That vacation soon became the Ace-and-Doe vacation. We spent every second together, playing, running around, and swimming in the pool.

Our parents were always nearby and usually chatting, although I never knew about what.

I remember seeing my parents' concerned expressions but never paid much mind to them. Why would they choose to sit and talk when there was so much fun to be had? Adults were weird.

I liked being around Ace. He didn't talk a whole lot, but we still had fun. I loved it when I made him smile or laugh. I could chat his ear off for hours, and he would sit and listen, engrossed in every word.

Later, I would hear my mother say we balanced each other out, and I couldn't help but agree.

He was calm and quiet, while I was hyper and loud. He thought through his every move, while I was spontaneous and constantly in need of someone to hold me back from doing stupid crap.

We mixed well together.

I finally had someone who understood me. He made me feel special and seen after years of growing up with somewhat absent parents.

After a while, I got used to the weird sparks I felt whenever I touched him. They never hurt. In fact, they felt surprisingly pleasant, so I liked it when he'd hold my hand as we walked around the ship.

My parents didn't seem to mind all the time Ace and I spent together, despite this being a family vacation. It only became an issue at night when Ace refused to leave my side to go to sleep.

To fix this problem, his parents suggested we be allowed to sleep in the same room, like a sleepover. I loved the idea, but my parents were against it.

When my father tried to take me back to my room, Ace shoved me behind him and bared his teeth.

And then Ace bit him.

I still remember my father's shocked face as he snatched his hand back and looked down at the angry red mark left there.

Unsurprisingly, Ace got his way. Even as a six-year-old, he was incredibly intimidating.

Ace slept in my family's room that night, sharing the second queen-size bed with me. He did the same the next night...and the night after that.

In the end, we didn't spend a single minute away from each other during the entire cruise, except for when one of us had to go to the bathroom or take a shower.

As weird as the whole situation was-and I knew it was weird, even as a kid-I was secretly happy. I really liked my new friend. I really liked being with him.

My parents spent a lot of time talking to his parents during the vacation. I remember watching them one afternoon while Ace and I did arts and crafts on the pool deck while our parents sat at a table nearby.

I was pretty sure I saw my mom start to cry over something Ace's dad said.

Ace put his hand on my shoulder, drawing my attention back to him. "I have a huge pool at my house that you'll really like when you come over."

"But you live in Colorado."

"Yes."

"I live in Massachusetts." I suddenly felt sad. "My mom said we live super far away from each other and that I would have to take a plane to visit you. That would take, like, a billion hours."

A shadow passed over his face. "My dad said you're going to move into a house near mine. After our vacation, you're going to come back to Colorado with me so we can stay friends forever."

I frowned. I loved the idea of staying friends with Ace, but I couldn't tell if he was being serious about me moving near him.

"Doe," my mom said from behind me.

I swerved around. She had her arms crossed over her chest, and her face was puffy from crying. My father was beside her, wearing a frown.

"Come on. Let's go back to our room."

I stood. "Can Ace come?"

"I'm coming." Ace jumped out of his chair and took his place at my side.

"No, we're going to go talk on our own," my father responded. His tone left no room for arguments.

A strange growling sound came from next to me. I turned to see what had made the noise and saw that Ace's dad stepped up behind him and put his hands on his shoulders.

"Calm," his father said in a soothing tone. "Take some deep breaths."

Ace was baring his teeth, and his fists were curled into balls at his sides as he glowered at my father. I took a step back.

"You're scaring Dorothy, Ace," his father continued, squeezing his shoulders.

Ace's dark eyes snapped to mine. Perhaps noticing my scared expression, he finally did as his father asked. He sucked in a deep breath, and I thought I saw the tension leaving his body.

"You've got about half an hour," Ace's dad said to my parents. "We can't keep them away from each other for too long after just meeting. My son is already upset as it is."

My dad nodded. He eyed Ace warily as he pulled me and my mom toward the exit.

They took me back to our room and sat me down on the edge of my bed before taking a seat across from me.

"What's going on? Why is mom crying?" I asked.

My parents exchanged glances.

"We wanted to know how you've been feeling," my dad said. "Are you having a good vacation?"

I bobbed my head up and down enthusiastically. "Yeah, it's been really fun. We should go on a cruise for our next vacation too!"

"And have you enjoyed hanging out with Ace? You...like him?" my mom asked.

A warm sensation filled my chest at the mention of my new friend. "I really like him. He's my new best friend. I wish we went to school together."

They looked at each other once again.

"Do we really have to go home tomorrow?" I asked, thinking about having to say goodbye to Ace. "Can't we stay for a few more days?"

My dad let out a long breath. "Actually, you and your mom aren't going to go home to Massachusetts just yet. You're going to go with the Stolls to Colorado."

I jerked back in surprise. Ace had said the same thing! "Why?"

My mom knelt in front of me, taking my hands in hers. "It's a little hard to explain.

We... Well, we... You see, you and Ace-"

Before she could finish, Dad grunted and shook his head at her.

My mom pursed her lips. "We'll explain it later, sweetheart, once we have more information.

