Focus on me

I spend my Sunday at church with my father and Remi. I tried to hide the fact that I feel terrible today with a kind smile. I wish I hadn’t gone to that stupid party because of what Viper did to me, but at the same time, I would have never met Ace.

Ace... His name just does something to me. My heart flutters, and my mind tells it to stop.

I jump in my seat as I feel a hand on my shoulder. I turn to see its just my father and he looks taken back.

“Why are you so on edge Heather. Talk to me. You haven’t said a word all day.”

I can’t tell him what happened. Maybe someday but not anytime soon.

“It’s nothing dad. I’m fine.”

He gives me that I don’t believe you look but before he can say anything people start piling into the church.

“Pastor Williams, good morning, I would like to have a word with you before you begin.” A sweet older woman smiles up at my father, and he can’t refuse.

“This conversation is to be continued Heather.” He says in his elegant tone, before offering the woman a smile and walking away with her.

I sigh and pull my phone out before the Sunday service begins, and I see I have a text from Clara.

Clara: [Hey babes, how are you holding up?]

I turn my phone off and decide right now is not the time to be texting. Remi snuggles up by my side and I turn to see her looking at me curiously.

“What is it Remi?”

She tilts her head to the side staring at me.

“Hum... something is different about you Heather? Did something bad happen at that party you went too?”

Gosh, how does this little girl always know? Or am I just that easy to read? I need to improve my acting skills.

“Everything is fine Remi.”

“You didn’t answer my question Heather.”

I give her a warning look.

“Remi... drop it okay?”

She huffs and crosses her arms together looking at the stage. She is so cute, and sweet, but way too young to know my personal life. I hope she will understand when she’s older.

The service begins and I look around to see a few people already asleep, and some young teenagers on their phones. While the majority of people are listening, nodding.

I on the other hand am too distracted to focus on what Pastor Williams is saying.

Once church is over Remi climbs into my car and I drive her back home. Dad always stays in church afterwards to speak to everyone.

***

At home I turn on my phone to see I have 4 unread messages. two are from Clara, and two are from an unknown number. I read Clara’s message first.

Clara: [Hey if you want, you can come over to my brother’s place, and we can watch movies or something.]

Clara: [You’re making me feel clingy here. I just feel really bad and want to make sure you are okay before we start work tomorrow.]

Heather: [Hey best friend, did you forget I go to church on Sundays? I’m free now, and I would love to hang with you. I don’t wanna be home.]

Clara: [Great, I’m at the gym right now, but come over in an hour okay?]

Heather: [Okay I’ll be there.]

I flip to the other unknown message and my heart thumps.

Unknown: [Hey Cupcake, I’m sure my sister already told you, but were having a horror movie night tonight, like we do every Sunday.]

Unknown: [Come over for a bit, unwind with us. We both hate the thought of you being alone after what happened.]

My goodness these two really are twins. They both are so caring and amazing friends. I’m not even sure I deserve them.

Heather: [ Okay Ace, I’ll be there, but you have to promise me that we won’t talk about that subject ever again. I want to leave that in the past.]

Ace: [You have my word. Oh and by the way, we’re making lasagna tonight. If it tastes great, I cooked it, if it tastes terrible, Clara and Cameron cooked it.]

Heather: [ lol. I’ll bring over some cookies.]

Ace: [Sounds great, see ya. ;) ]

Umm... what’s with that winking face? Might as well just let it slide.

A few minutes later while laying in my bed...

He can’t actually be attracted to me could he? Psss, nah. He’s probably just being nice to me. Overly nice.

I take a shower and decide I want to dress nice but casual. Maybe I’ll put on my cute little sundress I bought but never worn. It’s red, short, flares at the bottom, and has spaghetti straps with pearl beads on them.

***

An hour later and I’m driving to the address Clara sent me. I pull up to Ace and Cameron’s house and don’t see Clara’s car anywhere yet. Oh well. I walk up to the door with a box of cookies in my hand, and the door swings open.

Ace is standing there in nothing but some black sweatpants, a silver Cuban chain, and a growing smirk on his handsome face. I can’t stop my eyes from taking a good look at him, as much as I try.

“Hey Cupcake, are you going to come in, or are you just going to gawk at me?” He says in a teasing tone, and I smack his arm.

“I am not gawking at you Ace, but would it kill you to answer the door with a shirt on?”

He shrugs.

“What can I say, I’m just a dude who enjoys comfort.”

I slide past him and on the couch, I see Cameron also shirtless with some gym shorts. I hate to admit it but he looks just as good. Yikes I need to get a hold of myself.

“Sup Heather!” Cameron says standing up from the couch and giving me a bear hug, that takes me by surprise. He smells like weed and a cologne.

“We’re not strangers anymore, and now you are apart of this family, so get used to that,” Cameron says as he flops back onto the couch, and texts someone.

“So... I bought some cooki..”

“Cookies?” Cameron’s head snaps towards me like a meerkat, and I laugh and nod.

“Thank goodness, cuz I’ve been blazing since this morning and had no munchies.”

I look towards Ace puzzled.

“Uh... blazing?”

Ace chuckles.

“He’s high, and has been bothering me all day for some damn cookies.”

I giggle and hand Cameron a chocolate chip cookie from the box. He beams up at me.

“Oh you can just leave the box right here if you want. I’ll keep an eye on it, in case someone tries to take some.”

I give Cameron a knowing look, and Ace walks towards me and takes the box.

