Page 12 of Evading Exodus
“Fine… No, it’s fine. I’ll meet you there… At least an hour. We’re almost done here, but I’ve got to drop Darren back at home.”
Obviously Seth—he would have used ‘Dare’ if it had been Jake, Terry, Finn or someone from work. My lips twitched thinking about my new nickname. It wasn’t Dar-short-for-Darren; it was Dare with the “e” added. I leaned against the wall, my hands behind me, and waited for him to finish.
“Stop… Seth. Seth!” Ace started pacing. When he could go no further, he turned and, seeing me standing there, he stopped dead in his tracks. One side of his mouth quirked, a rueful glaze to his eyes.
“I’ll see you in an hour. Right. Bye.” He ended the call and came to stand in front of me. “Sorry.”
I shook my head. “Again with the apologies, Ace. Not your fault.”
“I know, I know.” He cupped my cheeks with his hands. “Still, I feel bad. I’m gonna meet them at the park in an hour, so we’ve got about thirty minutes before we need to go.”
“That’s fine. I’ve got things to do at home.” Ace searched my face for as if looking for hidden untruths. Finding none—I’d hidden them well—he nodded, then kissed me.
“Thank you. Let’s go tell Mom and Dad.” He grabbed my hand and led me back to the kitchen.
Chapter 7: Anger Issues
(The Seventh Plague: Hail)
I spent the rest of Saturday puttering around the apartment. I went food shopping, exhausted myself with a solid hour of cleaning the kitchen, and ditched most of the open boxes of yeast-containing products. Gathering all the unopened packages, I put them in a bag to donate to the food shelter.Mom will be so proud of me.
I knew better than to discard the beer—Ace would take me to task. Instead, I moved it all to one shelf, pushing it as far back as I could. Reminding myself about Ace and dinner, I pulled two to the front. His call an hour later had me returning them to their rear position. Dinner for one tonight, an empty spot in my bed, andJoy!lunch with my ex tomorrow.
Why couldn’t Passover have come early this year?I whined to myself as I picked up my phone and ordered a small portion of spaghetti and garlic bread from T.J.’s.
? ? ? ?
After tossing and turning for most of the night, I eventually fell asleep sitting up with my tablet in my lap.
The music was dialed low, the lights dimmed, and Ace and I were slow dancing in his living room. Seth walked in and growled. Ace turned to look, and when he saw Seth, he turned away from me and strode right into Seth’s arms...
I jolted awake from a nightmare, hearing one of my neighbors oh so inconsiderately gunning their engine. Glancing at the clock on my nightstand, sent a bolt of pain across my shoulders and neck. It was late into the morning, and since I was wide awake from the pain, I threw back the covers and headed for the shower.
“Fuck you, Seth!” I muttered, my neck aching and my head pounding. Migraines were a bitch, and my anger that Seth was screwing with me a whole ’nother way, wasn’t helping.
Letting the hot water beat down on my neck, I hoped it would loosen the muscles. In an effort to also alleviate the pressure behind my eyes, I pinched the bridge of my nose and rubbed my temples. When those efforts didn’t work, I cupped my hands and collected the hot water, sinking my face into it, before letting it run through my fingers with a groan.
Belatedly, I remembered I was meeting Ace—and Seth—for lunch. I quickly washed, still not sure how Ace convinced me to meet with my ex. There was probably some mention of an apology, but I wasn’t holding my breath. The Seth I knew was not the one Ace did. Pushing down my growing ire, I picked up my razor. Wouldn’t do to let my simmering rage cause me to cut myself; I wanted to look good for my man, and if I made Seth jealous in the process,oh well…
After a final rinse, I turned off the water and, sliding the door open to grab my towel, fell back, startled. Ace was leaning against the sink, gripping the edge of the counter. His eyes raked up and down my body.
“Damn it, Ace. Really?” I grabbed one towel and wrapped it around my waist, before snagging a second for my wet hair.
“Yup.” He stepped closer and removed my hands from the towel on my head. Placing his own there, he gently dried my hair and then let the towel fall to circle my neck before using it to pull me in for a kiss. “Mmm… You smell good.”
“I hope so,” I huffed, pushing him back so I could step out. “What are you doing here?”
He resumed his prior stance, moving a little farther down the counter so I could have the space in front of the sink.
“I, uh…” His head hung sheepishly. “I texted you this morning, but you never replied. Thought you might be mad at me.”
I stared at him. Three times now, he’d surprised me with his uncertainty. Almost overnight, I’d gone from the more submissive partner to the more dominant one. Now I had to step up to the mound and be the captain our little team of two needed. Catching Ace’s frown in the mirror brought me back to the question at hand.Was I mad at him?No. No, I wasn’t.
“I’m not mad at you, Ace. I’m upset over this situation.Thisshould be a good time for us, me meeting your family. Instead, I’m going to be…” I gazed at my reflection, noted my spiked hair and finger-combed it into some semblance of order while I thought about what I wanted to say. “I don’t know. Self-conscious? Anxious? And, every time I see Seth, pissed off. I highly doubt this lunch is going to fix anything, but I’m going because you asked me to.” Ace stood in grim profile, his arms crossed over his chest as he looked at me. “I was angry for a long time at him, and because he made me miserable, I quit a job I liked. I hate that it’s getting dredged up again. It’s hard to let that kind of anger go.”
“I get it.” Ace sighed, circling behind me, and placing his hands on my hips. He met my gaze in the mirror as he peeked over my shoulder. “I’m glad you’re not mad at me. Although,” —he pressed a kiss to my back— “the thought of make-up sex…”
“Yeah?”
