His Greatest Pain Read Free Page B

head. “That’s not true. I know
exactly where I’d be.”
    They
didn’t say anything after that, neither saying what or where he’d be if things
had been different. After she’d finished school and had her own place Ace had
already gotten on his feet, had a nice place in a better area of town, and she
knew that he was in a good place in his life right now, at least on the
outside, and doing better than he’d been in   a long time. Now she stayed close, kept him close, and things had been good. Maybe one of these days she’d
be able to tell him how she felt, but until then she’d enjoy the once in a
lifetime friendship she had with this man.
    “Come
on, let’s eat.” She pulled out of his hold, and chuckled when he pulled her in
for one more big hug.
    “You
smell so good.” He inhaled. “You always smell so good, like sugar cookies.”
    She
chuckled, and when he let her go she went into the dining room. Her apartment
was small, but it was in a nice neighborhood. She was comfortable, and she was
able to have Ace come over all the time. But Lauren knew there would be a time
when he eventually found someone, a nice woman that could give him everything
he needed and wanted. And she honestly didn’t know what she’d do when that day
came.

Chapter
Two
     
    “This
place is packed,” Lauren said loudly, as the music was pretty damn extreme.
    Ace
grabbed her hand and pulled her closer, not liking that he noticed a bunch of
fuckers already staring at her. They’d decided to go out to a bar that had a
local band playing tonight. Well, Lauren had decided to go and had asked him to
come. Ace preferred staying in, preferably with her, but there were times he
went out, like when he’d went to see his longtime friend Toby, who had just lost
his dad. They’d gotten trashed, but it had been good for both of them to forget
about the negative shit their old men had laid on them.
    He
scanned the room, trying to find a place for them to sit.
    “Over
there, Ace.” She pointed to an empty table in the corner, and then started
pulling him through the crowd. A bunch of assholes turned and checked Lauren
out. She was hot, no doubt about it, especially with the long skirt she wore
that molded to her ass, and the shirt she wore that showed her perfect, big
breasts, ones he’d jerked off to many time like a damn pervert.
    He
shook his head, glared at one asshole that was checking her out especially
hard, and when the guy lifted his brows and held up a hand, Ace felt a little
bit of pride at the surrender. She wasn’t his, maybe would never be his, but
that didn’t mean he liked other pricks checking her out lewdly, like she was
just a hole they could stick their dick in.
    They
sat down at the table, and no more than five minutes later the band came on
stage. The crowd went wild, and Ace knew that many of the people here knew the
band personally. He’d heard of them around town, but he wasn’t into these
closed places where everyone was crammed in like damn sardines.
    He
glanced at Lauren, saw her ordering some drinks from the waitress Ace hadn’t
even seen walk up, and when they were alone she learned forward and smiled
wider.
    “I
know you hate going to things like this, but I’m glad I was able to get you to
come. I love hanging out with you.”
    He
couldn’t help but smile, too. She was just so damn optimistic, so positive all
the time, that even when he was in his dark moments and she was near he
couldn’t help but feel the light that came from her. “You could ask me anything
and you know I’ll give it to you.” And that was the truth.
    She
smiled even wider, showing off her straight white teeth, and grabbed his hand
and squeezed it. They stared at each other for a few seconds. Then the lights
dimmed and the music started playing. It wasn’t music he particularly liked,
but Lauren was singing along to it, and that made this all worth it. He looked
at her hair, the long strawberry blonde colored strands that