Reckless Faith

Jace sipped his beer as he sat at the end of his brother’s bar, watching the people around him.

You could tell a lot about a person if you paid enough attention. Little things gave them away. Like how a person dressed. How they smiled or the volume at which they spoke.

The guy in the corner, for example, wanted people to think he had money. He was hitting on a redhead and kept flashing his watch. A Rolex that was likely as fake as the knockoff Oxfords on his feet.

People with money didn’t try so hard. They didn’t have to. And they certainly didn’t wave their watch around, desperate for the person they were hitting on to see.

Jace switched his attention to the other side of the bar, where a group of guys were getting loud and rowdy. The loudest one had been pulling most of the attention in the group with his remarks and little skits. He wanted people to think he was confident. Self-assured. When really, his actions reeked of someone who was desperate for validation.

“Never seen you so quiet for so long, brother.”

Jace looked up at Cody. “There a problem with being quiet?”

“If you were Kay, I’d say no. But I’ve never seen you quiet for more than five minutes before.”

Jace lifted a shoulder. “Maybe I’m not the kid I used to be.”

Cody frowned before leaning over the bar. “What’s going on in your head?”

“Not a whole lot.” A damn lie. A hell of a lot had been going through his head since returning to Misty Peak.

“I don’t believe that for a second.”

“Fine. Right now, I’m watching people and thinking about what a fucking lie it all is.”

Cody swung a rag onto his shoulder as he straightened. “What are you talking about?”

“People put on a show to make others think they’re one way, when they’re really not. Rich. Confident.” His gaze flicked to the redhead’s fake smile. “Interested.”

“How many beers have you had?”

Too many. He already felt them going to his head.

“If we’re gonna talk about honesty,” Cody started slowly, “I have a question for you.”

Why did Jace suddenly not want to hear it? He took a swig of his beer. “Shoot.”

“Why are you home? You were only in the Air Force for fifteen years. You had plenty of years left to give and gave up your retirement benefits.”

He shook his head, gaze lowering to his beer. “Nope. I had none. Zero. I was done and I needed to get out.”

“Why?”

His brows pulled together as a memory flashed in his head. One he tried to chase away every damn day, but it returned. “I lost someone.” Something he seemed to be pretty damn good at.

For a moment, his brother was quiet. “A teammate?”

“Yeah. He was young. The newest member of our team. Had his whole life ahead of him.” And Jace could have saved him. He hadn’t.

“Shit. I’m sorry, Jace. But he knew what he was signing up for. It’s special operations. It’s dangerous.”

Yeah, but he also expected his team to have his back.

Jace tightened his fingers around his beer and threw back the last of it before pushing the empty bottle across the bar. “Don’t forget, you left early too.”

Cody took the empty bottle and replaced it with a new one. “You know why I left. Dad was sick and Nylah needed help.”

Yeah, their father. Another fucking loss. They seemed to follow him everywhere.

Jace’s gaze shifted back to the guy with the fake watch. He stood a bit closer to the redhead now, and when he smiled, his teeth were so white they had to be veneers.

“You spent much time with Elle since coming home?” Cody asked, drawing his attention back to him.

He’d seen her every day, and every day, he felt the same thing. A kick in the gut at the sight of those gray eyes. Tightness in his chest at the sound of her voice.

“She’s so fucking beautiful.” The words slipped from his mouth, and he was completely incapable of pulling them back. It had to be the beer. “Her eyes, her hair. The way her brows pinch together when she’s angry.”

A grin curved Cody’s lips. “You should tell her that.”

He took another swig of his beer. “I hugged her last week and it just messed with me. She messes with me.”

“Tell me again why you never dated?”

So many fucking reasons, none of which he could properly vocalize. “Because she’s Elle Marshal. She’s the woman who could light up a fucking stadium, and she doesn’t even realize it. She’s the heart and the calm and the reason you take a second look.”

“Yeah, and you’re Jace Walker. You’re pretty badass yourself.”

Jace scoffed.

“You don’t give yourself enough credit, brother.”

The loud drunk cheered, pulling Jace’s attention. “I was so sure some lucky son of a bitch would have snapped her up by now.” And that thought had terrified him. Had that contributed to him coming home? Because he knew if he stayed away any longer, she’d be taken?

“Maybe she was waiting for someone.”

Jace shook his head. “No. That’s not it. It’s been hard enough to get the woman to talk to me. You’ve probably talked more to her since I got back than I have.”

“I’ve seen her a bit, but that’s because she lives around the corner from the bar.”

Jace frowned. “She does?”

“Yeah, on East Avenue in that big apartment building.”

Jace’s gaze slid to the door, his feet suddenly itching to go to her, even though he knew that would be fucking reckless.

