Ignite (Explosive) (27 page)

Knox scoffs in disbelief. “You just spent all this time apart because of a misunderstanding? That sounds like bullshit to me. Whatever.” He sighs before continuing. “Break it down for me so I can try and figure out how a smart guy like you who’s avoided relationships could go away for one weekend and come back a lovesick fool who won’t stop smiling. Seriously, dude, tone it down a notch. You’re going to creep me out.”

“I can’t wait until a woman latches on to you. It’s going to be so much fun watching you eat your words,” I tell him.

I didn’t tell him about the phone call Sierra had orchestrated back in February, so I begin there. His eyes soften when I tell him about Ty’s passing. He sits quietly as I tell him about seeing her again for the first time. I ignore him as he mutters, “Fucking women,” when I get to the part about Kristin telling me that Alexa had moved on, and he’s even more pissed when he finds out it was a lie. He listens silently for the next ten minutes as I continue the story, cautious to leave out any of the sexy details. No one gets to know those except for me. I wrap up the story, and he looks at me contemplatively.

“Look, man, if you’re happy, then I can be in your corner. Just be careful. You’re not a fun, depressed drunk,” he says as he slaps my back.

“Thanks, Knox. I appreciate it. I’m gonna go make a quick phone call, so I’ll see you on the plane.”

Making my way over to the payphones, I pull out the phone card the USO gave away. I dial her number and am about to hang up when she finally answers on the fourth ring.

“Hello?” she answers sleepily.

I immediately check my watch and realize that it’s only a little after 3:00 am in Ohio.

“Hey, babe. Sorry to wake you. I wasn’t thinking about the time difference,” I say, knowing I should let her go back to sleep.

Her voice perks up a little, sending a flutter through my heart. “Jace? It’s okay, I’m awake. Where are you calling me from?”

“I’m in Germany. We’re getting ready to get on the plane, and I wanted to hear your voice one last time.”

She lets out a soft sigh, causing my dick to jerk slightly in my uniform pants as I hear her breathy voice. “I’m glad you did. I know the time difference will be crazy, so call me whenever you can, no matter what time it is, okay? “

Smiling into the phone, I lean my left arm over the payphone console. I catch Knox watching me as he shakes his head. I’m going to get so much shit over the next few weeks, but it’s worth it. I turn back towards the phone, putting my back to him.

“I’ll keep that in mind, babe. Oh, I forgot to tell you, make sure to download Skype. Sometimes we can get into the Comm room and use it when we have downtime. It might not be often, but I’ll try when I can.”

“That’ll be the first thing I do tomorrow. Jace…” she says before pausing. “I miss you. I just wanted to tell you that.”

My heart swells at her words, and the smile on my face grows exponentially larger. “I miss you, too, babe. I’ll be back before you know it.”

She yawns, and knowing that she has to get up for work in a few hours, I decide to let her go. “We’re going to be boarding soon, so I should probably run.”

“All right. Thanks for calling. It was good to hear your voice, even if it’s the middle of the night,” she teases. “Be careful. Promise me you’ll be careful.”

I clear my throat, not wanting to say goodbye. “I promise. I’ll be as careful as can be. I’ll see you soon, okay?”

“Okay. See you soon,” she echoes before hanging up.

I place the receiver back on the cradle and head back over to where Knox is sitting. We sit in silence until they announce that it’s time to board the plane. Surprisingly, my nerves are calm. The sooner I get back to Afghanistan, the sooner I can go home to prove to her that I meant what I said. I’ll always come back.

It’s been
a little over a month since Jace and I said goodbye at the airport. A few days after he called me from Germany, I received a postcard showing the German countryside with a quick note from him. After that I started to get at least one letter a week. We were able to email each other on a pretty regular basis, since he was at Kandahar instead of one of the forward operating bases where communications could be limited. The hardest part has been trying to set up Skype or phone conversations since he’s eight and a half hours ahead of Cincinnati. Couple that with the twelve-hour, six-days-a-week shifts he’s working, and we’ve found ourselves mostly playing email tag with a couple of late-night conversations in between that have only lasted mere minutes.

I decide to park in my driveway since I’ll be leaving to go to my parents’ place for dinner in a little bit. Walking up to the front door, I grab the mail from the box before heading inside. Toby’s waiting for me, and he brushes up against my legs. I lean down to rub between his ears as I go through the mail. My heart races when I see the familiar handwriting I’ve come to look for every single day when I check the mailbox. Making my way to the couch, I throw the rest of the stack onto the coffee table before frantically ripping open the envelope.

Unfolding the letter, my eyes race over the handwritten words.

