Secret Admirer - D.J. Jamison Page 0,21
hands were all tangled. It’d be super awkward for him to try to run now.
I started to chuckle, amused by my ridiculous thoughts. Ace jiggled my hand. “What?”
I didn’t answer immediately, caught between amusement and embarrassment. He squeezed my hand. “Benji?”
I had never realized there was a whole language to handholding, but Ace seemed to be fluent in it. He conveyed a lot through that gentle squeeze. I realized I was safe with Ace — always.
“I was just remembering the last time I tried to have a date at this theater.”
“Oh.” His brow creased. “But then why are you laughing? Or is this like a laugh-instead-of-cry situation?”
God, he was cute. He sounded so worried, and so … earnest? For once, I didn’t doubt he cared about me. Maybe it wasn’t how I wanted, but I wasn’t just a favor to my brother either. Ace was really my friend.
“Kinda, but really, I was just thinking that it’d be pretty hard for you to ditch me,” I said, raising our joined hands for emphasis.
“I’d never ditch you.”
“No, I know. It was dumb.”
He tugged me closer, then released my hand to throw an arm over my shoulder. “Nah. It sucks, being stood up.”
I snorted. “Like you’d know.”
He glanced down at me. “Excuse me?”
“No one would ever stand up Ace Collins.” I said it teasingly, but I one hundred percent believed it. Ace was one of those golden people: gorgeous, smart, likable. He would always have people who wanted to be near him just to bask in his coolness.
He snorted. “I’m glad you think so highly of me.”
“Everyone thinks highly of you.”
“Not Jessica Walters.”
My stomach clenched. I was almost afraid to ask. I knew Ace couldn’t be mine, but the thought of him in love with someone…
“Senior year of high school. Don’t you remember how your brother and I went stag to the prom?”
“Yeah. He just said you guys were tired of high school girls. Ready for college women.”
Ace chuckled. “That’s Jeremy. Always putting a positive spin on it. If he wasn’t going into finance, he’d be perfect for politics.”
I groaned theatrically. “Don’t tell him that. He’s too ambitious already.”
Ace nodded. “Truth.”
“So … I’m guessing you didn’t go stag for that reason?”
“Nope.” He popped the P. “Jeremy did me a solid by being my wingman after Jessica Walters bailed on me. He’d planned to skip the dance altogether because his love life was in the tank after a nasty breakup, but he already had the tux, so…”
“Jeremy’s a good guy,” I said, because it was true. My brother could be ambitious, a control freak, overprotective … and more than a little annoying to a little brother always left in his shadow, but he had a good heart.
“Yeah,” Ace said. “It wasn’t the same as being stood up the night of prom. I didn’t get left waiting for her, but … she canceled the same day. No way I could have gotten another date.”
The theater was lit up, its marquee spelling out “Rocky Horror Picture Show.” We paused out front, a few feet from the ticket window.
“Prom is a big deal,” I said, even though I’d never gone. “That’s worse than a random date. I mean, you spent money on a tux and stuff.”
“Yeah.”
“Why did she cancel?”
I knew now that Kaleb was just afraid to face his sexuality — and had probably used me a little for help with his art project. That knowledge didn’t feel great, but I didn’t think he’d set out to be malicious. He was afraid, not mean, and that made it easier to forgive. But I couldn’t imagine why a high school girl would have ditched Ace like that. He was like … a high school girl’s dream come true, surely. At least, he’d been a high school gay boy’s wet dream.
“She got back together with her ex.”
There was something he wasn’t saying. “And?”
He smiled wryly. “He had the money to rent a limo, and I drove a clunker. Lived in a trailer park.”
“So you were the bad boy from the wrong side of town?” I joked.
His smile grew tight. “Something like that.”
I turned for a better look at his face. This clearly still bothered him, and it was a revelation to see that even a guy like Ace didn’t live a charmed life. Of course, I’d known he didn’t have the best family life, but I’d assumed everything else went his way. After all, he was Ace. Anyone would be an idiot to pass him by.
“I thought girls were