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)
Having been gone with my parents for the last few days, I’d normally be worried about getting together to download all the tea I’ve missed and to hear stories of the antics Ace has gotten into without me, but this isn’t any normal welcome home. This came with a housewarming gift from my nightmares.
Me: You’d better turn around right now, then. You killed Luna!
Ace: What are you talking about? Gary can’t turn around I’m on the bridge
Me: My PLANT, Ace. The PEACE LILY I trusted you with. She’s DEAD
Ace: Oh yesterday She was looking kinda dry So I gave her a top off or 2. Did she not like that
Ace makes a job out of not using proper grammar or punctuation when he texts me, and at first, I tried to fix it—which was both a thankless and fruitless endeavor. Now, I find it endearing because it’s weirdly him—like he gets too excited to think it all the way through before hitting send. But today, it’s annoying again. Maybe one day, when he has to get an actual job, he’ll introduce himself to more than the occasional comma and period, but for now, they are rare acquaintances and almost never used correctly.
Me: TOP OFF OR TWO?? SHE’S A PLANT, NOT A TOYOTA CAMRY. I TOLD YOU NOT TO OVERWATER
I don’t hear back from him again, so I settle for cursing his name as I unpack all the stuff I brought on my trip to the Catskills with my parents and sister Evie.
Butt-munching, plant-abusing, psychopathic waterer…
It takes much longer than it should because, I swear, I am the queen of overpacking. Only two nights at our getaway cabin that already has everything I need, and I still managed to drag an extra fifteen pairs of underwear and four entire outfits that never saw the light of day.
By the time I have everything put away, there’s a knock on my bedroom door, and despite my better judgment, I answer it.
Ace, slightly out of breath and holding a Whole Foods bag in his hand, stands on the other side of the threshold.
I cross my arms. “Well, look who it is. The murderer.”
“I’m sorry, Julia. And before you yell,” Ace says, “I come bearing peace. And possibly Luna 2.0.”
“You killed my baby,” I seethe.
“I know. I didn’t mean to. I swear. But…” He pauses, reaches into the bag, and pulls out a tiny pothos in a pink ceramic pot. A starter plant. “I Googled ‘low-stakes forgiveness plant,’ and this was the top result.” He lifts it higher. “Pothos. Practically unkillable. Like your ability to hold grudges against me.”
“I’m feeling very grudge-y right now.” I glare at him. “You flooded my baby girl to an early grave.”
“I thought she was thirsty!” he exclaims. “And Jersey isn’t exactly a hop, skip, and a jump from Manhattan, you know. I had to consolidate my visits while you were gone.”
I eye him knowingly. “Let me guess, you were busy schmoozing rando girls.” Knowing Ace, he probably had two dates with two different women in the same stupid night, so of course, Luna got the low end of his priority totem.
“There was only one rando girl,” he corrects. “Her name is Lindsey and she’s a very nice gal, despite being a little too clingy for my liking.”
“You think every girl you date is clingy,” I retort and point toward where my dead plant sits on the windowsill behind me. “Clearly, even my beloved Luna falls into that category, and she doesn’t even have a vagina!”
“I’m sorry, Julia. I really am.” If I had a penny for every time my best friend has flashed those stupid, perfect brown eyes of his in my direction like a freaking irresistible puppy, I’d be richer than our parents’ net worths combined—and they’re billionaires!
I purse my lips. “Mm-hmm.”
“So… Julia, my favorite girl in the whole world, my best friend, my best girl, my favorite gal pal, the wind beneath my wings, my angel, my—”
“Ace,” I cut him off and cross my arms over my chest. “Get to the point.”
“Are you going to let me come inside your room?”
“Nope.” I shake my head. “Not yet.”
He shifts his weight, his desperation building. “How long has it been?”
I blink rapidly as I’m transported back a decade to a time when I had to keep track of the minutes for him. “I…I don’t know.”
“You know our rule, Jules. Fifteen-minute limit. We can’t stay mad at each other longer than that,” he says, flashing me a hopeful grin. His brown eyes are still big and pleading, and I start to crack like he’s Pavlov and I’m a dog.
Honestly, it’s hard to believe that the Ace standing before me is the same boy from my childhood, because physically speaking, he’s a full-fledged man.
He’s wicked tall, muscular, handsome as hell, and has the kind of entrancing brown eyes that have made numerous girls at Dickson U fall to his feet. My beloved Luna alone was around for several of the random girls Ace has temporarily dated, and she only survived our freshman year of college. When we were in high school together in New Jersey at West Chester Prep, it felt like every week he had a new girlfriend.