"But I promise you, this is all for the best. You'll like Colorado. There are mountains there, and they get a lot of snow in the winter-"

"What about school?" I interrupted. I didn't care about mountains or snow. I loved school and didn't want to leave my friends.

"You're going to go to a new school in Colorado. A really good one."

"But I don't want to go to a new school!" Tears of frustration began to burn in my eyes.

"I know, honey." My mom squeezed my hand. "But you'll like your new school.

"What about my friends? What about Marta?"

My dad knelt as well. "You'll make new friends. And you can still call Marta any time you want. Maybe she can even come visit."

"And you'll have Ace," my mom added. Her smile didn't quite reach her eyes. "You'll be at the same school as him and in the same class. We've got it all planned out."

I sniffled. "Really?" My chest loosened a bit.

"Yep," my mom confirmed. "We saw how much the two of you got along and thought you might like to live near each other. How does that sound?"

It sounded good. Really good, actually. I liked Ace more than any of my other friends from back home.

"Can I go tell him?" I was weirdly desperate to see him again.

Without waiting for them to respond, I stood and walked to the door.

Unsurprisingly, I found Ace waiting on the other side. He looked tense, and his eyes were still a scary black color.

"Guess what!" I exclaimed.

"You were right! I'm moving to Colorado!"

And just like that, Ace's lips turned up into a contagious smile.

The next day, the rest of my life began: the part spent with Ace by my side

1. Morning Sparks

ELEVEN YEARS LATER

The early-morning sun was on a mission to blind me the moment I woke up. I groaned and shoved a pillow over my face.

Ace shifted behind me, hugging me closer to his chest and nuzzling his face into the back of my neck. Sparks raced down my spine.

This was how I woke up most days: dressed in one of Ace's shirts and a pair of panties, with Ace wrapped around me like a koala and a warm feeling in my chest.

I wouldn't have it any other way. It felt like he was guarding me from the rest of the world, like I was wrapped in a cocoon of his protection.

"Ace," I said, elbowing him to get his attention, "what time is it?"

He didn't reply, simply tightening his arms and nudging one of his legs between mine. I couldn't tell where my body ended and his began.

I groaned again, lifting my head so I could look at the clock.

"Oh, my gosh!" I yelled. "Ace, you need to get out of here! It's almost seven thirty!"

Ace didn't react, behaving as if I had said nothing at all. I squirmed against him, trying to get out of his hold. He didn't let me go.

"Stop," Ace finally growled into my ear, his hot breath fanning over my cheek. His hand spanned over my stomach and rib cage, keeping me firmly pressed against him.

"Ace, I'm not kidding! My parents could come in here at any second!"

Ace spent every night in my bed. In fact, I was pretty sure we hadn't spent more than a handful of nights apart since meeting.

Of course, my parents did not know that, and today wasn't going to be the day I told them. My dad would have a heart attack if he found out that my best friend was spending every night in my bed.

Usually, Ace would have escaped through my bedroom window by now and gone back to his place to get ready, coming back again to pick me up for school, but he seemed reluctant to leave this morning.

I didn't know why. But I didn't understand a lot of things about Ace.

Feeling a tad bit panicked at the prospect of my parents coming in and finding us like this, I grabbed Ace's arm and tried to yank it off me.

Of course, he didn't budge. I was pretty sure the man was made of steel. He was all muscle, not a single bit of fat on him.

I huffed in annoyance. I wasn't even sure why I tried. I had never won a battle with Ace. Especially physical ones.

Without warning, he flipped me around to face him, forcing me to put my arms on his shoulders to steady myself.

I glared at him. "I hate it when you do that."

Ace gave me a lopsided smirk. It was annoyingly boyish and charming. "Do you, now?"

My stomach swarmed with butterflies. Why did he have to be so beautiful? "Y-yes! I hate it when you take advantage of our size difference and throw me around."

The size difference really was significant. When Ace started puberty, he shot up nearly two feet and grew rock-hard muscles overnight. Everything about him became harder, sharper, more defined.

It suited him well.

More than well.

With his messy dark brown hair and striking blue eyes, there was no denying how attractive he was.

I had been caught staring at him more than once. Ace always just smirked and winked at me when that happened, immediately making me wish the ground would open and swallow me whole.

And while Ace had always been a touchy person, he immediately became even touchier, always putting his hands on my waist or hips, squeezing, kneading, and licking his lips with hunger on his face.

That look always made me feel nervous and fidgety and definitely didn't help extinguish the burning attraction I felt for him.

I, meanwhile, became softer at puberty. My curves developed, giving me hips and breasts. Everyone said I looked extremely different despite having my same long brown hair, matching brown eyes, and pale, milky skin.

The least puberty could have done for me was provide me with some height so Ace didn't have so much of a leg up on me, but I stopped growing at five-foot-nothing, almost a foot and a half under him.

But feeling small was nothing new for me. I was tiny next to everyone in Embermoon. The average resident of our town was abnormally huge.

I was convinced there was something in the water turning them all into giants.

Ace lifted a brow and then leaned forward, rubbing his nose against my cheek, making that purring noise that he knew drove me crazy. "I think you're lying."

I swallowed, trying to ignore the way his mouth brushed against my jaw. "Lying?"

