I owe you guys a few more updates for lost time.. so BE PREPARED😚
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|chapter 36|
ACE
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Hotel Entrance — 1:14 AM
The elevator ride down felt like torture. Too bright. Too slow. Every mirror reflecting back a version of me I barely recognized:
Sweaty and my neck tattoo glistening. Eyes darker than they used to be. Jaw tight. Chest still buzzing with adrenaline and confusion.
Hell I came to this pool party and didn't even get in the water, speak to any females or drink. That's sayin something about me.
Kehlani's perfume still clung to my hoodie.
Ariana was going to smell it.
I swallowed hard.
Why the hell was I nervous? Why did my hands feel warm? Why did that one text flip me upside down like this?
Come outside.
She didn't need to say anything else.
The elevator dinged.
The lobby was quiet — late-night hotel quiet, where every sound felt too loud. My heart hammered like it was trying to break out of my chest.
As I stepped through the sliding glass doors into the humid night air, I saw her.
Ariana.
Standing under a streetlamp with her arms wrapped around herself, curls falling down her shoulders, wearing jeans and a hoodie like she rushed out of her apartment the second she hit send.
My feet stopped working for a second.
God, she was beautiful.
Even angry. Especially angry.
She looked up at me — and damn, I wished she hadn't. Those eyes hit me harder than the lights on stage.
She took a breath. "Ace."
I exhaled through my nose. "You came."
"You told me to."
"I didn't tell you to," I corrected softly. "I said I wished you were here. You didn't have to—"
"Yes, I did."
Her voice cracked — just a little. Just enough to slice into me.
I stepped closer, slow, like she was some wild thing that might bolt if I moved wrong.
