Page 3 of Untouchable

“It was magic. Summer in Florida is so much more breathable than summer in Tennessee. It’s fucking humid here and I hate it. My skin hates it. My hair hates it…”

“Well… You look hot, all sunkissed and only mildly sweaty.” She flicks a strand of my hair over my shoulder, and I roll my eyes.

“Always Little Miss Sunshine,” I tease.

“Always Little Miss Rain Cloud.”

We slide onto our barstools, and my head falls back. “Ugh, I would kill to see some rain right about now.”

“Careful what you wish for, when it rains it fucking pours around here.”

“Hi, Max.” I smile as the bar owner slides two coasters onto the bar top in front of us.

“Hey, ladies. What’ll it be?”

My answer is instant. “Malibu and Diet Coke.”

“Whiskey for me,” Tabitha chimes in. Max nods and goes to make our drinks, prompting Tabs to turn on her barstool to face me.

“How was the clubhouse?” she asks with a brow raised at me.

“Same ole, same ole. Dad seemed pleasantly surprised to see me, but the meeting was boring as hell today. Mikey was trying to take me to a strip club, two outsiders were let in, and Ace, per usual, looked right through me.”

“Idiot.” I practically snort at her comment. “I don’t understand why he’s like that. Weren’t you guys friends back in the day?”

“When I was eleven and had an embarrassingly huge secret crush on him? Yeah, sure. But a lot of time has passed and things have changed.” As if the universe has some sort of sick humor, Ace, Mikey, and Bodine come walking through the door. “One Malibu and Diet Coke, and one whiskey for the ladies, and I’m having the kitchen whip you up some fries. On the house.”

“My hero.” I hold my drink up to him, and he scoffs. I’ve learned that a scoff is basically Max’s version of a laugh. We’ve been coming here since the place opened, and Max practically became like family to the club. Only lacking the axes on his back to make it known to the public. I see another guy come through the door from the kitchen a moment later. He’s a lot bigger than Max and looks about ten times grumpier.

“What can I get you?” he asks Ace and the guys. Ace’s eyes widen as he looks the guy over.

“Damn dude. You a big bitch.” I almost choke on my drink trying to hold in my laughter, but the guy lets a small smile slip.

“Never heard that one before. What can I get you guys?”

“Corona. We’ll take the bucket at the tables.” Ace nods to the empty pool tables on the other end of the room from where Tabitha and I sit. I look over at her, hoping I didn’t tune her out to eavesdrop on another conversation. My worries are demolished when I see she’s simply staring at me with a knowing look on her face.

“Shut up,” I say, tipping my glass back to take a long pull of my drink.

“I didn’t say anything!” Her voice catches the attention of the man I was sure only ever lookedthroughme. His eyes meet mine, and I’m embarrassed by the way my stomach flips from such a simple glance. There’s no expression behind it, not a wink, no smirk, or even a nod of acknowledgement. Just a glance from a pair of dark brown eyes that have my cheeks flaming. Then he turns around and goes to the pool tables withthe guys. My feelings toward Ace are complicated, to say the least. I had this huge crush on him when we were kids, but then he went away. We never had any contact, I never found him on social media, and eventually life went on. Even though I stopped looking for him online, I never was able to forget about him. He was one of the only friends I had growing up, and of all the memories I have of my childhood, Ace is in every single one.

When he showed back up, I realized he was a complete stranger to me now. No longer the bright-eyed, ambitious Ace I once knew, but a broken, closed off version that I don’t quite know how to handle. With walls so high I fear even the stars themself can’t see over them.

We stay at the bar long enough for Tabs to order two more drinks, talking about how insane work is and how she’s contemplating doing something else with her life, and through it all, I never see him look this way again.

How am I so easy to ignore? At the very least why is henot?

“Well, you didn’t go through all that schooling just to drop out during the intern year. Stick it out, babe. I know you can do it.” She fake pouts at my encouragement, laying her head on the bartop before snapping back up.

“Come on. Let’s get out of here.” Tabitha grabs my hand and pulls me with her towards the door, running me into a table on the way out, making me burst into laughter.

“Lightweight,” I tease her under my breath. She lets out a giggle and shushes me. She’s not as much alightweightas she is the clumsiest human being I’ve ever met. I never drink enough to be impaired when I’m driving, so nine times out of ten, I’m the designated driver while she gets her buzzed, clumsy giggle on. I prefer it that way though, even over having someone else drive us or ordering a car. It’s the one controlling feature I can’t seem to conquer.

“Watch your head.” I jokingly guide Tabitha inside the car as I shut the passenger door behind her. Before I can even step back onto the sidewalk, I feel a hand on my arm, and I’m being spun around. My breath escapes me when I see Ace’s eyes on me.

“How much did you drink tonight?” I scramble to get my brain working again after registering the first six words he’s spoken to me inyears.

“What?” He takes another step towards me, invading what little personal space I had left.

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