, but never like that.

“I’d better get you to the clinic.” Ace tries to pull her in, but she growls at him as if she were rabid.

If I didn’t know Neva before her walk on the wild side, I might actually be afraid of her—I sort of am anyway.

“Dude.” Warren pulls her back and examines her closely. “She might need stitches. Anything more than a band aid, and they’re going to send you down the hill.” He cringes into her. “I’ll take her. It’ll be faster in my truck.”

“My car is plenty fast.” Ace expands his chest at the thought of being cut off at the vehicular balls by Warren of all people.

“No it’s not.” Warren pushes Neva toward the sidewalk.

“I’ll come with you,” Ace offers.

“It’s a two-seater. We’ll be right back.” He leads her off toward his house, and I can’t help but breathe a sigh of relief. I feel bad for Neva, but with both her and Warren gone, I feel lighter than air.

The music shifts its rhythm back to Coldplay’s
Yellow,
and I lower my lashes into Ace.  “I spent the entire last year listening to this song on repeat.” While dreaming of him, but I leave that last part out. I remember agonizing at the thought of having to spend each day without the possibility of seeing that dark hair, those eyes like polished sapphires.

“This song reminds me of you.” He presses out a sly grin, and his dimples dig in deep.

Joanna Knickerbocker bops up in a pair of pasties she’s trying to pass off as a bathing suit, her round bottom hangs out of her bright pink shorts.

“Ace Waterman,” she purrs into him. Her blonde hair is pulled back into a sleek ponytail, and she actually looks pretty with her face kissed by the sun, her lips glowing a soft peach. “Dance with me!”

My stomach pinches just witnessing the exchange.

“He can’t dance with you,” I say, gurgling a silent laugh while looking right into his eyes. “Because he’s going to dance with
me
.” I pull him along until we’re buried nine deep in a sea of bodies. Ace slips his hands around my waist. “I was just thinking the other day how we’ve never danced,” I whisper into him.

“Sure we have.” He brushes his lips over my ear, and a dull ache travels all the way down to the most intimate part of me. “Remember the night you loaded my pillow with toothpaste, and I chased you around the cabin?”

I belt out a laugh. “That wasn’t dancing, that was called running for my life.”

“No, it was dancing. We were just moving really fast.” He presses me in by the small of the back, and I catch my breath as his stomach sears over mine. “Do you remember what I said to you that night?”

“What did you say?” I tilt my head back and catch Warren up on the ridge in his truck. The smile glides from my face as he stares me down. He takes off so fast, a trail of dust rises in his wake.

Ace leans in and touches his cheek to mine. “I said I forgave you because one day I’d have you right where I want you.”

My chest heaves for a moment because, for one, Ace remembered, and two, it sounded beautiful coming from his lips.

“And where’s that?” I pull back to take him in, his navy eyes, those deep wells in his cheeks that wink at me in turn. Ace Waterman is perfection.

“Right here.” He leans in and rubs his lips over my ear. “In my arms.”

Ace

The bodies only seem to grow in number as the sun sets.

Kennedy pulled Reese back to the house to ice her face, and I haven’t seen her for a good half hour. I shake my head at the thought of Neva and her damn left hook. I plan on giving her a fucking earful in the morning. I don’t want anybody touching Reese, not Warren and for damn sure not Neva.

Funny how things work. I used to come to these parties just to see Reese, and now, we’re meeting up, stealing kisses on the side.

I groan as I head to the food line. Gavin had me chopping a shitload of walnut this afternoon, and my muscles kill just to move.

Brylee makes her way over just as I’m loading up on tacos. I plan on wolfing them down in record time. According to Neva’s text, she’ll be another couple hours in the E.R., so as soon as Reese comes back I plan on stealing her away to the boathouse for another dance—a private one we can both enjoy.

“Hey, hot stuff.” Brylee snatches a taco from my plate and takes a giant bite.

“Have you seen Reese?” I glance out at the crowd.