Page 4 of Until Ace

She then showed me why she was a saint walking this earth. With every screwed-up thing I did, she sat me down and listened to what I had to say. She’d then talk to me, and in the end, I was left feeling like an idiot, trying to find a way to make up for my actions. What hurt the most was the disappointment I saw clearly shining in her eyes. Somewhere along the way, I finally vowed I would never disappoint her again.

It’s my mission in life to make Aunt Beverly proud of me.

That is also why I show up at her door whenever she calls and then some.

“Are you going to stare at me for the rest of the night, or are you going to come in?” she asks impatiently, but there’s a tiny, satisfied smile trying to break through.

“Hi, darling,” I greet quietly, leaning down to kiss her cheek before walking inside. “How are you?”

As she closes the door behind us, the cacophony of “Hey, Ace!” and “He’s here!” assaults my ears.

Yep, sure enough, Beverly’s whole gang's here—which means five elderly women coming my way.

“Hello, ladies,” I murmur, kissing cheeks, getting mine either pinched or lightly patted. “You didn’t tell me it was game night.” I lift a brow at Beverly.

“That’s because you wouldn’t come if I did.”

She’s right; I wouldn’t. I tend to stay away from this place when she has her game nights.

That’s usually because, at the end of it, I’m pulled into solving some kind of situation that’s troubling them. It’s normally the granddaughter of one of her friends. I can’t even count the times I’ve found myself standing on some dude's porch, giving it my all not to beat the bastard while a woman carrying a baby demanded her ex-husband pay child support. Or how many times I’ve threatened a man and promised him a beating if he didn’t stop hitting his girlfriend. Or was sent to find a runaway kid. Or put up posters for lost dogs, cats, bunnies, and any other pet known to man.

And the why is simple.

Beverly can’t walk away from a person in need. And I am her tool to make everything better.

I have to admit, it feels great to know she has this kind of confidence in me, but lately she’s been on another mission. One in which I don’t want to participate, no matter how hard she wants it to happen.

Beverly has decided it’s time for me to find a woman. For some time now, she’s fixated all her efforts on setting me up on a date.

Now, I love her, and I would do anything for her and her friends, but I have to draw the line somewhere. And that line is going out on a date that my elderly aunt has set up for me.

Sure, I haven’t had a date—or been with a woman—in quite some time, but I’m not that desperate.

Yet, somehow, I think I’m here for that very reason.

“Yep, he’ll do!” Ida, the loudest of the bunch, exclaims.

“For what?” I follow Ida to try to get more information, but the woman just smiles her signature devilish smile and winks.

Oh, I’m fucked.

“How long do you think it’ll take?” Tracy, another friend of Beverly’s, muses.

“With her looks? I will be surprised if he lasts a week,” my aunt says as she comes up behind me, takes my elbow, and turns me toward the kitchen.

“Beverly, what are you doing?” I ask, even though I have an idea.

“You’ll find out soon.” She gives me a sweet smile I don’t believe for even a second. She’s scheming, which usually means I’m going to have to do something I don’t want to.

“Beverly, I told you, I don’t need you to set me up with someone.” I tap into my patience reserve, but after today, there’s not much of it left.

“You did.” She nods, confirming something I know I explicitly told her the last three times she tried this. “And yet here we are.”

“And yet… where are we?” I ask. How the fuck do I keep getting into situations like this? “Look, ladies—” I gaze around the room to include them all. “—I love y’all. I think the world of you. But I do not need any of you to find me someone.”

“So you say,” Ida mutters. She looks at the others and raises her eyebrows, clearly disagreeing with me.

I don’t say anything, just give Ida a suffering look. I learned a long time ago not to go into any debates with these women. I lose each and every time.