Page 11 of Absent Without Leave
Jake raises his eyebrows, but keeps his thoughts to himself. He’s got his chance. So. “You know what I do, right?”
Aiden offers a single sharp nod. Jake can feel his own virtual eye roll, but whatever. Aiden thinks he’s the injured party right now. At least he’s listening.
“Army Special Forces. Green Beret. Unconventional warfare, special recon missions, counter terrorism ops. Do you really get it?”
Aiden’s head tilts forward at a slower rate as Jake’s words make an impact. Good.
“When my leave gets canceled, it’s canceled for a reason. As soon as I got notified to get myself back to Florida, I took fifteen seconds to text you and then I was on the phone with my team. I’m the weapons expert. It’s my job to make sure we have what we need for the mission. Since I wasn’t on location myself, I had to rely on Farragut and Smithy to do the heavy lifting.”
Jake sees Aiden’s shoulders lose their stiffness as he speaks. The antagonism wafting off of him is dialed back to zero.
“We talked from the moment I got on the road, until the moment the plane took off. I slept on the plane. When I arrived, I went straight to the base, checked the weapons—made sure they’d grabbed the correct items and that all items were mission ready. Then I retrieved my gear. I was on my way out of the country within sixteen hours of getting that call. The mission lasted two and half weeks—a week and a half longer than it was supposed to.”
Aiden’s shoulders slump and his chin is on his chest now. Jake’s not happy to see Aiden looking so chastised, but the fact that the gravity of Jake’s job has made an impression is a good thing.
“As soon as I completed mission debrief and was cleared for leave, I got on another Goddamned plane and got here as soon as I could. So, for the love of God, please tell me what I’ve done to piss you the hell off.”
“Oh my God, oh my God. I’msosorry, Jake.” Aiden’s neck and face are the color of a cross between a tomato and an eggplant. His arms are flamingo pink. He’s silent for a long time before he peers up at Jake and says, “I thought you just blew me off. Seriously.”
Jake’s gotta give Aiden credit for maintaining eye contact. Jake’s not sure whether to be pissed off or to laugh his ass off though. But after seeing the things he’s seen over the last six years, he’s learned what’s worth being upset about and what’s not. Being pissed about this serves no purpose. He takes a breath and lets his irritation go upon exhale.
“I just…” Aiden rubs the back of his neck. “After I kicked you out over something so stupid as three fucking days, I thought maybe being with me just wasn’t worth the wait. I thought…” He shakes his head. “I don’t know what I thought. I believed you when you texted me, but when I didn’t hear from you, I assumed the worst. And now I feel like a fucking stupid piece of shit that I didn’t use the brain God gave me and put two and two together. I apologize. Truly.”
“Thinking with the little head and not the big head,” Jake says, maintaining as serious an expression as he can, although there’s a chuckle tickling his jaw.
Aiden’s eyes widen, and then he’s holding back laughter, and then he’s laughing, and Jake can’t help but laugh with him. Jake pushes out the chair next to him with his foot, and Aiden takes it for the invitation it is and sits. “These are for you.” Jake nudges the bag forward.
“You drove to Big Spring to buy me See’s chocolates.” Aiden opens the bag and peers inside, but then his gaze shoots to Jake’s. “How did you know about See’s?”
“Rick mentioned it might help smooth the way.”
“And here I’m the one in need of some sort of apology gift. No excuse, man. I’m really sorry.”
Jake accepts Aiden’s regret with a nod. “I can see how the silence must have come across. Unfortunately, I’m not allowed to say much when missions come up. A lot of guys have code phrases for their wives, but we were just two guys hooking up, and this mission wasn’t supposed to happen until after I got back.”
“I understand. I get it. Loose lips and all that.”
Silence reigns for a moment.
“You can eat them, you know,” Jake says, indicating the chocolates with a point of his chin.
Aiden offers a wry huff of his breath. “I don’t deserve them.”
“Doesn’t matter, they’re for you.”
Slowly, Aiden reaches into the bag and pulls out a small bite of chocolate covered in chocolate sprinkles. When it hits his tongue, he closes his eyes and a low “mmph” of pleasure escapes him. His expression is almost as sexy as his orgasm face, which Jake really didn’t get to see much of. And, boy howdy, does he want to at some point.
“God, that’s so good. It’s been a long time since I’ve had any. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
“What can I do to make things up to you?” Aiden nudges Jake’s foot.
“You ever get a day off?”
“Sure, of course.”
“Okay. Where’s the best place to eat in Ten Rigs these days?”
