Ignite (Explosive) (16 page)

As much
as I’d love to bump n’ grind with Alexa right here, I don’t really feel like spending the rest of our time together in a jail cell. A mental picture of Alexa in handcuffs does nothing to kill my erection, so I turn my thoughts to anything else so I don’t walk into the establishment and embarrass myself. I’m quick to make conversation, asking what kinds of marine life she thinks we’ll see today, hoping to calm myself down. After a moment or two, I feel safe enough to be in public, so I ask her if she’s ready for the next part of our date. She nods enthusiastically, and I can’t help but feel proud that I thought of doing this.

I hold the door open for her as we enter Southern Star Dolphin Cruises. We’re just in time for the two o’clock cruise, so I purchase our tickets and head on outside to board the boat. We find a spot near the bow so that we can be right up front with all of the action. Lexi points excitedly at the glass bottom of the boat as a school of bright yellow fish swims underneath us.

“Jace, this is incredible. I can’t remember the last time I went on a dolphin cruise. It’s been at least ten years. I hope we get to see some!” she says excitedly.

“The last time you were on a dolphin cruise was spring break your junior year of high school. At least as far as I know that’s the last time you went on one—with me anyways.”

She’s silent for a moment, and I’m not sure if she remembers that week. Her eyebrows furrow before I finally see the memory come back to her. She smiles at me, and it’s all I can do to not kiss her right here.

“You’re right. I can’t believe I forgot that. That was the day everyone went to Crab Island and ended up drunk and sunburned,” she recalls, shaking her head at the memory. “Aaron and I had just broken up, so when he showed up, you saw how upset I was and got me out of there.”

“I still can’t believe you dated him. Or that he cheated on you with Mallory. Well, actually that part I can believe. And then for them to flaunt it in your face? I didn’t want to be around it either.”

“Well, in case I didn’t say it then, I’ll tell you now. Thank you, Jace. That was very sweet and much appreciated. I do remember that cruise. That was the first time I got to see a dolphin up close. I was so excited that it made me forget all about those two,” she smiles.

Thinking back to that day, I remember how innocent and beautiful she looked as she watched the dolphins with delight. I’ve always had feelings for her, but I tried to keep them in the back of my mind. That day was the first time I really allowed myself to consider telling her how much I cared about her as more than a friend.

She was just so different from all of the other girls at school. They were all content with sitting on a boat all day, getting trashed, and Alexa was having more fun than all of them combined just by watching dolphins swim in the ocean. The funny thing is that without her, I probably would’ve been one of the drunken bums with them, but where Alexa was concerned, I would have done just about anything she wanted. I just wanted to around be her, be with her.

Don’t get me wrong, she wasn’t this perfect, can-do-no-wrong type of girl. She could be infuriating and stubborn, and the girl definitely could hold her liquor. At the same time, she was the most positive, uplifting person I’d ever met, and she always saw the good in everyone. I mean, she even tried to be friends with Mallory when we were dating, and that was no easy feat. But that was just Alexa. She was the girl in school who had friends in every circle, and she didn’t care if anyone had a problem with that.

When we’d first starting hanging out at baseball games her freshman year, I was drawn to her because of the crazy amount of knowledge she had about sports. It wasn’t until after the season was over that I realized we’d somehow transitioned from two people with a mutual admiration for the sport to pretty much being best friends. We just kind of fell into the friendship and never thought twice about it.

“Jace?” Alexa asks as she shakes my shoulder.

I come back to the present and smile at her before placing a soft kiss on her temple. The boat pulls away from the ramp, and we listen in silence as the captain points out various places and wildlife while giving a brief history of the area.

We spend the next two hours staring out into the Gulf of Mexico, scanning the water for dolphins and other marine animals. Well, Alexa spends most of the time doing that. I’m wrapped up in watching her eyes light up every time she sees a dolphin. Apparently we came on a good day, because they’re out in full force. No matter how many we see, she still laughs with delight when they skim the surface of the water.

I have a feeling it’s been a while since she’s felt so happy and carefree, and I can’t help but feel a twinge of pride that I was the one to bring that thousand-watt smile to her face. I shake my head, thinking that I need to do some pull ups or something manly like that. I don’t know what it is about this girl that makes me so emotional. She just affects me in a way no one ever has before.

Alexa gets up from her seat and moves to the front of the boat. I follow, placing my hands on the railing around her. She closes her eyes and leans back into me, taking a deep breath before speaking.

“I love that smell. I forgot how much I missed it.”