August 22
nd
, 2012

Hey Beautiful,

I know I just finished emailing you, but as I was lying in bed, trying to fall asleep, I couldn’t stop wishing you were in my arms. It’s crazy how my mind is so consumed with thoughts of you. Two months ago the only thing on the brain when I went to sleep was what workout I had to do the next day or wonder what type of call we may be dispatched out on. Now, those are a complete afterthought. Every night now ends with a memory of you, imagining you in that sexy bikini, or on a really good night, I can still see how your face softened, the way you bit your lip while you braced yourself on my shoulders as you came for the first time when I was finally inside of you. If I close my eyes, I can practically feel the way you clenched around me as you got your release. It was the most beautiful sight I’ve ever had the pleasure to witness, and my dick’s going hard to thinking about it.

And now I can picture the pink blush that’s creeping onto your face as you read this. Not much longer, babe, and you’ll be back in my arms. I meant what I said before. You’re going to have to fight to keep me away. And just so you know, I’ve been working out, so I think I can take you. Okay, you’re probably rolling your eyes at me now, and well, I’m kind of turned on now that I’ve been picturing your tight, naked body on top of mine. Do you have any idea what you do to me? I hope you’ve kept up your running with Brady because I have plans for our own kind of marathon when I get back, so there’s your warning.

I’ll close with this. I miss the hell out of you. A part of me always missed you, but this time it’s different. I think that knowing that there’s a chance at a future for us has given my heart more room to breathe, more room to feel, and I swear, I’ve missed you more in these last few weeks than I did whole ten years combined. I’m thankful for this second chance, and I’m going to do everything I can not to fuck it up again. See you soon.

Yours,

Jace

Leaning back against the couch, I reread his words. I smile and then blush just like he knew I would. A fire ignites between my legs, and it’s all I can do not to immediately run to my bedroom to make use of one of the vibrators Sierra felt it necessary to buy me for Christmas last year. Instead, I head to my office and pull out my stationary so I can reply while I’m still feeling aroused, knowing it’d be hard to write the words any other time. I know my face is pink as I’m writing to him, but I keep on going because he deserves for me to be as open as he’s willing to be. I finish up before I can talk myself out of it, and I head to my bathroom to give it a spritz of the coconut body spray he loves so much. I place it in an envelope and address it.

I change out of my work clothes, replacing them with black shorts and an oversized Army t-shirt I may or may not have commandeered from Jace’s collection. After reading that letter, I want to be close to him, and this is the only way I know how. Throwing both letters in my purse, I make sure Toby has food before I head out to stop by the post office on my way to my parents’ place.

Fifteen minutes later I’m opening up the door to parents’ house and immediately hear my dad and Jeremy arguing over who’s going to win the Super Bowl. I head towards the living room to join in on the conversation, and my dad stands to greet me, giving me a kiss on the cheek.

“Ahh, finally, my sports fan is here to back me up. Come on, Lexi. Tell Jeremy that our new hot rookie quarterback is going to take us to the playoffs,” Dad requests.

I shake my head, not sure if I can agree with him. “Dad, we’ve only seen him play in the pre-season. Why don’t we let him get a few games under his belt before we decide how far he’s going to take us?”

He huffs and immediately switches the conversation to the Reds. Jeremy can’t say anything because, as of right now, we’re leading the National Central League, holding out on top over the St. Louis Cardinals, our archrivals. I excuse myself from the conversation and go in search of Mom and Sierra. I find them in the kitchen where Mom is whipping up her famous meatloaf, a dish she spoils Jeremy with at least once a month. Ava’s sitting on a barstool at the counter, licking what looks to be chocolate frosting off one of the mixing handles.

“Lexi, it’s about time you show up to visit your dear old parents,” Mom scolds me.

I give her a sheepish grin and shrug my shoulders. “Sorry, Mom, I’ve been slammed at work, and then you guys were out of town last time I was going to stop by.”

She waves me off, apparently forgiving me for not having been by since the weekend they had a cookout for the fourth of July. Pouring me a glass of Chianti, she turns back towards the stove. Sierra lifts her brows at me, wondering if and why I’ve been avoiding our parents. If I’m completely honest with myself, I wasn’t ready for the barrage of questions I’d get from my mom. Sierra’s nosiness is a learned behavior from her.

Setting my purse down on the counter, I take a seat next to Ava. She grins up at me with chocolate covered teeth, and I can’t help but smile back before turning towards my mom.

“So what’s new around here?” I ask, taking a sip of my wine.

“Lexi, I’m fifty-two years old. Not much new goes on at this age,” she huffs.

“That’s not true. Last time we talked you were trying to talk Dad into taking dance lessons with you,” I remind her.

She rolls her eyes at me. “That apparently was wishful thinking on my part. He insisted that I take a blacksmith class with him in return. That sounded awful, so I dropped it.”

