Page 7 of Breaking the Limits

It’s been a couple of days since I’ve seen Ace. I had refused to give in and try to get in touch with him. When I pull up to the apartment I’m not too shocked to see Jaxx’s motorcycle parked behind Kenndrix’s car. It was a very long and hard night at work. Enzo wasn’t helping much either. I’m starting to worry that maybe I had used him too much the other night and gave him the wrong idea. He’s constantly flirting with me now. I’ve been trying to keep my distance from him but considering we work together, that’s a hard thing to accomplish.

Luckily, I was off the next couple of days. I have a photo shoot for a new lingerie line getting ready to launch the day after tomorrow. I get out of my car and slowly make my way to the door. Jaxx and Kenndrix are sitting on the couch watching some horror movie with pizza in front of them. It’s good to see Kenndrix so happy. As soon as she notices me she pushes pause on the movie, “Kynlee, you look exhausted.”

I sigh heavily while pulling my cowboy boots off, “I am.”

Kenndrix leans over and puts some pizza on a plate and brings it to me, “Here, eat something. You want to watch the rest of the movie with us?”

I shake my head, “No, I’m going to eat this, take a long hot bath, and then pass out.”

“Okay, you eat that and I’ll go get you the perfect bath going. I got these new bath salts in yesterday that are amazing! Like totally life changing!” she says, as she heads back toward the bathroom.

“Hey! I thought I was the life changing factor in your life?” Jaxx whines dramatically.

Kenndrix laughs but stops to press a quick kiss to his mouth before continuing toward the bathroom. Once I know Kenndrix was out of hearing range I tell Jaxx, “You’re good for her.”

Jaxx smiles, “She’s amazing. I’m not sure how she doesn’t see that.” I shrug while taking a bite of pizza.

“You know you’re good for him too,” I don’t have to ask in order to know that it’s Ace he’s talking about. I know Jaxx is one of his best friends but I’m not sure he’s right. If I’m good for Ace then why hasn’t he tried to contact me over the last couple of days? Quietly, I get up and head to my bedroom, Kenndrix knocks softly on my door. “You know Jaxx is right, you are good for him but I just think that scares him.”

“It doesn’t matter.”

Kenndrix crosses my room. “Do you care about him?” I sigh heavily. “Then don’t give up on him. I know you Kynlee, when you want something you don’t give up until you get it and you want, Ace. Go get him, Kynlee.”

“Thanks, Kenndrix.”

She hugs me quickly before heading for the door. Kenndrix stops and turns back around. “By the way, apparently Ace is pretty sick. Jaxx said he has a fever and everything so maybe that’s why he hasn’t called.”

“Maybe,” I reply quietly. I’m soaking in the bath when I remember my mom’s saying whenever me or my siblings were sick. “A little tender, love and care can go a long way. Fix the sick some soup and fluff their pillows and they’ll be well sooner.”My mom really did believe that and maybe she was right because none of us had ever been sick longer than three days. I get out of the bath and dress quickly. The apartment is quiet but I decide to go ahead and make my mom’s homemade chicken soup anyways.

A couple of hours later and one stop at the store, and I’m standing in front of Ace’s door. I have loaded up on all kindsof medicine and all the essential foods and drinks my mom has always swore by. I knock on the door and wait. I begin to worry that since it’s technically the middle of the night that maybe Ace is still asleep, but the door opens just as I’m going to leave. There Ace stands shirtless in a pair of shorts that are hanging off his hips. His hair is in disarray and his eyes look exhausted. “Kynlee?” he manages to croak out, he barely has a voice.

“I heard you were sick, so I brought you all the things my mom uses to call the essentials,” I explain to him.

Ace looks around outside for a moment. “Are you by yourself?”

I hesitate for a moment unsure of where this conversation is going. “Well, yeah…”

Ace reaches out and takes the bags from my hands while wrapping his other hand around my wrist, pulling me inside and shutting the door. After locking the multiple locks, he turns around to face me. “Are you crazy Kyn? It’s not safe for anyone to be out in this part of town at this time of night by themselves, especially you.”

He walks past me to his small kitchen where he starts unloading the sacks. His, “especially you” comment just pissed me off though. “What the hell do you mean; especially you?”

He sighs while running a hand over his face. “I mean that you know you’re beautiful and there are too many people who would want to take advantage of that, it’s not safe. Plus, you’re so tiny it wouldn’t be that hard for them to grab you.”

I lose a little of my steam after hearing his explanation, but I hate when people underestimate me. I’ve been underestimated my entire life and after a while it starts to get really annoying. “First of all, I’m a big girl and I can take care of myself. I have pepper spray in my pocket and a gun in my Jeep. Not to mention my daddy made damn sure I know how to fight. I may be tiny but I do not need anyone to take care of me.”

Ace studies me for a moment. “I know that, but it doesn’t mean that people don’t worry about you.”

I shrug because to be honest, aside from Kenndrix, I’m not sure anyone does worry about me. I wrap my arms around myself because I can feel that lonely cold start gnawing at my stomach. I hate this feeling, I’ve gotten pretty good at ignoring it but every now and then it sneaks up on me. Ace clears his throat. “Thank you for all this and the soup smells amazing.”

I give him a small smile. “It’s my mama’s recipe. Go lie down and I’ll heat you some and bring it to you.”

“You don’t have to do that Kynlee.”

I take the bowl from his hands. “I know but I want to. Everyone deserves to be taken care of when they’re sick.” I push him out of the kitchen and watch him as he walks away, every defined muscle of his back is moving. I fix a drink and some soup and grab a box of medicine before heading into his room. I notice how neat his apartment is along the way. Ace is laying on his back in a king size bed. I take in his room, it’s so unexpected. Above his king size bed is a monotone picture of a sports car on a race track. He has a small nightstand with a lamp and aStephen Kingbook on it. His walls are a darker shade of gray with posters of bands and cars on them. He has a bookcase full of music. From the looks of it though the cases are alphabetized, everything in here is just as neat and clean as it is in the other part of the apartment.

His room is different from what I expected. I feel like I might be behind enemy lines, like I’m seeing a part of Ace that hardly anyone has ever seen.

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