Falling For Ace

Thirty-one

Nobody was looking at him except me and the guys beside me. They were all busy talking and partying without the birthday boy.

Ace looked like he just crossed path with a storm. His hair was disheveled, his grey shirt had blood on it and his leather jacket was hanging carelessly on his shoulders. My eyes fell on his knuckles which were busted and bleeding.

"Damn…" Kade breathed out, "did this guy go to the fight club on his fucking birthday?"

Without allowing anyone the chance to look at him, Ace rushed towards the stairs and discretely went to his room, closing the door behind him.

"Come on, guys." Cole nudged my arm, "let's go see what's up with him."

"Yeah, dude doesn't look fine." Asher commented, nodding his head, "don't tell me he's fucking drunk. I took two hours to get myself ready."

"Tell me about it."

"He spent an hour and thirty minutes on his hair," Kade whispered to me, "thirty minutes on his outfit and an hour on checking if he was looking good enough."

"Yeah well I believe in good looks." Asher said with a shrug, "now let's go."

"Go where?" Mason asked, approaching us with Isabella, holding his arm. She flashed me a smirk before wiggling her brows suggestively and mouthed, 'Damn, you just hit Jackpot'

"Kade, Asher, Cole." Mason nodded at the three guys who nodded back, keeping a stone cold expression on their faces. Didn't they get along?

"Izzy!" Cole exclaimed, rushing towards Isabella before hugging her. She responded by wrapping her arms around him with a smile, "hey, Cole!"

"I missed you." He muttered, breaking the hug, "sissy."

"Missed you too."

"Are we done?" Kade interrupted rudely which made Isabella bit her lip and look down, confusing me even more. I noticed Kade clenching his jaw while looking at her at the corner of my eyes. Kade was glaring at Mason who was glaring back. Mason then reached out a hand, grabbed my arm and pulled me near him and Isabella.

"Ace is here and he doesn't look well so we're gonna see if he's fine. You're welcome to tag along." Asher spoke up, clearing the tension in their air among us. Cole let out a chuckle, attempting to help Asher, "hey guys…the past is past, okay? Chil—"

"Shut up, Cole." Both Mason and Kade said at the same time making Cole smack his lips shut.

Asher cleared his throat, "I'm going to see the birthday boy. Adios motherfuckers!" He then walked away. Cole then grabbed my hand and dragged me along with him to where Asher was going.

Asher came beside me, making me stuck between him and Cole while we were walking towards Ace's room which was upstairs.

"What happened between Kade and Mason?" I questioned, curious. I glanced back behind me and saw Kade saying something to Mason which made him look down and Isabella was on the verge of tears. 

"Kade and Isabella were a thing." Cole replied, shocking me slightly. "What? They were dating?"

"Sì," he chuckled, "but then Mason came and," he paused, "well she cheated on Kade with Mason."

"Yeah but that was a year ago." Asher spoke up, "Kade still hasn't gotten over it. He never said it but Isabella was his everything."

"What exactly did Mason and Izzy do?"

"They had sex," Cole blurted out, "they were drunk. Izzy told Kade what happened the following day itself but Kade didn't take it well. The two started drifting apart until Mason started talking to her and vice-versa."

"Yeah," Asher hummed, "this went on for three months. Then Kade saw her text messages with Mason accidentally. He was furious when he saw what was going on."

We stopped in front of a door. Without knocking, Cole pushed the door open, revealing a huge room. The lights were off, the curtains were closed, we could hear the sound of water running. Ace was showering.

"Alright. I don't know about you guys but I'm taking a peak because this..." Cole pointed to Ace's closed bathroom door, "is a lifetime opportunity."

Asher rolled his eyes at Cole who did not look like he was joking at all. He took a step foward only to be grabbed and pulled back by Asher, "you wanna give the dude a heart attack on his birthday or what?"

While the two were arguing, I walked towards the switch and turned on the lights before taking a good look at Ace's room. His room was undoubtedly bigger than mine. He did not have many—scratch that, he did not have any colourful stuff in his room. His furnitures were either white, grey or black. It did not surprise me considering Ace was a guy who'd always wear those colours. I've never seen a bright colour on him.

The sound of water running could no longer be heard and the door to his bathroom was opened. My eyes widened when I saw him standing there with a towel wrapped around his waist and water dripping from his hair, down his face and tattooed chest.

Ace was staring at me.

His eyes were taking in every inch of my body, not caring that he was literally gawking. I was feeling extremely uncomfortable under his intense stare. His captivating blue eyes then met mine. After a few  seconds, he let out a sigh, still not adverting his eyes.

"You look..." he trailed off, finding the right words, "perfect."

Before I could reply, Asher and Cole let out a whistle, sending me smirks.

"So there's no such thing as privacy with you guys." Ace muttered, walking towards his closet. Opening it, he took out a black shirt and black pants. He was not bothered by the presence of any of us.

"Hell no, you are not wearing that!" Asher interjected, snatching the shirt from his hand before putting it back in its place. He then removed a plain black suit and handed it to Ace who simply shook his head, "no."

"Yes," Asher nodded, "come on, it's your fucking birthday man."

"Exactly! My birthday, not my wedding." Ace replied with a roll of his eyes.

"Ivy?" Asher turned to me, "what do you think?"

I glanced at Ace who raised his brows at me, "shirt or suit?"

I shrugged, "Suit?"

"I knew I was gonna like you!" Asher exclaimed, grinning at me before looking back at Ace, "suit it is."

"Since when did you become their friends?" Ace asked, nodding in Cole's and Asher's directions.

"Around twenty minutes ago." Cole replied before I could, "she's friendly!"

"I know right," Ace muttered, "now do you guys want to stay and watch me change too?"

"Thought you'd never ask!" Cole took a seat on Ace's bed and faced him with a grin on his face. Ace rolled his eyes and looked at Asher who sighed before walking towards Cole, grabbed his arm and pulled him with him outside. I turned around and was about to leave too but stopped right in my tracks when he spoke,

"Ivy, wait."