The room stayed silent as Jace studied me with a serious face. I was trying hard to keep my eyes away from his, but I found it to be impossible. Finally, he pushed his food away clearing his throat. “How old are you, Avery?” he questioned, in all seriousness.

I looked up, nose flared, as I fought to hold back the tears. I didn't want to talk about my life and it angered me. “I just turned nineteen last month.” I shoved a bite of potatoes in my mouth and slowly chewed. “Why? Why do you need to ask me these questions?”

Jace looked surprised as he tilted his head in thought. “I just want to know about you. This is me getting to know you,” he paused. “Or at least trying.”

I bit my bottom lip and averted my eyes away from his stare. His eyes were making me want to surrender and tell him more than what I wanted to. “Well I just don’t like too many questions.”

Jace took a few bites of his chicken before leaning in next to me and smiling. “So, you have a fake I.D?” he questioned amused.

I looked up and nodded my head, happy to change the mood. "Yup!" The room went silent again. "What about you, Jace? How old are you? You own a diner and have a great house. You really have yourself together."

"I just turned twenty three a few months ago. The diner was my fathers before he ran off." His smile faded as he looked up at me and leaned back in his seat. "Why haven't you seen your parents in so long? Where are-"

“I don’t want to talk about it.” I stammered, thinking that I was already in the clear, when clearly I wasn't.

Jace swallowed hard and crossed his arms over his chest. “Well do you have anyone close by? Like maybe a friend or a boyfriend?”

I looked away, eyes watering, as I dropped my fork. “No.” I swallowed hard forcing back the lump in my throat. “I’ve never had a boyfriend and I don’t have any friends.” I instantly felt stupid for telling him things so personal about myself. I felt weak. “I think that I’m just going to head to bed.” I stood up and pushed my chair away. “Thank you for dinner.”

A look of hurt crossed Jace’s face as he jumped up from his seat and reached for my hand. His grip was firm. He pulled me in for a hug but I backed away from his pull. “Avery,” he whispered. “It’s okay to talk about things.”

I let out a deep breath and relaxed into his strong arms, burying my face into his chest like a child crying to their father. Feeling his moist shirt against my cheek made me feel silly. I felt like a silly child that had lost. It made me angry. I didn’t understand why I was allowing myself to let this happen.

He gently rubbed the back of my head and then ran a finger along my cheek. “There, do you feel better?” He pulled away from me looking me in the eye. “It’s okay to cry. The strong ones always do.” Somehow I doubted that.

I let out a half sob, half laugh when realizing that I did feel a bit better than before. He didn't know much, but he knew more about me than anyone else did. It was a start. "Yes. Thank you," I whispered. “I actually do feel a bit better.”

Jace smiled and brushed the hair from out of my face. “Good, now let’s go watch this movie.” He stared me in the eye for a moment before he walked away and started cleaning up our dinner mess. He wrapped up the chicken box before throwing the plates into the double sink.

I stood there hesitating shortly before reaching for a plate and deciding to help him. “Here, let me help.”

Jace grabbed the plate from out of my hand, brushing his thumb over mine. “No. I can take care of this. You can go and set up the movie.”

I pulled my hand away and turned away from him, feeling bad for letting him do all the work by himself, but thankful at the same time. “Okay, sure.”

I made my way into the living room and over to the coffee table.  I stared down at the movie before reaching down and taking it out of the case. If I really thought about it, it would be my first time watching a movie with a man. As cheesy as that sounded, it was true.

My hand slightly shook as I attempted to shove the movie into the player. I kept missing the opening. Shit. Relax. I pushed the movie in and smoothed out my shirt before taking a seat on the loveseat.

A few minutes later Jace plopped down next to me scaring me out of my thoughts. He eyed me curiously, as I kept readjusting myself. “Are you okay?” He laughed as I ran my hands over my jeans, wiping the sweat off.

I looked up at the TV, running a hand through my hair. "Sorry," I mumbled. "I'm fine." Really, I wasn't. I couldn't seem to get comfortable being so close to him.

He smiled at me and turned on the TV. "Are you feeling uncomfortable?" He grabbed my shoulder and gently pulled me against his body. It made my stomach flip. "You can lean against me for support. I'm pretty comfortable." He rested his head next to mine and placed his lips next to my ear. "I don't bite," he whispered.

I let out a nervous laugh relaxing my muscles as I fought to stay calm. Just breathe. It’s not that bad. "Thanks," I whispered back. "Thanks for everything."

He glanced down at me and brushed the hair out of my face. "Don't worry about it." He smiled comfortably.

He started the movie and we both sat there in a comfortable silence. It felt nice for once just to relax and not have to talk.

The rhythm of Jace’s heartbeat against my back helped to make me feel more at ease, although, my body was screaming for me to get up and run. A small part of me just didn’t want to. Therefore, I didn’t.

Chapter 5

I woke up in the middle of the night uncomfortable and in a daze. That was when I realized that I was still on the couch and wrapped up in Jace’s arms.

My heart stopped and suddenly I felt dizzy. I gently wiggled my way out of his grip, attempting to get away without waking him. I was almost in the clear when suddenly; Jace gripped me tighter and bent in pressing his lips against my neck. His lips were soft and gentle causing my breath to catch in my throat.

I quickly caught my breath and stumbled off the couch, landing on the soft carpet. I scrambled to get back to my feet as quickly and quietly as possible. I had never slept next to a man before and I didn’t want Jace to know that I had let my guard down with him. I had to learn to be more careful with Jace. I just couldn’t seem to think straight around him.