I smile and press a kiss into her hair. “Trust me, I know exactly how you feel. I can’t remember how many nights I’ve been in bed smelling nothing but the stench of Afghanistan, praying I could smell the sweet saltwater air.”

“Was it really that bad over there?” Alexa turns to look at me with questioning eyes.

“To be as crude as possible, my buddy Knox once described it like as ‘beer shits floating through the blazing hot air.’ It makes your eyes water and your stomach clench. It was pure hell, just based on the smell.”

Alexa stares at me, almost unsure of what to say. Before she can respond, I add, “They literally have a shit pond.” Her eyes widen as I continue. “They had this pool full of sewage and chemicals, and they would light it on fire to get rid of the waste. It permeated the air and made your eyes water terribly. They also put sewage in barrels to burn later on. Therefore, the scent in the air was usually a shit smell. There is a waste management center now in Kandahar, but not all the sewer lines run to it, so it’s the places outside the city that are the worst.”

Alexa cringes and gives me a pitying look. “I’m so sorry that you’ve had to deal with that, Jace,”

“Babe, it’s all in a day’s work. After a couple of days, you don’t even notice it anymore. It’s an adjustment, being over there. You don’t realize how lucky you are until you visit a country like that. It’s a whole different world.”

Alexa shudders at the thought. “I can’t even imagine. Here I am, wishing I could smell the salt water every day, and you’ve been breathing in shit air for the past six months. I hate that, Jace.”

“Babe, seriously, it’s no big deal. I’ve been out in the field where guys have to relieve themselves in the woods. A little smell won’t kill me,” I respond, nuzzling her ear.

As the boat pulls up to the dock, I know I don’t want this day to end, so I offer up a suggestion.

“What do you say we rent some movies and hang out at the condo tonight? There’s nothing big going on, so let’s just stay in.”

“Don’t you have reunion events to go to?” she asks, looking at me questioningly.

I try to remember what the flyer said about the schedule of events. To be honest, I couldn’t give a shit less what everyone else is doing. As far as I’m concerned, this is the reunion I’m here for.

“There’s some welcome mixer or something tonight. I guess last night was just an unofficial gathering,” I respond, really not caring to go mingle with anyone.

Biting her lower lip, she frowns at the ground. She sighs before looking up at me. “Jace, this is your ten-year reunion. You can’t go missing events just to hang out with me. I’ll be fine on my own for a few hours.”

“At the risk of sounding cheesy, I really don’t care to spend time with anyone else. We only have today and tomorrow before the weekend is over. I don’t want to waste any of that time,” I reassure her.

Before she can respond, her cell phone beeps, indicating that she has a message. She holds her finger up to me in the “one sec” gesture as she plays with her phone. As she reads the message, a huge smile lights up her face and she shakes her head at whatever the sender has written. She quickly types back a reply and puts her phone back into her purse.

“Sorry about that. I’m still waiting on some information for an account at work, so I have to check my phone constantly.”

“Ahh, everything at work going okay?” I try to say as casually as possible. No way was that text message was work related—or else Alexa’s the happiest employee on the planet.

“Oh, that wasn’t work. That was just my friend, Brady, checking in on me to see how everything was going,” she says, flushing a little bit.

Ooookay. Chill out, Jace. It doesn’t mean anything,
I tell myself as I wonder why in the hell this Brady guy is making her laugh and flush at practically the same time. It’s probably stupid, and I don’t know if she’s even thought about dating again, but part of me hoped that this reunion might bring up old feelings and maybe, just maybe we could try things out. It never crossed my mind that some other guy might’ve gotten in there before I had the chance.

I’m about to respond when she speaks first. “Seriously, you should go to the mixer, at least for a little bit. I’ll feel terrible that you came all this way to meet up with your old friends and then decide to skip it just to hang out with me. I’ll just go back to the condo and do some reading on the balcony until you’re ready for me. That will give me time to call Brady and catch up with him, too.”

I’m probably
terrible for doing this, but watching Jace’s reaction at the mention of Brady is extremely amusing. It just dawned on me that he has no idea that Brady bats for the other team. I really shouldn’t exploit his jealously, but it’s irrational, so I don’t mind messing with him for a little bit.

“Hmm, trying to get rid of me so you can talk to another guy?” he asks, struggling to keep his tone light.

Toying with the necklace that’s resting against my collarbone, I decide how I’m going to answer him. “Well, I can’t exactly talk to him when I’m around you, can I? We usually talk every day, and well, obviously you and I have basically been together since we woke up this morning. I need some Brady time, so I’ll do that when you’re at the mixer.” I smile innocently at him.

