Prologue

I was six years old the day I met Ace.

I was on a cruise with my family in the Bahamas. Back then, it was just me, my mom, and my dad. Joe, my stepdad, and all the kids that came with him didn’t come until much later.

I remember being happy. So, so happy. It was the first vacation we had ever been on as a family, and my parents had saved up for a long time.

My parents and I were splashing around in the pool, laughing as we enjoyed ourselves. It was the summer they taught me how to swim.

Back home, they were always so busy, especially my dad. After school every day, I went straight to daycare and wouldn’t see them until late.

We spent weekends together, but I never had their full attention on me. Something always came up. Dad was definitely a workaholic, returning home late every night.

So, this vacation, with their undivided attention on me, was a dream come true.

My dad had just pulled me into his arms and was getting ready to toss me back into the water when Ace appeared next to us.

Dad paused, looking at the little boy who just stood there, staring at me, breathing deeply like he was having some sort of asthma attack or something.

Ace was always breathtaking, even as a child. There was something about him that drew you in, forcing you to stop and look.

He had short brown hair, tan skin, and piercing, dark-blue eyes—so dark that they almost seemed purple.

I remember being totally captivated by him. I felt as if he had hypnotized me and was unable to look away.

Without saying a word, Ace grabbed my arm and tugged me away from my father.

I was too transfixed to resist. It didn’t seem odd that this stranger was dragging me away from my parents without explanation. It almost felt natural—like he was meant to do it.

After his startling blue eyes, the next unusual thing I noticed about Ace was the sparks. Everywhere he touched me, I felt little pleasurable pops of electricity.

I looked down at our interlocked hands in confusion. How is he doing that? Does he have magical powers or something?  

“Um, excuse me, young man.” My father waded forward. He put a hand on my shoulder, pulling me a step back.

Still, Ace didn’t let go of me. In fact, his grip only tightened.

“Just what do you think you’re doing with my daughter?”

Ace’s eyes narrowed at my father, seeming to darken in color. “No,” he stated, his tone final.

Ace tugged me forward, forcing my father to release me. I went crashing into Ace’s chest, and he wrapped his arms around me and turned me away from my parents as if to shield me from them.

“Mine.”

That was the first of many, many times I would hear Ace call me his.

My father’s brow furrowed, and I could tell he had no idea what was going on.

I should have felt worried, too, but I didn’t. I was too taken by the boy in front of me.

Putting my cheek against his shoulder, I wanted to feel the sparks on my face. I giggled when they danced along my skin. They felt funny.

Ace looked down at me. Some emotion I couldn’t quite make out shone in his eyes.

Two people I didn’t recognize put themselves in front of Ace and me, stepping up to my parents. I would learn later that they were Ace’s mom and dad.

They started speaking with my parents, holding their hands out in front of themselves when my mom tried to step around them to get to me.

As hard as I tried to make out what they were saying, there was too much noise around us for me to hear anything. It seemed serious, whatever it was.

Ace ignored them, took my hand in his again, and started to drag me away.

“Hey,” I said to him. I looked down at our hands. The sparks were getting stronger, spreading a strange but pleasant warmth through my body. “How do you do that?”

I tried raising our hands to my face to inspect them, but Ace wasn’t having it.

He tightened his grip. “Don’t pull away from me.”

I swallowed. “I wasn’t. I just wanted to know why your skin is electrocuting me.”

We were on the other side of the pool now, far away from most people. He stopped and turned to look at me, never releasing my hand.

“It’s because you’re mine,” he said as if it were the most obvious explanation in the world.

My brows knit together. “Uh, what do you mean?”

He stared at me in response.

“Um, okay, I think I’ll go back to my parents now,” I murmured.

The words tasted bad coming out of my mouth. I didn’t actually want to go back to my parents but I didn’t know what else to do in the situation.

I glanced back at my mom and dad. They were still talking to the two strangers.

“No,” Ace said again. “You’re going to stay right here. With me.”

I blinked. “Did you want to play or something?”

Once again, Ace didn’t respond. He was too busy studying me.

Okay…

“What’s your name?” I asked instead.

“Ace Stoll.”

I smiled. I was finally getting somewhere with the dude. “I’m Dorothy! But everybody calls me Doe.”

For the first time, Ace’s scowl disappeared, and a small smile formed on his lips.

“My Doe.”

I gave him a funny look. “Why do you keep calling me yours?”

“Because you are mine.”  

***

That vacation soon became the Ace-and-Doe vacation. We spent every second together, playing, running around, and swimming in the pool.

Our parents were always nearby and usually chatting, although I never knew about what.

I remember seeing my parents’ concerned expressions but never paid much mind to them. Why would they choose to sit and talk when there was so much fun to be had? Adults were weird.

I liked being around Ace. He didn’t talk a whole lot, but we still had fun. I loved it when I made him smile or laugh. I could chat his ear off for hours, and he would sit and listen, engrossed in every word.

Later, I would hear my mother say we balanced each other out, and I couldn’t help but agree.

He was calm and quiet, while I was hyper and loud. He thought through his every move, while I was spontaneous and constantly in need of someone to hold me back from doing stupid crap.

We mixed well together.

I finally had someone who understood me. He made me feel special and seen after years of growing up with somewhat absent parents.

After a while, I got used to the weird sparks I felt whenever I touched him. They never hurt. In fact, they felt surprisingly pleasant, so I liked it when he’d hold my hand as we walked around the ship.

My parents didn’t seem to mind all the time Ace and I spent together, despite this being a family vacation. It only became an issue at night when Ace refused to leave my side to go to sleep.

