His chin pointed to where Dad was twirling Tess in an awkward way. “Tessa. Due to some complications and my idiocy, we were always on and off. There was no certainty between us. At one point, we thought we’d have no future together. Until six months ago, when we decided to give us another chance. I finally got the balls to ask for her hand last month.”

I heard he had problems committing in relationships. And Tess needed one. They had a lot of misunderstandings and arguments over it until everything turned out good. I didn’t know why he had such a fear of commitments, but I was glad he sorted it out and gave Tess what she wanted.

“That’s because you never stopped believing in your love. It’s your heart that brought you guys together again.” I smiled. “I’m really happy for you guys. Tess is lucky to have you. And I hope you won’t disappoint me in the future for feeling that way.”

He shook his head, eyes genuine. “I won’t, I promise. And it’s the other way around, trust me. I’m the lucky one to have her.”

I shrugged. “That’s true.”

He laughed, looking back at my sister.

Then something struck my mind as I cleared my throat. “When did you guys start dating?”

He turned back to me. “I liked her the moment Achilles introduced her to me. After a while, I knew that I wasn’t alone in the boat, she also had some feelings for me. And just a month before her nineteenth birthday, we started dating.”

“You guys were into each other for that long? How come I had no idea?” I asked, surprised.

“Like I said, we were never sure of anything. We decided to keep it quiet to see where it goes.”

I raised my brows. “Secret relationship, huh?”

He chuckled. “You can say that.”

Shaking my head, I laughed along. Then realization hit me, threatening my smile to fall. A month before her nineteenth birthday? A month before that night?

Something churned in my stomach. She was already in a relationship with Caleb when she kissed Ace that night?

My eyes fell on her. She was laughing at something Dad said.

Did she... cheat on Caleb?

Continuous vibrations pulled me out of my raw sleep. Groaning, I pulled my phone out from beneath my pillow.

Who’s calling in the middle of night?

After rubbing the sleep from my eyes, I squinted at the screen.

Ace?

Every ounce of drowsiness left from my body with the skip of my heart. Why was he calling me at this hour of the night?

Should I receive it?

Of course I should!

But just as I swiped the green sign, the call ended. Disappointment filled my chest as I stared at the screen, hoping it’d ring again. But it didn’t. I glanced at the clock. It was twelve thirty.