As we get to the car, I notice him gripping the keys tightly in his hand. He opens my door and I slide into the seat before he closes it. A moment later he gets in and starts the car without saying a word. He pulls out of the parking lot and heads towards the highway. Part of me wants to roll my eyes at his pouting and the other half feels bad for messing with him. It’s kind of cute that he’s jealous after such a long time. I should probably tell him the truth about Brady so I don’t get the silent treatment all the way back to the condo.

I’m about to spill it when Jace surprises me by talking. “How about this? We’ll go back to the resort and I’ll go to the mixer for a little bit just to make an appearance. Let’s both go pick up one movie each to watch tonight and then meet back at my place, say, around nine-ish? I know I won’t want to be there long.” He winks at me.

“Sounds good to me. What do you want to watch? Titanic, The Notebook, or Pride and Prejudice?”

Jace groans at my movie prospects. “I guess that means I’ll be getting Apocalypse Now, Friday the 13
th
, or Alien?” he jokes.

“Really? How many times did you try to get me to watch Alien in high school? I fell asleep every single time. So if you’re goal is to sedate me, then by all means, rent that one,” I tell him.

We fall into a playful banter as we drive back towards the condo, joking about the horrible movies we’ve made the other watch. Jace reminds me of the time that his dad made us watch The Ice Cream Man and I almost choke on a sip of water when I recall the creepy guy using real eyeballs in the rocky road.

“Why your dad would show that movie to an impressionable fifteen-year-old girl is beyond me. I was terrified every time I heard the ice cream truck after that!” I shudder from the memory of the ice cream truck driver who was obsessed with children.

Jace laughs and then takes my hand in his. Intertwining our fingers, he brings my hand to his thigh as we pass the rest of the drive in silence. We pull up to the condo, and when Jace parks, neither of us makes a move to get out. Finally, I reach for the door handle when he places his hand on the back of my neck. A rush of tingling shivers runs down my spine as I turn to face him, catching my breath when I see the fiery heat in his eyes. He pulls me to him and kisses me with a passion I wasn’t expecting.

Before I can react, his tongue is dancing with mine, and we’re devouring each other. The way his tongue caresses mine so expertly sends a flood of erotic thoughts to my mind. A few moments later, he pulls away from me and I can see the lust burning in his eyes. He gives me one more quick peck before exiting the car. I follow, trying to gracefully get out, knowing that I need to explain about Brady.

Coming around the car, he grabs my hand and pulls me towards the elevator. He presses the up button, and we wait in silence for the doors to open. Getting on the elevator once it appears, I notice the air is filled with tension. I let go of his hand and hit the emergency stop button. Jace starts to protest, but I hold my hand up to silence him.

Moving towards him, I decide to put him out of his misery. I press my body against his, wrapping my arms around his neck, and I struggle to contain the moan developing in my throat as I feel every hard inch of him pressing into me.

“Just so you know, Brady is my best friend, and I couldn’t live without him.”

Jace takes in a deep breath and closes his eyes as I watch his eyebrows furrow.

I get on my tiptoes in order to give him a kiss as I grab his chin with my hand. “Jace, Brady is my co-worker and the best friend I’ve had in a very long time. He’s the one who helped me realize that moving on from Tyler was okay. I don’t think I’d be as strong as I am today if it weren’t for him.”

Jace swallows hard and looks anywhere except at my face. “Umm, I’m glad you had someone to comfort you when you needed it,” he says quietly, completely unenthusiastic.

“Jace, Brady is gay. I love him, and his boyfriend is an amazing guy. No need for the whole jealousy act,” I tell him.

I watch my words sink in, and a look of relief softens Jace’s previously stern look. He wraps his arms around me, and I can’t help but fall into his embrace.

“I’m an idiot. So that’s what you meant by saying you’d hook me up with Brady,” he whispers into my hair. “I’m sorry for the caveman act. It’s just been so hard knowing that you’ve been with someone else for so long. When I saw that you had a guy from back home that was clearly making you happy, something inside me went crazy. I promise you, I’m not normally a jealous guy, but Alexa, nothing is normal for me where you’re concerned.”

I move to release the elevator stop button, and we’re silent until it stops and opens up on my floor. I don’t want to leave, but lingering will make this moment even harder. Getting up on my toes, I give him a quick kiss.

“Tonight?” he whispers as my mouth connects with his.

“Tonight,” I confirm before stepping off and losing sight of him.

Tonight…