I suppressed a growl. “Yes, but he hasn’t responded.” I was ready to break into tears when I felt a pair of strong hands on my shoulders.
I turned and found myself pulled against a hard chest. Oh thank God, he’s here. I looked up but quickly realized this wasn’t Ace. It was Jack. I stepped back. “I’m sorry. I thought you were someone else.”
“What’s wrong?” he asked, the only one with any concern in his tone.
Tears started to well up in my eyes, but I blinked them back, refusing to let them fall. “No one seems to know where Ace is, and I’m worried about him.”
The elevator door dinged, and Whitney stepped out. She rushed to my side and wrapped an arm around my shoulders. “Holly, what’s wrong. Are you hurt?”
Well, shit. I must not be hiding my distress as well as I thought.
I felt foolish. It wasn’t like Ace wasn’t the type to wander off, even with me here in his room. I really was just worried because I knew he was dealing with stressors he wouldn’t let anyone else know about. He had been so different, so attentive, and sweet. There was a change in him, one I’d hoped for, but had never let myself believe would happen. Now it had, or I’d let myself believe it had, and it hurt more than I wanted to admit to think it was over that quick.
“I think this is my fault,” Jack spoke up, running a hand through his hair.
“Why do you say that? Do you know where Ace is?”
Whitney pulled away, and her face changed. “Ace?” she snapped. “Ace is why you’re so upset? You’ve been here one damn day, and he’s already missing in action?” She spread her arms out wide. “Surprise!”
I ignored her and took a step closer to Jack. “What happened?”
“I don’t know where he is, but I might know why he’s upset,” Jack said softly.
Dread spiraled in my stomach. “What happened?” I repeated.
“We were talking, and I told him about our dates.”
Blood drained from my head. “Why did you do that?” My voice was a whisper.
“I thought you’d told him. I mean, you told me about him. I admired your honesty and wanted to follow your lead. I thought it would be good for me to acknowledge the elephant in the room. Only, you hadn’t told him yet. Maybe you didn’t plan to at all. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to cause you any pain.” Jack’s eyes were filled with sincerity.
I exhaled and forced a smile on my face. “It’s not your fault, but thanks for letting me know.”
Unsure what else to do, I walked back to Ace’s room, but Whitney was right behind me. As soon as the door closed behind me, I turned to her. “Please don’t yell at me.”
Her mouth was opened to do just that, her finger pointed directly at me. She froze. Which made me laugh. Then she was laughing too. We sank down on the couch, and to my horror, my laughter turned into tears.
“Holly. Why are you so upset?”
I pulled my hands away from my face and leaned my head back on the cushion, willing myself to stop crying.
“I messed everything up,” I groaned.
“No. No, you didn’t. He did. How is any of this your fault?”
I explained everything to my best friend, the one who hated Ace Newman, as best I could. I was strong. I never caved. I never let his behaviors tear me down. He was fun, exciting, great sex, nothing more. I never let my heart believe that he was, or ever could be more than just that, great sex.
“But…?” she asked.
“But I can’t consolidate how he is to the world with how he is with me. Whit, you should have seen him last night. His walls were down. He was so sweet and tender. In those moments, I…” I swallowed hard. “I love him.”
Whitney gripped my hand. “I know.”
I sniffed hard. “You do? I thought I was a better actress than that.”
She laughed softly. “Maybe to everyone but me. Can I tell you a secret?”
I rolled my head until I was looking at her. “Of course.”
“Calvin thinks he loves you too and is too afraid to admit it.”
She reached up and brushed away a tear that made its way past my lashes.
“The thing is, Holly,” she went on, “just because he loves you the best he can doesn’t mean you don’t deserve better than what he has to offer.”
“What do you mean?”
“Some people only have the capacity to love so much, and Ace might not ever be able to love you more than he does now, or at least not be able to demonstrate that love.”
“Why?”
She shook her head. “Pain, maybe. It’s like a guard on the door to their heart. A little bit of love sneaks out, and it’s pushed back inside.”
“That’s so sad.”
She nodded. “Yes, it is.”
“Whitney, I’m worried about him. I want to go look for him. It’s been hours.”
“Okay. I’ll go with you. You can’t walk around this city alone.”
We agreed to meet down in the lobby in fifteen minutes, giving me enough time to straighten up my face. Downstairs, it wasn’t just Whitney, but a bunch of the guys hanging out. I groaned but headed in their direction anyway.
“I think I know where he might be,” Luke stated as soon as I was close.
Whitney took over. “Okay, you can come with us.” She gave Calvin a you’re coming too look, and he slowly rose to his feet.
“I want to go too, if that’s okay?” Jack asked.
I wasn’t sure that was such a good idea, but Whitney was already nodding. “It might not hurt. He can straighten things out.”
“You sure?” I said, giving her a warning with my eyes.
“Yep. I’m positive. We’ll get it straightened out.” Whitney sounded convincing.
Frank and Marty opted to stay at the hotel and eat dinner, leaving Calvin, Luke, Whitney, Jack, and myself to go on the hunt for Ace.
It wasn’t a very big city, so at least he was nearby. The problem was, there were bars everywhere, some tucked in behind convenience stores, others that were stacked on top of one another along Seabreeze Boulevard.
Luke wanted to try the place he and Ace had gone to a couple of times. As we walked up to the place, it looked dead empty. I almost turned around until I heard Ace’s laugh.
I glanced over at Whitney, and she jerked her head to the door, urging me to just get it over with. Opening the door, the first thing I saw was Ace holding something purple over his head. A cute little blonde was grinning and jumping up, trying to reach it.
Upon hearing the door open, Ace looked over, and our eyes met. I watched his lips sound out the word fuck as a myriad of emotions flashed over his face. He lowered the purple cloth and handed it to the girl. Panties. He was giving her a pair of panties.
“Fancy seeing you here,” Ace said, his smirk firmly back in place. “Looks like you brought the whole gang. Great. C’mon in and have a drink on me.”
Whitney grabbed my arm and hissed, “What do you want to do?”
I didn’t know.
Then Ace’s eyes locked on mine again. Even though he wore a smirk, those eyes were filled with pain. I could see it. I could feel it. It radiated off of him like waves.