Ace nodded and smiled against my skin. "I think you love it when I throw you around. I think you crave me being in control."

I squirmed. I suddenly felt very hot.

Ace wasn't aware I had the biggest crush known to humankind on him.

It developed a few years back, around the time I turned fifteen. But I was too afraid to tell him; I couldn't risk our friendship ending over a silly crush. I wouldn't survive without him.

Plus, on the few occasions I did try to bring my feelings up, Ace always seemed to find a way to change the subject or distract me.

It made mornings like this one, filled with playful touches and flirty looks, all the more frustrating. Were best friends supposed to act like this?

I shoved his shoulder, trying to push him away from me to no avail. "Stop being ridiculous." I glanced at the clock on my nightstand once again.

I didn't necessarily want him to leave-I could stay in bed with him all day, no problem-but my parents were going to get suspicious if I didn't come down for breakfast soon.

"Okay, but seriously, you need to leave. My alarm didn't go off, and it's getting late."

"No," Ace grunted, still nuzzling up against the skin of my cheek.

"What do you mean 'no'?"

"I mean no."

I frowned, even as his strange behavior caused a delicious throbbing sensation between my legs and hot sparks to race down my spine.

Crap. I need to get it together.

"W-what's your problem this morning?" I stammered. "What if my parents come in and find you in here?"

"Don't care."

I scoffed. "You'll care when they put bars on my window to keep you from sleeping with me every night."

That got his attention.

He gripped my waist tightly, making my breath stall. "I don't care if your parents come in here and find me with you because they know that you're mine.

"And if they try to keep me away from you, I'll burn the world to the fucking ground."

I stared at him in shock. A moment of silence passed between us.

Then, as if he said nothing at all, he pressed his nose back to my cheek, continuing to rub it against me as he hummed in contentment.

Well, okay then. Time to change tactics, I guess.

"If you don't get out of my bed in the next five seconds, I will knee you in the balls so hard, your future children will come out deformed," I stated.

Ace stopped moving his nose against my skin. The temperature in the room lowered significantly.

With an unsettling slowness, Ace leaned back to look at me, tilting his head and narrowing his eyes. "I thought you knew better than to threaten me, Doe."

Usually, I did. I guess I had some sort of self-destructive urge this morning.

I swallowed my nerves. "Five," I started carefully.

His brow rose at the challenge.

"Four..."

He tugged me closer so our faces were right up against each other, our breath mixing. He was trying to intimidate me. I sucked in air, determined not to back down.

"Three," I continued slowly. "Two."

Ace watched me closely, seemingly unbothered by my countdown. In fact, he almost seemed to be enjoying himself. This only infuriated me further.

I shifted my leg back, preparing to strike.

"One."

Ace latched his mouth onto my throat.

I moaned in shock, immediately gripping his hair without thinking, my back arching, causing me to press my body closer to him.

I should have known it was going to happen. It was Ace's preferred method of turning me to mush, although he had many other techniques.

He knew I couldn't focus on anything but his lips when he kissed, licked, and sucked on my throat.

He started doing this when we were around fourteen years old. Every once in a while, he would pull me close without warning and start kissing my neck, effectively setting my body on fire.

What's worse is that he wouldn't stop until he left a hickey, sometimes several, refusing to let me go no matter what was going on around us.

My throat had been permanently covered in small bruises for three years.

The first time he did it came out of the blue, and I had felt shocked, ecstatic, and then mortified. In that order.

We'd been sitting in his living room, watching a movie, when, all of a sudden, he was on top of me. I don't think he'd ever touched me in a way that could be considered sexual before that.

The most embarrassing part, though, was that I had acted like a complete nutjob the moment his lips touched me. I'd moaned and pushed up against him, encouraging him, just like I was doing right now.

It had ended just as suddenly and confusingly, with Ace pulling away and turning back to the movie, acting as if nothing had happened.

Later, when I asked him why he had done it, he just shrugged. I could never get a real answer out of him. It was a little heartbreaking.

I couldn't stop blushing around him for a month after that, and my parents didn't look me in the eye, so obvious was the big, purple bruise he had left on my neck.

Although, I was grateful they never said anything. That was not a conversation I wanted to have. How could I explain that my best friend was giving me hickeys when I didn't understand it myself?

But with time, I didn't think it was so weird anymore. It's the way of people in Embermoon.

Ace's behavior made me pay more attention to others, and I would often see people licking each other, including friends. It was their way of showing affection.

It didn't mean Ace was interested in me in the same way I was interested in him, even if it did send my body into overdrive and steal all coherent thoughts from my head.

And so, whenever it happened, all I could do was wait for the delicious torture to end and hope I didn't embarrass myself too much in the meantime.

Ace nudged me with his head as he continued to kiss me, silently encouraging me to tilt my head to the side. I did so, giving him better access to my sensitive skin.

He was working on his favorite spot today. While all the other bruises he gave me came and went, Ace never let the space where my shoulder and neck connected go without a hickey.

It was probably because he knew what it did to me. Any time he so much as breathed on that spot, something in my brain short-circuited, and I became a puddle in his arms.