“Nice try dude, but I’ve been craving these too.” He says as he places them on the kitchen counter.

Clara walks in through the door shortly after in her gym clothes and hugs me.

“Hey Clara.”

She looks at me sadly and I wag my finger at her.

“No, no. No sad faces tonight, I just want to enjoy y’all’s company.” that last thing I want to be reminded of is last night.

She nods and offers me a smile.

“Sounds like a plan Heather.”

The horror movie starts and I’m sitting in the middle of the couch next to Clara and Cameron is chilling on the lazy boy with a bag of popcorn.

“Hansel come on! The movie is starting!” Clara yells in the direction of Ace’s bedroom.

Ace shows up a minute later and tosses a blanket to his sister and one to Cameron. It falls over Cameron’s face and he just leaves it there.

Then he gently drapes a soft blanket over my shoulders and I look up to see his eyes smiling.

“Thanks,” I whisper softly to him.

“Woah, why does Heather get special treatment, and I don’t?” Cameron says peeking through his blanket.

“Sorry bro. Do you want me to tuck you in? Maybe rub your feet with some coconut oil?” Ace jokes and Cameron shrugs.

“Well, I’m not opposed to the idea.”

Ace laughs and throws a charm pillow at his face. We all laugh together and I can’t stop smiling.

“I just realized how incredibly boring my life was before I met you guys,” I admit out loud, and they all smile at me.

“I doubt you were ever boring Cupcake, maybe just misunderstood.” Ace says sitting next to me, and he wraps himself in his blanket. He sits about 5 inches away from me on this small couch and I can’t help but feel a little spark passing between us.

The movie starts off slow and uneventful, and I see Cameron nodding off before Clara smacks his shoulder. I giggle to myself also feeling a bit drowsy with the intro to this movie.

“Jesus! I’ve seen lamps more exciting than this movie.” Ace says out loud and I burst out laughing, holding my tummy.

“Shhh! Y’all be quiet, it’s about to get good soon, I swear.”

Clara grabs the popcorn from Cameron’s sleeping arms.

As promised the movie does get slightly better and we all scream as a demon shoots from under the bed, and starts crawling towards the protagonist.

In the heat of the moment, I grab Ace’s hand, and duck under my blanket, not wanting to see the rest of that scene.

I realize how forward that was, and I was about to pull my hand away until he interlaced his fingers with mine.

My heart melts, and I slowly pull my blanket off my face with my free hand, and he winks at me, letting me know he’s okay with it.

I look at him surprised, but can’t say anything. He turns his attention back to the screen, while simultaneously rubbing the back of my hand with his thumb.

Oh lord, why is such a simple touch making my heart beat so fast? I face the screen myself but I can’t concentrate on the movie anymore.

Every once and a while I sneak a glance towards him, and he smirks at me while he continues to rub my hand. Clara leaves to use the bathroom, and Cameron is now snoring.

“Hey Heather, you know what’s going on in this movie? I can’t seem to focus on it.”

He whispers this in my ear, in a husky low voice that sends a chill down my spine.

“Um...I can’t focus on it either Ace.”

He snickers.

“It must be because you look like you wanna kiss me.”

I look at him surprised he read me so easily, and damn, he’s right. I want this bad boy more than anything, and I’m not even ashamed to admit it... to myself that is.

“Umm... I don’t know what you’re talking about Ace.”

He groans annoyed with his face so close to mine, and the sound vibrates through me.

He places a lingering kiss on the side of my head, and my breathing quickness exposing my lie.

He pulls away from my blushing face as he hears Clara’s footsteps down the hall.

It’s not like I’ve never kissed anyone before, I’ve kissed my ex plenty of times but this... this felt different, and he didn’t even kiss my lips.

My goodness, why am I even thinking about that, Ace is Clara’s brother, that would just be too weird.

“Did I miss anything good?” Clara asks as she sits next to me.

“Um... no, not really,” I say in a small voice.

“Great.”

She focuses on the movie, and I’m convinced she is the only one actually paying attention to it. Ace is pretending to but I know deep down this is affecting him as much as it’s affecting me. My hand fits perfectly inside of his like it’s made for him.

He leans over to whisper in my ear knowing Clara wouldn’t notice.

“Truth or dare.”

I look at him confused but play along.

“Truth,” I whisper back, and he grins.

“Would you let me kiss you?” He asks in a low soft voice that does something to me.

My breath hitches as I look into his dark eyes filled with curiosity and heat. Just like that our little spark turns into a burning fire.

I squeeze his hand as my eyes travel to his full lips. I look back at him and silently nod yes.

He smiles as he gets closer to my face thank goodness the room is dark but this is crazy.

“You wanna kiss me right now?” I whisper nervously, and he places a finger to my lips, his breath ghosts over my mouth.

“Do you trust me Cupcake?” He whispers over my lips now, and I couldn’t stop him if I tried, because of how much I want to kiss him back.

I nod, and then I feel his lips brush against mine so softly.

I inhale deeply as his lips pull away, and he places another more forceful kiss on my lips and I bite back a moan as he lingers it, and finally pulls away smirking.

“You know what’s funny Cupcake? Kissing you is like actually biting into a Cupcake. So soft, and sweet.”

I blush and smile at him.

“Careful Ace... I’m starting to see the romantic underneath all that bad boy.” He chuckles and shakes his head.

“Don’t tell anybody.”