Page 21 of Forever Flirting

He hesitated.

“Nana… she ran,” he breathed, feeling horrified all over again as he saw her fleeing down the sidewalk before getting into her car and driving off. “I can’t stop thinking about her, seeing her eyes, smelling her perfume, and seeing that smile in my mind – and she ran away from me… like I was some monster.”

“Oh Alex… I’m so sorry.”

“Me too,” he admitted, swallowing back bile as the rest of that evening replayed in his mind. “I was so hurt, so angry and wounded, that I went back into the bar, trying to wipe her from my mind. I had several more shots of Tequila…”

“Dummy,” she interrupted again in a flat voice.

“I know,” he sighed, nodding. “And tried to forget her with the first girl that looked at me sideways.”

“Caleb’s mother,” she guessed.

“Yeah,” he confirmed quietly. “And it didn’t work. It only made things worse. We barely communicate, barely speak, the woman hates my guts, and I really don’t blame her. I’m ashamed of how badly I acted, how I treated her, that I didn’t even bother to learn her name before I…”

He grew silent as those nightmarish images flashed in his mind.

So, flyboy… Where are you stationed?

Shhh… don’t talk - please.

What’s your name?

Alex Wilcox.

Don’t you want to know my name?

Alex hadn’t responded. He was lying on the back seat of the car, lost in his imagination, thinking of Everly in a haze of drunken passion that was over before either of them realized it…

Those memories, that shame, how terrible a moment that really was…

“Alex… Alex?”

He hesitated and opened his eyes to see Caleb staring at him in confusion, touching his chin, and his grandmother sitting beside him, her eyes full of silent understanding and sadness.

“Acting out, being impulsive, or doing stupid things, is never the answer to a problem,” she said softly, squeezing his hand. “But I am proud of you for doing the right thing now by this young man.”

“I could have lost everything in that single moment,” he admitted in an understanding that was staggering. “And I still can’t get over the one that got away.”

He looked at his grandmother, hoping she had answers to help him like she had tonight with Caleb. She had once helped him with his schoolwork, helped him so many times over the years with everything…

“How do you forget someone so inherently special that leaves a mark – someone you never expected to meet?”

“I’m not sure that you do,” Nana told him softly. “But you keep going, keep searching, and try to find peace where you can… just not in the arms of some stranger, okay? Or cigarettes either! That never fixes anything, you big flirt.”

Alex laughed sadly, shaking his head.

“No, it really doesn’t.”

CHAPTER7

MAESTRO

Ghazni, Afghanistan

Months later…

Alex was supremelyhappy for his wingman – and a little envious. Ghost couldn’t stop smiling at the computer, chuckling, and then blushing, causing several of them to look at the man with envy.

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