“You’re hurt!” I exclaimed.

Ace approached me slowly, a slow grin taking over his lips. “Is my sweet Doe worried about me? Do you really think that pathetic wolf would be able to hurt me, baby?”

He had to be delusional or something. Or maybe I had been hallucinating. But then what was the crash I heard?

My headache flared until it felt like someone was stabbing tiny, hot needles into my eyeballs. It was the worst one I’d had for some time.

“Ace, you’re covered in blood,” I whispered, trying my best to ignore the pain shooting through my skull. I had bigger problems.

“Not mine.” He put both hands on the edge of the bed. “It’s the wolf’s.”

“What?” I gasped.

But at least I’m not crazy.

He grabbed my ankle and tugged me to him. I squeaked in surprise, suddenly finding myself on my back at the edge of the bed with him leaning over me.

He looked down at me with a frown, wiping my hair from his face. Sparks flowed from his touch.

“You’re upset,” he murmured. It wasn’t a question.

I was speechless for a few moments. His mood swings were going to give me whiplash.

“Well… yeah,” I replied incredulously.

His glare deepened. “And your head is hurting again.”

Am I really so easy to read? How can he always tell? “I’m fine. I’m more worried about you. What happened with the wolf? Are you sure you’re not hurt?”

“Take your sweatshirt off.”

I snapped my face away and gave him a side-eye. “What?” Not exactly the response I was expecting.

“Take your sweatshirt off,” he repeated in a harsher, more commanding tone.

The next thing I knew, my hands were at the bottom of my sweatshirt. But common sense made me pause.

“Why? You’re freaking me out.”

For once, he answered me. Perhaps he sensed the genuine fear in my tone?

Whatever it was, his eyes softened ever so slightly.

“I want as much of our bare skin to touch as possible,” he explained. “It will make you feel better. Please, take your sweatshirt off.”

Still confused but feeling slightly better now that his voice had eased, I pulled my sweatshirt up. Ace helped me tug it over my head and throw it onto the floor next to us with a growl of approval.

I tugged at the hem of my T-shirt as Ace lay down on the bed, then he dragged me next to him so we were chest to chest. Electricity buzzed through my arms when they touched him.

It was almost as if he knew I was reaching my breaking point because he started licking my throat, sending tingles down my body, making me melt into him and forget all my worries.

Somewhere in the back of my mind, I knew he was just distracting me so he wouldn’t have to deal with my questions. And it was working! He was causing me too much pleasure to care about anything else.

His hand traveled up my spine, stopping at the back of my neck, then he pressed his fingers into the skin, massaging the base of my skull, helping to ease the ache of my throbbing head.

I moaned. Holy crap, that felt good. A tendril of heat swirled in my core, and my panties started to dampen.

With one last slow lick on the side of my neck, he grumbled against my skin.

“Everyone needs to stop fucking stressing you out.”

I furrowed my brow, struggling to comprehend what he was saying through the delicious fog he had cast over my brain.

Without waiting for me to respond, Ace pulled himself up, with me a little lower. He set his back against the headboard and positioned my body between his legs, leaning me back against his hard chest.

He wrapped his arms around me so I had no choice but to relax. He was right: having so much skin-to-skin contact was nice.

The day had been so exhausting. It was nice to just lie in his arms and let his touch ease away my tension.

Ace reached over to grab his TV remote from his bedside table. Red blood painted his lower arm.

The haze of my arousal lifted a bit. He was getting blood all over his bed. My white shirt was probably ruined.

“What happened to your shirt?”

He readjusted me so I was even closer to him. “Ripped.”

“What do you mean ripped? How?” I tilted my back so I could look at him. “The wolf! Seriously, what happened to the wolf? Did you shoot it or something? Is that where the blood is from?”

My head flared again, and I winced. Fuck. What the hell is wrong with me today?

A dark shadow passed over Ace’s expression. “No more questions.” He put his remote in my hand and gestured to the TV on the dresser in front of us. “Pick a movie.”

I scowled at him. “A movie? What about school? And are we seriously not going to talk about that wolf or the blood or—”

“Doe!” he snapped. His voice was jagged. “What did I just say?”

I paused. “You said no more questions. But I—”

“Then why do you keep asking me questions?” He squeezed my waist and gestured toward the TV with his chin.

“Do as I say and don’t test me anymore today. I just know your head is pounding and I can feel how stressed out you are, and when you’re stressed, I get stressed.

“And trust me, you really don’t want me any more upset than I already am. I’m this close to killing everyone within a ten-mile radius.

“So, pick out a damn movie and, for the love of god, let me hold you before I go fucking apeshit.”

I tensed my lips.

A beat passed.

Slowly, I lifted the remote and turned on the TV.

Ace let out a sigh. His arms tightened around me, and his chin landed on the top of my head. “Good girl.”

