Beauty and the Gentleman by Lucy Darling

1

Faith

Both Ace and Knox help bring the boxes into Whitney’s and my dorm room. Neither are very happy about it. At first they tried to hide their frustration, but the façade faded away rather quickly as the reality of what was happening became more real by the second.

Ace puts down the two boxes he’s carrying beside my bed. The dorm setup is actually kind of neat. There are four bedrooms, each with their own bathroom. You have a main area that everyone shares with a living room and kitchen. I hope the other girls are cool.

“I hate this shit.” Ace pulls me into his side. “You should come home with me.”

Ace moved into his condo last weekend. It’s not far from campus. You could make the walk easily. Knox moved in next door to him. They both live off campus.

I had it in my head that I would live with Ace once I got to college, but the moms pushed for Whitney and me to have a year on our own to find ourselves. I would never tell the boys this because they’d lose their minds, but they wanted us to make sure we really wanted to be with our men. To spread our wings and experience life is what they called it.

Neither Whitney nor I have any doubts when it comes to our men, but we figured we should have a taste of living on our own. At least Whitney is my roommate. And also the love of my brother Knox’s life. She saved him from darkness.

He’s changed so much since he met her. Even Ace and Knox are a lot closer now. Knox settling down with Whitney definitely helped. I’m pretty sure they are sharing stalking tips on how to keep track of us. I’m not sure which one of them is more obsessed. But Whitney and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

“It’s only a year.” I melt into him. “And I’ll come over,” I try to reassure him. I’m sure I’ll be staying over at his place a lot.

“This is fucking bullshit,” my brother says, storming in to drop the two plastic bins in his hands down onto the ground. Whitney follows behind him, rolling her eyes. “We’ve been sharing a bed for months. And now you expect me to sleep without you?”

They have been. When our parents took Whitney in, essentially adopting her, Knox had fallen hard for her. Her almost being taken from him really ramped up his need to be in close proximity to her. Since that scary night they’ve been inseparable, even sharing a bed in our parents’ house. They didn’t even try to tell them no. Knox had been so on edge, everyone was scared he might slip into his old ways.

“You guys are acting like we’re never going to see each other. We should be happy that we all got into the same school,” I point out.

“With our parents, they're dying to get us in here,” Ace says. “Not to mention you two are freaking geniuses.” He motions between my brother and me. I have a knack for numbers. Always have. They feel stable to me. There is always only one answer to a problem. There is no changing it. Numbers don’t lie. You only have to figure the puzzle out to get there.

Everyone was surprised when I didn’t choose a major that involved numbers. Why would I? There is nothing for me to learn there anymore. I decided I wanted to take a different path. One where I can make a difference in someone’s life. Psychology seems as if it will be the best fit for me to major in.

Whitney is majoring in social services. We both have the same goal of working for Healing Homes one day. The reality is with my trust fund I will never want for anything. Whitney is pretty much in the same boat. What we can do is give back. Put our degrees toward something that will help others.

“How about this? We promise to spend the weekends at your place. That’s a fair compromise, and it still falls somewhat in line with what the parents are asking for.” They have given us all so much. It’s hard to tell them no when they do ask for something.

Ace runs his fingers through his hair. I know he’s struggling with this. Normally Ace is all about being the good guy and doing the right thing. This is really testing that for him.

“I could just kidnap you.” To prove his point, Knox grabs Whitney and tosses her over his shoulder. “See.” I snort a laugh.

“Put me down, you brute.” She wiggles in his hold, and he slaps her ass before he finally does as she asks.

“How about we get the rest of these boxes down and then order some pizza and hang out?” I suggest. Both of them grumble in agreement, heading back out to get more boxes for us.

“I’m so close to breaking,” I admit to Whitney when the boys are out of earshot.

“Me too,” she huffs, falling back onto her bed. “I sleep terribly without Knox.” She rolls to her side. “No one can knock me out like he can.”

“Gross.” I throw my pillow across the room at her, not wanting to hear about my brother’s sex life. I might be a bit jealous too. Ace and I have never gone that far before. I have no freaking clue why not. I can only imagine it goes back to his upstanding morals of being a good guy. He’d put Captain America to shame. I think he’s even more built than Chris Evans, actually.

“I suppose this might be fun. Having girls’ nights and such. We haven’t done that much lately since I started dating Knox.” Whitney always tries to find the silver lining in everything. She’s right, though. We haven't hung out much with only her and me.

“Dating? Did you just say we’re dating?” Knox growls when he enters the room. He grabs Whitney around the waist. “We’ll be back with food.”

“Hey!” Whitney tries to wiggle from his hold. She’s not putting much effort into it. Ace comes in as they leave, shutting the door behind them and flipping the lock.

“Want to break in your new bed?” He gives me that sexy smirk that has me squeezing my thighs together.

“What did you have in mind?”

He crosses the room, his fingers tangling in my hair as his mouth takes mine. I moan into his mouth as his fingers tighten in my hair, giving a small tug as he deepens the kiss. My fingers dig into his shirt, wanting more. For some reason, this kiss is different. It’s not sweet and soft but needy and demanding.

“Clothes off,” he growls against my mouth, surprising me. “I won’t ask again.” I stare up at him, still trying to catch my breath. My whole body lights up at his demands. Yeah, this is different for sure. Even the way he’s staring down at me.

I go for my shirt. I don’t even get it off before a banging starts at the door. “Why is this locked?” Whitney calls from the other side. Looks like she gave Knox the slip. Ace sucks in an irritated breath, reaching down and adjusting himself.

Something has changed with Ace. I’m not sure what it is, but I think I’m going to love it.