Total pages in book: 139
Estimated words: 133655 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 668(@200wpm)___ 535(@250wpm)___ 446(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 133655 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 668(@200wpm)___ 535(@250wpm)___ 446(@300wpm)
I snort and start typing.
Me: Girl, what didn’t Ace get me. My morning started with, like, twenty-seven presents exploding out of my room the second I woke up.
Me: Then breakfast in bed. Waffles. Heart-shaped. Fruit arranged into a smiley face.
Me: And then. THEN. He opened the window to a live band.
Scottie: A live band???
Me: Yes. A live band. Outside my window on the freaking sidewalk performing an acoustic version of the entirety of Taylor Swift’s Midnights album.
Scottie: Holy shit.
Me: I KNOW. My boyfriend is nuts in the best way. I’m supposed to go to dinner at my parents’ tonight, but he left twenty minutes ago to “run an errand” and wouldn’t say what the errand entails. I’m a little terrified I’m going to walk into my kitchen to a mariachi band or a freaking Broadway play.
Scottie: I wish I could say that wasn’t possible, but this is Ace Kelly we’re talking about.
Scottie: But also, I’d pay actual money to see a mariachi band in your kitchen.
I grin down at my phone, the warmth of it radiating through my whole body. I’m nineteen
today, and I feel spoiled in the best ways. Loved. Lucky. So damn happy.
Me: Okay, but for real, how are you doing today?
Scottie: Honestly? Pretty good. I had PT this morning, and my therapist said I’m healing ahead of schedule. I’m still sore and tired, but it’s a good kind of sore. First time I’ve felt like myself since surgery. And I was even able to wiggle my toes this morning.
Me: Holy shit, Scottie! That’s incredible. God, I’m so proud of you. You’re a superhero, girl.
Scottie: Yeah. Yeah. All I need is a cape. LOL.
Me: Don’t even tempt me. LOL.
I’m still smiling down at the screen when I hear the front door creak open.
“Evie?” I call out, assuming my little sister has arrived uninvited again to loot my closet or complain about Heather Donovan.
No answer.
Then I feel arms around my waist.
“It’s me, Lia,” Ace whispers, his voice low and warm in my ear.
I suck in a breath. “You have got to stop sneaking in like that.”
He presses a kiss to my cheek. “Don’t scream. And don’t fight me.”
“What? Ace, what are you—”
He slides a blindfold over my eyes before I can finish.
I start to laugh, but my heart is racing. “Are you serious right now?”
“Dead serious.”
“You’re kidnapping me?”
“Technically,” he murmurs, “yes.”
“Because that’s totally normal behavior on someone’s birthday.”
“Just trust me, Lia.”
“Trust you to kidnap me?”
“Yeah. Actually.”
I sigh like I’m annoyed, but I go willingly because it’s Ace.
The car ride is short, but long enough for me to spiral.
“Where are we going?”
“Is there going to be a crowd?”
“Oh my God! I’m still in my pajamas, Ace! Do I look okay?”
Those are only a few of the random questions I practically screamed at Ace when my brain started to overthink the whole “just trust me to kidnap you” thing.
By the time we come to a stop, Ace helps me out of the car and guides me forward, one hand on the small of my back, the other laced through my fingers.
A door opens, and warm air brushes my skin. It smells like citrus and candles. Somewhere, soft music is playing.
Then, footsteps and whispers.
“Seriously,” I whisper. “What is this?”
Ace doesn’t answer. He pulls off the blindfold.
I blink. And then gasp.
We’re standing in a cavernous room that is composed of tall stone walls, golden candlelight flickering everywhere, and in the center, draped in black velvet, is a Double C crest the size of a table.
And surrounding us are cloaked figures in a semicircle.
“Oh my God,” I whisper. “Are you making me join a cult on my birthday?”
One of the cloaked figures pulls their hood back, and Cassie Kelly’s face comes into view. “Not a cult, Julia,” she says with a big grin on her face. “But a secret society.” She winks and my jaw drops.
“Wait…you’re a part of Double C?”
Cassie’s smile grows. “You bet your cute ass, I am. And its technical name is Computare Caterva. Remember that, you’re going to need to know it.”
I look at Ace, and he simply grins down at me. “Julia Brooks, as the current sitting president of Computare Caterva, it is my honor to offer you an official initiation to be vice president.”
“You’re joking,” I say with big, shocked eyes.
Ace shakes his head and leans down to press a kiss to my lips. “So…what do you say, VP? Want to run the world with me?”
I grab the center of his cloak and pull him back toward me to kiss him hard. “Hell yes, I do.”
“Happy Birthday, Lia,” he says, and I kiss him with the power of every kiss we’ve missed out on until now.
Man, Ace Kelly sure knows how to make all this girl’s dreams come true.
Wednesday, December 24th
Ace
There’s something about the smell of a real Christmas tree that makes you feel like a kid again.