Ache For You Novels & Stories

“Dylan Shea, why are you throwing a tantrum for this time? I just scolded you a bit earlier today, but it was your fault to begin with!” I glanced at her. “I’m not in the habit of accepting other people’s leftovers.” Nia was a smart woman, so she knew what I meant. Even so, she huffed indignantly, “Who said this was a leftover? The packaging’s just a little damaged. You’re such a pain!” The next second, though, her phone rang with a text notification, and she could not suppress her smile. Even her tone was much gentler. “You’re always overthinking. Fine, I’ll get you another gift later. Happy now?”

With a dull thud, my knees hit the floor. Ace picks up a black suede box from the small table next to him. “I have a present for you.” He opens the box and turns it to me. The interior is lined with a red velvety fabric. In the middle isn’t a piece of shiny jewelry. I see… A leather collar. Or is it a choker? I squint at it carefully. There’s a ring on it with a dangling pendant. The pendant is the alphabet… A I look at him. “What’s this?”

It's partey afta partey. Ace chuckled as he pictured Mike doing his famous shoulder dance. "I don't think I can make it tonight man," Ace rubbed his temples with a grimace. "Yo! Hold on, I must be talking to the wrong person," there was a pause and then his voice, "This sure is Ace the fountain of shishi*, the god of pounds, dollars, and francs," he hailed.

⁠ I read that sentence a‌gain. Then I rea⁠ch‍ed‍ the final page. ‌ “I ca​n‌not u​ndo the d‌ama​ge I c​aused. I canno​t giv‌e‍‌ y‌​ou⁠ ba‌c‍k th‌e years I took fro‍m​ y‍ou or erase the f​ear I p​laced between you a‍nd​‍ the peo‍​ple you lo⁠ved. But there​ is one thi​ng I can f⁠i​nally give you. Per​mission.⁠”

We lay there in silence, the only sound our breathing slowly returning to normal. "I forgive you," Ace whispered, his voice barely audible. "But it's going to take time."

I glared tenderly into his eyes for a moment, before planting a kiss on his cheek and sending him away. I reached for my phone and opened it. —---------------------------------------------- Ace's POV My phone beeped, interfering with my imagination. Agitatedly, I rubbed my hair, and picked it up to my face. “Oh!” I whispered, my eyebrows arched and my mouth rolled to a curl. “You’ll get what you want, sister!” I rejoiced.

* ° ° ° Their dinner went well, the four of them even decided to have a friend chat after dinner. Actually Rain wanted to tell him about his relationship with Catherine but the girl forbade him and said this was not the right time. As a good boyfriend, Anderson did what Catherine wanted. "No wonder Kyle loves you so much, you're package A, Jessy." Package A, hearing that Jessy and Catherine felt confused. "What do you mean package A? I'm not food, don't call me that." Seeing Jessy misunderstood, Rain gave an explanation for what he said. "Package A means Perfect, you deserve that call, Jessy.*

CHASE “What happened to your face, bro?” Alec snickers as he climbs out of his truck, taking in the state of my still-reddened mug. The blisters have already healed, but some evidence of the coffee assault remains, my shifter healing working overtime to repair the damage. “Don’t go there,” Cal chuckles, shooting me a smug smirk as he slides out of the back seat of my Ford Raptor, parked alongside Alec and Dare’s truck at the lodge. He reaches back in to grab our bags of snowboard gear, hauling them out. “He got into it with his girl this morning and he’s still salty as fuck.”

The next thing I see is mom rushing towards me with a hot bagel in her hand, I smile "thanks mom, I love you" She brushes her hand down my face "I love you too baby boy", "Oh hey can I get a lift?" Jerry says rushing out the kitchen with his mouth stuffed full of bagels, I roll my eyes "yeah if you hurry, where's christie, does she want a lift too? "Naaaa she left ages ago with grace so it's just us bro" "Oh good lord, please don't ever call me broor I may make you walk," I say heading to the door whilst mom headed back to the kitchen laughing.

She asked puzzled. “Yes. Pierre called me insulting me for being so insensitive the day we took you to the mall. I must have spent a few minutes in a pharmacy and bought the personal hygiene products you needed. You have to understand that, even though I grew up surrounded with women, these issues are atypical of my person,” I said honestly, “I'm sorry for the accident you had with the sheets that morning.”