Elle sat on her couch, laptop open on her lap as she flicked through old photos. She wasn’t sure why she was doing this. Every second photo was of her and Jace.

She traced the ample curves of her hips with her eyes. Curves that had caused her so much angst as a young girl. She wished she’d just been able to love herself. But then…even now, looking so different, she still didn’t love herself. Not completely. Why exactly, she wasn’t sure. Maybe because the people who’d called her beautiful in her life were few and far between.

Maybe because the man she’d loved for years had always dated women who looked so different than her.

She paused on a photo of her and Jace during a school camping trip. They were both drenched in water after he’d fallen into the river and asked for her help getting out. But when she’d extended her hand, he’d just pulled her in with him.

She could still remember the chill of the water on her skin. The shock and anger that had coursed through her body. But one look at Jace’s head thrown back in laughter, and she’d laughed along with him.

With a sigh, she closed her laptop and set it on the coffee table before going into the kitchen to make a hot cocoa. The large window over her sink felt too exposed, and she flicked the curtain closed. She lived on the fifth floor of an apartment building, and there was a keypad downstairs to get in. She was very safe up here, but for some reason over the last week, she kept getting this feeling like she was being watched. Not so much while she was in her apartment, but when she was at work, or while running errands around town. A chill would sweep down her spine, or sometimes she’d go as far as swearing she could hear a rustle of movement around her. Sometimes behind. Sometimes in front. It was strange.

She shook her head and took the milk out of the fridge. The candy from Jace toyed with her. She’d poured it into a large glass container, sat it on her kitchen counter, and so far, she hadn’t eaten a single piece. Which was nothing like her. She loved candy, to the point that when the candy store here in town had closed, she’d cried real tears. Her aunt had thought she was insane.

Her gaze caught on the cola skulls. They’d always been her favorite. Jace had joked that they didn’t last two seconds in her company.

But she couldn’t bring herself to eat them. Because every time she so much as looked at them, they reminded her that she hadn’t been completely forgotten by Jace. That she’d been on his mind, even when he’d been doing God knows what in God knows where.

Dragging her gaze from the jar, she poured milk into a saucepan. She’d just taken out a mug when her apartment buzzer dinged.

What the hell? What was the time? Ten? It was ten o’clock. Who on earth could it be? Her neighbors minded their own business, to the point she didn’t even know their names.

Cautiously, she moved toward the door. She was almost there when a voice sounded through the intercom.

“Tink? You there?”

She stopped, jaw dropping.

Jace?

“Please tell me you are,” he continued. “Because this is the twentieth apartment I’ve rung, and I’m pretty sure some old lady called the sheriff. Don’t think my brother would arrest me, but you never know. He can be a dick when he wants.”

She closed the distance to the door and pressed the talk button. “Jace…what are you doing here?”

“Thank fuck! Can you buzz me up?”

She opened and closed her mouth, so many questions rattling around inside her head, but first she needed to get him in here, because there would be unhappy residents if he’d already buzzed that many apartments.

She hit the button. “Door’s unlocked. Come up.”

She stepped away from the door, her mind swirling.

Jace was here. He was going to step into her apartment. She scanned the small space, and everything she’d thought of as cute and comfortable suddenly appeared cluttered and messy.

She ran around, cleaning up quickly. She was just grabbing a few items she’d left lying on the kitchen counter when the knock came at the door. Suddenly her heart was racing, even though she had no idea why. This was Jace. Her longtime friend Jace. She didn’t need to be nervous.

Just breathe, Elle.

Slowly, she made her way to the door and tugged it open.

Jace towered over her, his eyes slightly glassy, his smile easy. “Hey, Tink. Can I come in?”

Wait, she knew that look. “Are you drunk?” She probably should have known from his rambling over the intercom, but she’d been so shocked she hadn’t connected the dots.

“I may have had a little bit of beer.”

Her lips twitched. “Liar. This is not ‘a little bit’ of beer, Jace.” She shifted back, and when he entered the apartment, his steps weren’t quite as steady as usual. She’d just closed the door when he stumbled, and she grabbed his arm, even though he was twice, maybe three times her size. “Let’s get you sitting down.”

When they reached the couch, he dropped, his head lolling back and his eyes closing. “Thanks. I knew I could count on you.” He reached into his pocket and tugged out his phone before throwing it onto the coffee table. “Damn thing keeps ringing.”

She lifted it to see Cody’s name flashing on the screen. “It’s your brother.”

“Asshole took my car keys. Told me I had to wait for him to drive me home.”

This time, she chuckled. “And what? You gave him the slip?”

“Fuck yeah, I did. I don’t need a babysitter.”

Hm, kind of looked like he did. “Why are you here, Jace?”

He turned his head to look at her, his beautiful blue eyes boring into hers. “Because you’re here.”