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I lean close, lips at his ear.

“The one who knows, with you at my side, I can be whatever Violet I want to be.”

FORTY-TWO

Violet

So, it turns out that not fucking away our worries takes a lot out of a girl.

Ace made it very clear how much he loves my heels.

And I made it very clear how much I appreciated him being so thoughtful to buy me said heels.

Then we DoorDashed in lunch—because we were long past breakfast.

And it’s not even a Monday.

Now, I’m slowly crawling out of the sleepy fog I’d fallen in to, something that had happened approximately two minutes after the post-lunch sex fog Ace had induced. This being after we downed huge double-bacon cheeseburgers smothered in barbecue sauce and grilled onions. And that was after I did the arduous work of dragging myself out of the post-sex-thanks-for-the-gorgeous-heels fog I had given both of us and after⁠—

Right.

Well, you get the idea.

There’s been a lot of fucking today.

But none of it to make my worries disappear.

Still, adding in the stress of the night before, the emotions of the past couple of weeks, and all the things I discovered downstairs in the kitchen…and we were both wiped.

But now something is pulling me out of sleep, and even though I want no part of waking, some portion of my consciousness is aware that it’s likely important.

Ace’s arm tightens around me as I struggle upright, bringing the sheet with me. “Your phone,” I say, reaching for it—a task made more difficult when his arm tightens further. “Ace, your phone is ringing.”

He makes an unintelligible sound but loosens his hold and I snag his cell, seeing Ally’s name on the screen and swiping before I realize it’s a video call.

“Fuck, Violet!” she exclaims. “Now you’re just trying to rub it in, girlie.”

I blink, slowly processing that her face is on the screen, that I’m not just hearing her voice, and also that there’s a camera pointed at me. Thank God the sheet’s around my chest, hiding everything pertinent…

But the same can’t be said for Ace.

The sheet is hanging low, draped artfully over his gorgeous ass.

God, he’s got a great ass.

Fucking hockey players.

My lips twitch, but I reach down and tug it up, eliciting another groan from Ace.

“I see you took my advice,” Ally says dryly.

My smile grows but I don’t explain that our fucking was not fucking away our worries but rather, fucking our way to a happy future. Instead, I just say, “That we did.” Then shrug. “Because it was good advice.”

She winks. “Of course it was.”

And I can’t say my first impression of her was all that good.

But she’s growing on me.