Chapter 36: Lee rubs CC's back as she hiccups through her bisexual awakening confession, mascara streaking down her cheeks - 'It's always been her' - when Ace's combat boots echo across the linoleum. Without a word, Ace drags CC to the floor by her hair, her voice rough with need: 'Show me how much you mean it, princess.'
The brittle silence in Ace’s dorm room had become unbearable. CC couldn’t breathe past the scent of wax, sex, and the terrifying weight of Ace’s words still vibrating in the air. Love you. Spoken like a threat, like a brand seared into skin already bruised. She’d pushed Ace away with trembling hands, mumbled something incoherent about needing air, and fled, the door slamming shut behind her with a sound like a gunshot in the quiet corridor.
Her legs carried her blindly, shaking. Down the stairs, through the deserted lobby, towards the dim, cavernous lounge at the end of the hall. Only one lamp glowed, a lone sentinel casting long, distorted shadows across threadbare carpet that smelled of dust, spilled soda, and decades of student angst. The faint, tinny murmur of a late-night infomercial drifted from an old TV mounted high in the corner. Empty couches loomed like sleeping beasts.
She sank onto the nearest one, the worn fabric scratchy against the backs of her bare thighs – she hadn’t even grabbed her torn panties before fleeing Ace’s room. The tears came then, hot and silent, a dam breaking. Shame warred with a terrifying, aching need that coiled low in her belly. Ace’s thigh grinding into her, the brutal intimacy, the raw confession… it had shattered something fundamental. She wasn’t straight. She was hers. And it terrified her.
"Hey, Blondie."
Lee’s voice, soft with concern, cut through her silent weeping. He must have been studying in a shadowed corner. He materialized beside her, sinking onto the couch. His usual flamboyance was muted in the gloom. "Rough night?" He didn’t ask specifics. He’d seen the aftermath of the parking lot, heard the muffled shouting through Ace’s door earlier. His presence, non-judgmental and safe, was the final crack in her composure.
She turned into him, burying her face against the soft cotton of his hoodie, inhaling the familiar scent of cheap cologne and weed. The sobs wracked her small frame. "Lee... oh god, Lee..." The words were muffled, choked.
"Shhh, CC. It's okay. Breathe." He wrapped an arm around her shoulders, his touch grounding. "Was it Ace? Did she...?"
"She... she said..." CC hiccupped, pulling back slightly, her tear-streaked face pale in the weak light. Her green eyes were wide, desperate. "She said she loves me, Lee. She fucking loves me." The words felt alien, dangerous on her tongue. "And I... and I..." Her voice broke again. "I think... I think I love her too. God help me, I do. I love her crazy ass. I crave her... like air. Even when she's scaring the shit out of me. Even when she fucks me raw against a door and calls me names. Especially then." The confession tumbled out, raw and unfiltered, drenched in tears and confusion. "What's wrong with me?"
Lee held her tighter, his expression a mix of sympathy and weary understanding. "Nothing's wrong with you, CC. Love's messy. Especially with Ace. She’s a force of fucking nature. And you... you feel what you feel. Doesn't have to fit in a neat little box labeled 'straight'." He sighed, rubbing her back. "But Jesus, you two are gonna kill each other. Or me. The tension is literally flammable."
"I know," CC whispered, wiping her nose with the back of her hand. "It's like... fire and gasoline. One spark and we just... explode. And afterwards..." She shuddered, remembering the feeling of Ace holding her pinned after, the terrifying tenderness mixed with the lingering ache between her legs. "Afterwards, I just feel... owned. And I hate it. And I want more."
From the shadowed archway leading into the lounge, Ace stood frozen. She’d followed CC at a distance, a predator stalking wounded prey, her own chest tight with a volatile cocktail of fury, hurt, and the terrifying vulnerability of her exposed heart. She’d heard it all. Every raw, tearful word. I think I love her too. I crave her. I feel owned. And I want more.
A slow, predatory smirk spread across Ace’s face, cutting through the shadows. The vulnerability vanished, replaced by a fierce, possessive gleam in her dark eyes. She moved then, silent and deliberate, her boots making no sound on the carpet until the last moment. She crossed the space between the archway and the couch in a few long strides.
Lee saw her first. "Ace..." he started, his voice cautious, warning.
But Ace ignored him. Her focus was laser-sharp on CC, who stiffened, sensing the new presence, and slowly turned her tear-stained face.
Ace stopped directly in front of her. The lone lamp cast sharp angles on her face, highlighting the intensity in her eyes, the set of her jaw. Without a word, she reached down. Her fingers, strong and calloused from bike chains and soccer balls, caught CC under the chin, forcing her head up. The touch wasn't gentle. It was a demand.
CC gasped, her green eyes wide with shock, tears still clinging to her lashes. She looked impossibly fragile under Ace’s grip. Lee tensed beside her, ready to intervene.
Ace leaned down, bringing her face inches from CC’s. Her voice, when it came, was a low, dangerous rasp that vibrated in the tense air of the empty lounge. It held no trace of the tenderness from the dorm room. Only challenge. Possession. Raw, undeniable heat.
"You love me, huh, baby?" Ace murmured, her thumb brushing roughly over CC’s wet lower lip. "You crave me? Feel owned?" Her smirk widened, sharp and unforgiving. "You wanna prove that?"
She tightened her grip on CC’s chin, her gaze locked onto those terrified, dilated pupils. Her next words were a command, dropping into the thick silence like stones.
"Get on your fucking knees."