To fix this problem, his parents suggested we be allowed to sleep in the same room, like a sleepover. I loved the idea, but my parents were against it.

When my father tried to take me back to my room, Ace shoved me behind him and bared his teeth.

And then Ace bit him.

I still remember my father’s shocked face as he snatched his hand back and looked down at the angry red mark left there.

Unsurprisingly, Ace got his way. Even as a six-year-old, he was incredibly intimidating.

Ace slept in my family’s room that night, sharing the second queen-size bed with me. He did the same the next night…and the night after that.

In the end, we didn’t spend a single minute away from each other during the entire cruise, except for when one of us had to go to the bathroom or take a shower.

As weird as the whole situation was—and I knew it was weird, even as a kid—I was secretly happy. I really liked my new friend. I really liked being with him.  

My parents spent a lot of time talking to his parents during the vacation. I remember watching them one afternoon while Ace and I did arts and crafts on the pool deck while our parents sat at a table nearby.

I was pretty sure I saw my mom start to cry over something Ace’s dad said.

Ace put his hand on my shoulder, drawing my attention back to him. “I have a huge pool at my house that you’ll really like when you come over.”

“But you live in Colorado.”

“Yes.”

“I live in Massachusetts.” I suddenly felt sad. “My mom said we live super far away from each other and that I would have to take a plane to visit you. That would take, like, a billion hours.”

A shadow passed over his face. “My dad said you’re going to move into a house near mine. After our vacation, you’re going to come back to Colorado with me so we can stay friends forever.”

I frowned. I loved the idea of staying friends with Ace, but I couldn’t tell if he was being serious about me moving near him.

“Doe,” my mom said from behind me.

I swerved around. She had her arms crossed over her chest, and her face was puffy from crying. My father was beside her, wearing a frown.

“Come on. Let’s go back to our room.”

I stood. “Can Ace come?”

“I’m coming.” Ace jumped out of his chair and took his place at my side.

“No, we’re going to go talk on our own,” my father responded. His tone left no room for arguments.

A strange growling sound came from next to me. I turned to see what had made the noise and saw that Ace’s dad stepped up behind him and put his hands on his shoulders.

“Calm,” his father said in a soothing tone. “Take some deep breaths.”

Ace was baring his teeth, and his fists were curled into balls at his sides as he glowered at my father. I took a step back.

“You’re scaring Dorothy, Ace,” his father continued, squeezing his shoulders.

Ace’s dark eyes snapped to mine. Perhaps noticing my scared expression, he finally did as his father asked. He sucked in a deep breath, and I thought I saw the tension leaving his body.

“You’ve got about half an hour,” Ace’s dad said to my parents. “We can’t keep them away from each other for too long after just meeting. My son is already upset as it is.”

My dad nodded. He eyed Ace warily as he pulled me and my mom toward the exit.

They took me back to our room and sat me down on the edge of my bed before taking a seat across from me.

“What’s going on? Why is mom crying?” I asked.

My parents exchanged glances.

“We wanted to know how you’ve been feeling,” my dad said. “Are you having a good vacation?”

I bobbed my head up and down enthusiastically. “Yeah, it’s been really fun. We should go on a cruise for our next vacation too!”

“And have you enjoyed hanging out with Ace? You…like him?” my mom asked.

A warm sensation filled my chest at the mention of my new friend. “I really like him. He’s my new best friend. I wish we went to school together.”

They looked at each other once again.

“Do we really have to go home tomorrow?” I asked, thinking about having to say goodbye to Ace. “Can’t we stay for a few more days?”

My dad let out a long breath. “Actually, you and your mom aren’t going to go home to Massachusetts just yet. You’re going to go with the Stolls to Colorado.”

I jerked back in surprise. Ace had said the same thing! “Why?”

My mom knelt in front of me, taking my hands in hers. “It’s a little hard to explain.

We… Well, we… You see, you and Ace—”

Before she could finish, Dad grunted and shook his head at her.

My mom pursed her lips. “We’ll explain it later, sweetheart, once we have more information.

“But I promise you, this is all for the best. You’ll like Colorado. There are mountains there, and they get a lot of snow in the winter—”

“What about school?” I interrupted. I didn’t care about mountains or snow. I loved school and didn’t want to leave my friends.

“You’re going to go to a new school in Colorado. A really good one.”

“But I don’t want to go to a new school!” Tears of frustration began to burn in my eyes.

“I know, honey.” My mom squeezed my hand. “But you’ll like your new school.

“What about my friends? What about Marta?”

My dad knelt as well. “You’ll make new friends. And you can still call Marta any time you want. Maybe she can even come visit.”

“And you’ll have Ace,” my mom added. Her smile didn’t quite reach her eyes. “You’ll be at the same school as him and in the same class. We’ve got it all planned out.”

I sniffled. “Really?” My chest loosened a bit.

“Yep,” my mom confirmed. “We saw how much the two of you got along and thought you might like to live near each other. How does that sound?”

It sounded good. Really good, actually. I liked Ace more than any of my other friends from back home.  

“Can I go tell him?” I was weirdly desperate to see him again.

Without waiting for them to respond, I stood and walked to the door.

Unsurprisingly, I found Ace waiting on the other side. He looked tense, and his eyes were still a scary black color.

“Guess what!” I exclaimed. “You were right! I’m moving to Colorado!”

And just like that, Ace’s lips turned up into a contagious smile.

The next day, the rest of my life began: the part spent with Ace by my side.