***

We spent the rest of the day in bed, watching movie after movie. It was nice, and every time I worried about the classes I was missing, I remembered the perfect GPA was out of reach now anyway.

My migraine eventually faded, allowing me to focus on the TV and relax.

Ace didn’t break our skin contact for a single minute, except for when he got up to get us food or when one of us had to go to the bathroom.

Throughout the afternoon, his hands wandered all over my skin, caressing my sides and stomach under my T-shirt and massaging my sore head and neck.

He must have paid more attention to me than he did to the movies. In fact, I think he liked watching me react to his heated touch. I think he liked making me squirm.

At some point during the third movie, I passed out against Ace. This usually happened. My migraines tended to take it out of me, leaving me exhausted, and I could barely keep my eyes open.

I was still half asleep when I felt him shift. He snaked an arm underneath my back and lifted me so I was partially sitting up. His other hand took hold of my shirt, and he gently tugged it upward.

I blinked my eyes open and grabbed Ace’s wrist, stopping him from going any further.

“What are you doing?” I asked groggily. I couldn’t see him in the dark. When did he turn off the TV? When did the sun go down?

“Getting you ready for bed.” His voice was as smooth as butter. “Lift your arms up.”

“What? No!” I yanked my shirt back down.

Ace’s mouth fell onto my shoulder. “I can’t see anything in the dark, Doe. I’m going to put one of my shirts on you so you’ll be covered up. Just let me take care of you so you can go back to sleep.”

I yawned. Sleep sounded nice.

“Okay,” I finally agreed. It’s true, it was too dark to see anything, so I didn’t see the harm in letting him undress me. Besides, I was too tired to do it myself.

With a grunt of approval, Ace climbed on top of me and took my wrists in his hands, lifting them above my head.

He tugged my shirt off.

The cold air hit my stomach, and I sucked in a breath, my brain registering that I was lying beneath the boy of my dreams, only my lacy white bra covering my breasts.

A fluttering sensation exploded in my lower belly. Thank goodness it was almost pitch black. I would have died of embarrassment if Ace could have seen how hot and bothered he was making me.

A hungry growl rolled from Ace’s chest, and his hands gripped my bare waist.

My eyes widened in the darkness, and my hands flew up to cover my breasts. “Can you see?” I screeched.

Ace took his sweet time responding. “Of course not.” He chuckled. “That would mean I could see in the dark.” He lowered his voice. “But if I could, I’m sure I would like what I’d see very much.”

I swear I forgot how to breathe.

Ace laughed again. The sound did something to my insides.

“Let’s get my shirt on you and take your jeans off so you can rest.” There was a rustling as he picked up something next to us. “Arms up.”

“Hold on.” I stopped him before he could put his shirt on me. “I…I want to take my bra off first.” I swallowed down my embarrassment.

Part of me couldn’t believe I had just said the word “bra” in front of my best friend

—my best male friend—while the other part felt…excited? Was that the right word?

Eager, maybe?

Even if I was still overwhelmingly confused about the state of our relationship, I couldn’t deny that I loved getting such intimate attention from him.

It was the sort of attention only a boy attracted to a girl could give, and vice versa.

I wanted to know if I turned him on as much as he did me. Maybe, then, he would realize his feelings for me were more than just friendly ones.

A deep purring started up in Ace’s chest. My breathing hitched. Arching my back, I reached behind me to grab the clasp of my bra.

Ace ran his fingers down my biceps. “I’ve got it, baby,” he whispered.

He slid his arms underneath me and pulled my hands away. His hot breath tickled my neck as he grabbed the clasp and made quick work of it, fully removing my bra and tossing it to the side.

My nipples brushed against his bare chest for the briefest of moments, just before he pulled away, and it took everything in me not to push closer to him.

Ace sat back. The sound of his purring increased. My clit pulsed.

Now I was the one having mood swings. Just now, I was panicking at the thought of him seeing me in just my bra, and now, I wished the lights were on so he could take in my bare breasts on full display.

The shroud of darkness was making it easier to feel sexy, confident. It almost gave me enough courage to wrap my arms around his neck and press his lips to mine.

I didn’t get the chance to act on that ridiculous thought, thank goodness.

Ace yanked his T-shirt over my head, quickly covering me up, and then moved down to unbutton my jeans before sliding them off my legs.

His touch wasn’t nearly as gentle as before. It was almost like he was in a rush to cover me up. I couldn’t tell if that was good or bad.

Soon, I was lying in my usual bedtime clothing.

And our heated moment was over.

Ace lay down next to me and hauled me to him, spooning me from behind. We’d always found the position to be so intimate and sweet.

But it was also one a couple would definitely do, and Ben’s words popped back into my mind: “So what, he uses you behind closed doors but refuses to announce your relationship to the public?”