Before I can respond, Sierra pipes up. “Hey Mom, why don’t you ask Lexi how her trip to Florida was?”

I glare daggers at her, but she simply smiles sweetly back at me. Mom looks between the two of us as she pours herself another glass of wine.

“Okay, girls, what’s going on? What am I missing?” she asks as she joins us at the counter now that the meatloaf is in the oven.

Sierra wiggles her eyebrows at me before turning back to Mom. “Notice anything different about your daughter?”

Mom studies me, and I blush as I know what Sierra is implying. My blush deepens as the contents of Jace’s letter come to mind, and I remind myself that I better hide my purse before my sister starts digging through it.

“Alexa Leigh, why is your face turning red?” Mom asks.

“Why yes, Alexa. Why ever are you blushing?” Sierra teases, and I wish the floor would swallow me up.

“Sierra Ann, stop teasing your sister and spill!” Mom exclaims, impatiently waiting to be a part of the gossip.

Sierra smiles into her wine glass and then gives me a wink. “Well, our dear Lexi here may have run into an old friend. A very good old friend.”

My mom looks at both of us. “If you’re talking about Jace, I already know that,” she reveals.

My jaw drops as Sierra claps her hands over her mouth.

“What? How? I mean, dammit, Sierra, really?” I ask, exasperated but not surprised.

Sierra’s eyes widen as she declares, “I didn’t! I swear, Lexi, I didn’t tell her.”

“Oh, calm down you two. Beth and I are Facebook friends and we talk frequently. She told me all about Lexi stopping by the house with Jace.”

Sierra snickers before adding, “Mom, that’s not even the half of it.”

My mother’s eyebrows draw together as she looks at me. “Oh, really?”

I’m about to come out with it when my sister beats me to the punch. “They spent practically every waking—and sleeping—moment together the whole weekend,” she squeals, as if it’s the greatest thing in the world.

My mom shoots me a questioning look, and all I can do is nod in conformation as Sierra’s gushing continues.

“Oh, you should’ve seen them. It was like they’d never spent a day apart. They clicked immediately, and watching them was just so sweet! I swear, I’ve never seen Lexi glow with so much happiness. And the first time they spotted each other, I thought I was going to have to jump Jeremy right there from the sexual tension in the air,” she says dramatically as she fans herself.

Cutting her off, I begin to speak. “Mom, Jace and I reconnected at the reunion. As she said, we did spend a lot of time together, and we’ve been emailing back and forth since then, trying to get to know each other again. He’s moving to Kentucky next month, and we’re just going to see where things go.”

Her eyes glisten as she gets up from her seat and makes her way over to me. She draws me into a tight embrace as she whispers in my ear, “My sweet girl, if you’re happy, then I’m happy.” I nod, letting her know that I am, not wanting to speak for fear of tears falling. My mom was my rock after losing Ty, so her acceptance of my moving on is a huge relief.

At that moment, Jeremy and Dad walk into the kitchen to check on dinner. They look over at us blubbering, and I spy my Dad slowly start to back out of the kitchen. We pull apart and my mom wipes her eyes, snapping at my dad to come set the table. He walks over to us, and Sierra, again, shares the good news.

“Jace McAllister, huh? I always liked that boy,” he says without giving it another thought.

So did I, Dad. So did I.

After a
longer-than-normal thirteen-hour workday in the blistering Afghanistan sun, I’m finally headed back to my room where I want nothing more than to grab some chow, hit the showers, and crawl into bed. As I pass the post office, I realize that I haven’t checked my mail in a few days, and I should be overdue for a letter right about now, either from my parents or Alexa. I head over to where our mail clerk sets the mail, sorting through the various letters until I come to my name. My heart races when I see that I have two, one definitely written in her handwriting. I turn to head back towards my room when I hear someone bark out my name.

Turning around, I see our platoon sergeant jogging towards me. “Captain needs to see you in his office.”

I give him a puzzled look, wondering what the hell I did to warrant a visit to his office. Pocketing my mail, I follow him towards the building that houses our commanding officers. He leads me to his office, and Captain Edwards motions for me to come in and sit down. I do as he asks, my fingers nervously drumming my thigh.

My nerves calm as he spends the next ten minutes informing me that my replacement has already arrived, and an old friend of his who will be my commanding officer at Ft. Campbell asked if I could return home to start training with them for their upcoming deployment in April. They were able to work out the logistics, so after I complete a three-day turnaround with the sergeant who’s replacing me, I’ll be on a plane home so I can take my leave and get to Ft. Campbell sooner than expected. My leg began shaking the moment he told me I was going home early. My mind is preoccupied with thoughts of seeing Alexa sooner rather than later.