Cursive - By Phoebe Lane Page 0,39

you? What have you been running from?"

Aislynn shook her head gently, letting him know she wasn't ready to go there. This time, it was Jace who gave her a moment to process things. He held her, and Aislynn focused on matching her breathing to his.

"Didn't you date another woman after Chloe? Please tell me the same thing didn't happen with her, or I might have to go and commit double murder."

"Not tonight," Jace said. "Let's take one story at a time."

One story at a time. Deal.

"That's fair," she said, jumping down from the countertop, and leading him by the hand to her bedroom. "Come on, we both need sleep."

Once inside her bedroom, Aislynn stood in front of him and slowly unbuttoned his shirt and pants. She motioned for him to sit down on the bed while she took his shoes and clothes off, laying everything down over the armrest of her chair. She stood in front of the bed, her back to him, while he lowered her zipper. Her dress fell to the floor, revealing the white lace half-corset and matching panties she had on underneath.

Neither one of them made an attempt to take things further. They just held each other, Jace resting his head on her abdomen and letting his arms wrap around her waist. Aislynn fell asleep running her fingers through his hair, while still working on her deals with God.

Jace woke up to find Aislynn's side of the bed cold and empty. He tried to listen for sounds coming from the bathroom or the kitchen, but heard nothing. He stretched in bed, and thought about her and how good it had felt to hold her last night. It felt even better to realize that she had let him do it while knowing his secret.

He was still very concerned about her, though. There was something major in her past that haunted her. She hadn't been receptive to his questions last night, but he knew it had to be addressed soon.

He walked out of the room, still half asleep, looking for Aislynn and some much needed coffee. He poured himself a cup of the God-awful drip coffee that was in the pot, and then turned around to find Aislynn and Ellie sitting in the living room, staring at him in awe.

"Morning, sunshine. Karma's a bitch, you know," Aislynn said with a big, almost smug smile, which confused him.

"Nice boxer briefs," Ellie added, taking a sip of her coffee.

"Oh, crap!" Jace said, realizing he had walked out half naked, and finally understanding Aislynn's reference to the first time they'd met.

Before he could turn around, he heard a deep voice in his right ear. "Nice legs," Evan said.

"What the—" Jace jumped up, startled.

"It would've been funnier if you'd said ass," Ellie quipped.

"You! Stay away from my ass!" he said, pointing his finger at Evan, and rushing to Aislynn's room to get dressed.

"Hey, Jace, want to go out for breakfast?" Evan yelled at him from the living room a few minutes later.

"As long as we go somewhere with decent coffee, not this piece of crap, I'm down," he said, walking back into the room and pouring his coffee down the sink.

"Ugh! You're a coffee snob too? It figures," Ellie said with a roll of her eyes.

"I heard that!" Aislynn yelled from the hallway bathroom, where she had just gone to fix her hair.

Jace wasn't sure how much Aislynn had shared with Ellie about what had happened the night before, or his story. Ellie had looked pretty pissed before she'd left the party with Evan, but she seemed fine now.

"Hey, Cindy Lauper," Jace quipped as he sat down next to Ellie on the couch.

"That one’s actually new. Clever," she said, running a hand through her ever changing hair.

"So, about last night…are we good?" Even though he didn't necessarily feel like he owed Ellie an explanation, he wanted to clear up the air between them. He could understand she was just watching out for her best friend.

"You fixed it, so yeah, we're good," she said with a soft smile. "She told me about what happened to you. I don't know if this is the right sentiment, but I'm sorry you had to go through something like that."

"Thanks." By the expression on her face, he could sense she had something else to say. "But there's more?"

"Be careful with her, Jace," she said, lowering her voice. "She's been through a lot. She will put up a strong front, make it seem like she's okay, but this