Chapter 127 LOVE MAKES US FOOLS.
AMARA’S POINT OF VIEW.
He looked down at me with a smirk before bending so he could capture my lips in a soft kiss. If there was anything I knew about Ace, it was how much he enjoyed kissing me. The guy just cannot get enough of my lips, and who am I to deny him?
I kissed him back with as much passion and….well, love, smiling against his lips, as he grabbed my ass, before smacking it. I gasped at the hot contact against my flesh, and Ace took that chance to insert his tongue into my mouth. The moment our tongues connected, he groaned into my mouth and kissed with even more passion.
I followed his lead, letting him pull me further into the daze he always keeps me in. A few minutes later, he pulled away from me, choosing to feast on my neck instead, as he kissed my neck and shoulders with equal passion as earlier.
“Ace.” I giggled at the ticklish feel of his slight stubble prickling against my neck. “That tickles.”
“Hmm, baby.” He groaned, the sound deep and guttural. “I missed you.” He kissed again. “So much.”
“I missed you too, but you’re crazy,” I remarked, smiling discreetly as he pulled away, and stared at me with a smirk. He trapped my body against the counter and stood before me, his tall frame stretching before me.
I licked my lips discreetly at the thought of climbing the tall frame he was all over again, but he caught the motion.
“And yet, you keep me around.” He moved closer, even though there was barely any space between us already, as he braced his hands on either side of me, trapping me even more between his arms and the counter. “Want to tell me what really happened?”
I hesitated, but his gaze softened, and somehow, the words came tumbling out. “They were in bed. Together. I thought they hated each other, Ace. My mom—she spent years pretending he didn’t exist, to the point where I could never even mention his name around her, or when he had to come around, even though that was very rare, she would hide in her room all day, and not come say goodbye to me…
And he—God, he married another woman. But when I saw them today, I realised they never stopped loving each other. It’s like the whole world kept them apart, and the universe just decided to give them one last chance.”
Ace didn’t interrupt. He never did when I got like this—he just watched, silent and still, like my words mattered. It made me feel….seen. The best thing to ever happen to me was escaping to Australia a couple of months ago, and subsequently, running to that bar where I met him.
I felt like no one ever saw me as much as he did. My mother tried…but at the same time, it felt like she wasn’t doing enough.
“I was horrified,” I admitted, “but also… happy? Like maybe it means things don’t always stay broken.”
He tilted his head, eyes flicking over my face, as he caressed my cheeks softly. His other hand was playing with the strands of my hair, while I caressed his. “You really believe that?” He asked, and I could see that look in his eyes again….like he wanted to tell me something but was holding back because he was…..scared.
“I don’t know,” I whispered. “I want to, though.” I wanted to believe that love like that existed. One that transcended time, and still chased even after the obstacles the world threw at them. One that finds the other even after facing hell, and finally chooses each other regardless of the danger that could ensue from that.
A love that mattered, even if it looked selfish to others.
He brushed a strand of hair from my face, his fingers lingering against my cheek. “You’ve got a big heart, Princess. It’s dangerous.”
“Yeah, well,” I said, forcing a smile even as my heart pounded with so much love for him, “so’s yours.”
He huffed a quiet laugh, but his expression changed—softer, almost unreadable. “You know what’s funny? I used to think love made people weak. That it was for fairytales, and the stupid, but watching you prove me wrong is the most irritating thing that’s ever happened to me.”
“That’s the nicest insult anyone’s ever given me,” I said dryly.
Ace leaned in until his breath tickled over my ear. “You make me want things I swore I’d never want again.”
The words sank into me like heat, my heart thudding violently as I stared at myself. I wanted to joke, to deflect again, but my voice came out smaller than I intended. “Like what?”
He smiled, but it wasn’t his usual arrogant smirk—it was almost reverent, like he was taking me in for the first time all over again. “Peace. Something I never thought I’d find….not until You.”
And there it was—the same kind of honesty I’d seen in my father’s eyes earlier, raw and unguarded. Maybe love really did make fools of us all.
I swallowed, my hand finding his. “You know, if my parents could survive twenty years of heartbreak and one awkward morning decide to finally say fuck you to the rest of the world, maybe there’s hope for the rest of us.”
He squeezed my fingers. “Don’t go getting sentimental on me, Amara. I like my chaos girl unbreakable.”
“I’m not unbreakable,” I said quietly.
He studied me for a moment, then leaned down until our foreheads touched. “Then I’ll just have to be the one who holds you together.”
Silence settled between us—soft, fragile, almost holy. For a long moment, the world outside didn’t exist. Just his breath, my pulse, and the quiet hum of everything unsaid.
Then, of course, Ace ruined it.
“So,” he murmured, lips curving into that devilish grin again, “your parents inspired you, huh?”
I shoved him. “Oh my God, stop!”
He laughed, catching my wrist and pulling me back between his arms. “Admit it, Princess. You’re already writing their redemption arc in your head.”
“Maybe,” I said, trying not to smile. “But only because watching them made me realise something.”
“What’s that?”
“That love isn’t perfect,” I said. “It’s messy and loud and sometimes really inconvenient. But when it’s real, it finds its way back—even if it has to take a detour through hell first.”
Ace stared at me like he was memorising every word. Then, softly: “You’re dangerous when you talk like that.”
“Why?” I asked.
“Because you make forever sound like something I could believe in.”
My throat tightened. For a boy who claimed he didn’t do softness, he sure had a way of slipping it into my bloodstream like poison.
He kissed me then and again, this time it was slow, deliberate, nothing like the wild, hungry ones he usually gave me. This one was quieter, full of everything we didn’t know how to say.
When he finally pulled back, he whispered against my lips, “Guess I’m doomed.”
I smiled, breathless. “Yeah, but at least it’s mutual.”
He grinned. “Good. I don’t like suffering alone.”
We both laughed, and for the first time since the morning catastrophe, the image in my head faded—replaced by this one: Ace’s smile, his warmth, the way he looked at me like I was both the fire and the match.
Maybe love really was madness. But standing there, wrapped in it, I decided some madness was worth keeping.