Beautiful Illusions (20 page)

“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.

“I just talked to her. She’s changing into something that’s guaranteed to drive you insane. You do realize that girl is crazy about you.”

“She’s just having a good time.” I shoulder up to Bry as I continue to pan the crowd. “She specifically signed up for fun, and that’s what I plan on giving her.”

“A little bird told me that you plan on giving her a lot more than fun on Friday.” She bumps her hip into mine, and the rest of my food goes flying.

“Nice.” I toss my plate into the trashcan next to me. “And, yes. Did she sound excited?”

“Hell to the yes. Oh, hon, you don’t even know. This is bigger than prom.” She bats her lashes a ridiculously long time. Brylee straightens out, and her demeanor shifts. “Why don’t you do everyone involved a favor, Waterman…”

I know what she’s going to say, so I look away.

“I don’t want to rock the boat,” I whisper. “If she’s happy like this, then so am I.” The last thing I’m going to do is slam her with my feelings, especially since we were pretty clear about maintaining a friendship right from the beginning.

“So you’re content just being fuck buddies?” She glares into me with her arms folded tight. Brylee knows I hate that term, and to associate it with Reese seems almost blasphemous.

“Don’t say that.” I look around to see if anyone else heard. “What we have is different—it’s special. She just wants to cross that bridge with someone she feels comfortable with, and this is the summer she wants to do it.” I swallow hard. “She recruited me.” I’m not sure that’s an upgrade from fuck buddy, but I like the argument. Maybe, at the end of the day, that’s all we would have been this summer. “It’s special to the both of us. We’re best friends.” It’s like I can’t keep my mouth from moving while trying to justify the situation.

Brylee tilts into me with a look that suggests I’ve just fed her one line of bullshit too many.

“Reese and
I
are best friends.” Her hardened stare bears into me. “Should I be fucking her?”

“Yeah, well, she didn’t ask you. Did she?” I scan the crowd for Gavin now. I’ll do just about anything to ditch Brylee and her ball-busting campaign.

“Exactly my point.” She nods while staring me down as if this should mean something.

I’m just about to ask her to sharpen the lines, tell her I’m a guy and can’t read between them when a light tap emits over my shoulder.

I turn to find Reese, and my heart stops. She’s wearing a skintight dress, the exact color of her skin, short as hell with her cleavage blooming in front. Her hair is loose around her face in perfect waves, and her eyes glow like streetlamps in this dull light.

“Remember that marble collection you used to have?” Her tongue licks over the rim of her lips like quicksilver. “I wondered if you still had it. Maybe you could show it to me?”

Brylee groans into us. “Would you two get a room already?” She calls out for Kennedy before dancing off in her direction.

“Sorry. I told her,” she confesses. “Do you hate me?” She tilts her head, and her dark hair fans out on one side like a giant feathered wing.

Reese pulls a smile from me without even trying. “I could never hate you.” And there is no bigger truth.

Reese threads her arm around my waist, and we walk boldly through the crowd like a couple. I wait until we hedge the upper ridge before pulling her in tight.

The lake and the lights from the party glitter down below, and it feels as if we’re on top of the world from this vantage point.

“Marble collection?” I press my lips over her forehead as a dull laugh rails through me.

“I’m serious. When we were kids, Neva and I used to sneak into your room while you were out and touch all your things.” She flirts with her eyes, and my body starts to tremble. I want her so damn bad it hurts.