Page 68 of Hit the Ground
Sitting this close but not being able to reach across the table and drag my finger along the rose in her cheeks was a true test of endurance. It was what I deserved. If I’d made a move sooner, she might’ve already been in my arms.
But we were here now. This was no place for regret, not when we were moving forward, exploring what had been building between us. A time would come when I wouldn’t have to think twice about pulling her into my arms or taking her hand in mine. I was confident we’d get there.
I leaned back, letting Jesse launch into a story about his day, but I didn’t stop watching her. I took my time, cataloging every detail. The way her lashes fluttered when she laughed, the pink high on her cheeks, that bookmark poking out of her book. I hoped when she looked at it, she thought of me. I damn sure had been doing a lot of thinking about her.
“How much longer do you have to wear that cast?” Jesse asked.
Alice gave it a poke, scrunching her nose. “It should be two more weeks. I can’t wait to get it off. The downside is I have to go back to the hospital to get it removed.”
Jesse cocked his head. “You don’t like hospitals?”
“I don’t,” she replied. “I spent a lot of time in them as a kid, and I’d do just about anything not to go back. But getting this thing off my wrist will be worth it.”
“It won’t hurt, will it?”
“Nope.” Her eyes rolled to the side then returned to him, filled with mischief. “Unless the saw slips. But I’m sure they’ll be able to reattach my hand.”
My boy looked alarmed for all of two seconds before Alice’s snicker gave her away.
From there, the two fell into a flowing conversation, and I sat back, listening, liking the hell out of what I heard. She asked him about school, and not just general questions. She knew some of his teachers’ names and projects he was working on. And it was obvious every answer he gave mattered to her.
When he told her about the robot his team was planning to build in the fall, she leaned in like it was the most fascinating thing she’d heard all week.
“An arm attachment?” she asked, her pretty eyes wide. “What does it do?”
Jesse’s hands flew into motion as he explained, sketching shapes in the air, picking up speed with every word. She shifted to summer camp, wanting to know what activities he was most excited for, if he was nervous about living in the dorms, what he thought about being away for three weeks.
“I’m certain they’re going to keep you so busy, you won’t have time to get homesick. But I hope you have time to write back to me. I’m warning you now, I love writing letters. There's no way I’m not going to write at least two. Maybe three.”
Jesse grinned. “People still write real letters?”
“I do, and I’m pretty sure I count as a person,” she quipped.
He sighed, like he was the most put-upon teenager on the planet. “I mean, if you really want to write me, I guess I can probably find the time to write back.”
“That would be incredibly kind of you, Jess,” she said, amusement lacing her words.
The two of them didn’t really need me here, but I didn’t mind. I ate my dinner, letting their conversation ride. There was nothing forced about their interaction, and it was clear Jesse liked the addition of her to our table.
By the time the plates were cleared and the check was paid, there was a warmth in my chest that had nothing to do with the coffee I was sipping.
Jesse glanced across the diner, spotting a friend from school at the counter in the front. He was out of the booth before I could say a word, tossing over his shoulder, “Be right back.”
Then it was just the two of us, the space between us suddenly feeling smaller, charged in a way it hadn’t been a moment ago.
I put my hand on the table, palm up, and Alice did not hesitate to slip hers in mine. When I closed my fingers around hers, her much smaller hand got lost.
“It’s not easy.”
“What’s not?” She shifted forward on her side of the booth.
“Sitting across from you and not doing this.”
“Holding my hand?” she asked.
“Yeah. Seeing the way you are with my boy, it was hard not to pick up your hand—or better yet, lean across the table and put my mouth on yours.”
She bit down on her bottom lip, peering at me from beneath her fluttery lashes. “Well, now you have me.”
