AJ’s voice lowered. “Me too, J. We’re all angry. But what happened to him wasn’t your fault. He knew the risks of the mission.”
“I should have had his back.”
“We all did everything we could to stay alive that day.” AJ paused. “The kid worshipped you, but that didn’t make him your responsibility.”
He scrubbed a hand over his face. Hearing his friend’s assurance didn’t make it any easier. “Have you spoken to his family since the funeral?”
It was AJ who’d passed on the note to Dean’s family for him. And he was grateful to his teammate for doing so. Because even though he hadn’t been able to bring himself to attend, the family deserved to know what had happened from his perspective. They deserved his apology.
“I’ve checked in on his mom and dad a couple times. They’re doing as well as can be expected. I haven’t made contact with the brother or sister.”
Jace nodded as Sadie stepped out of the ice cream store, cone in hand. “I’ve got to go. I’ll talk again soon.”
“Don’t be a stranger, man. I mean it. You may have taken off the uniform, but we’ll always be family.”
His chest clenched. It was true. He might have five siblings by blood, but he had several more brothers from his time in the service. “You too.”
He hung up and turned to face Sadie. “Hey. Avery and Eastern still choosing?”
“Oh yeah. Avery is taking her job as flavor chooser very seriously. I think she’s taste-testing every one they have.” She tilted her head. “You okay?”
“Yeah, just excited to see what I get.” He pushed his phone into his pocket. He should keep his damn mouth shut, but the question was out before he could stop it. “You’re friends with Elle, right?”
Her brows rose. “Elle?” Her gaze flicked down the street. “Um, yeah, we’re friends.”
He frowned and followed her gaze, checking out the few businesses farther down the street. The only one open was the Thai restaurant. When he looked back at Sadie, her features were completely blank.
“Did she tell you about our fight the other day?” he asked, again knowing he shouldn’t ask. But Elle had been avoiding him since that day, and it was killing him.
Sadie’s mouth opened and closed. “Yes…no…I mean, she mentioned it. Briefly. Something about a fight about a guy from an online dating app.” Again, Sadie’s gaze flickered to the restaurant before hitting the ground.
Why did she keep looking over there?
Suddenly, a sick feeling began to churn in his gut as suspicion made him step closer. “Sadie, tell me she’s not in that restaurant, on a date with Art.”
Her head shot up, her eyes widening. She was silent for a full five seconds. It told him everything he needed to know.
“They are,” he growled under his breath. Suddenly he was angry, even though he had no damn right to be angry. But the thought of her eating dinner with some guy she didn’t even know, that man walking her home, touching her…
Hell no.
He stepped back. “Can you apologize to the others for me?”
“Wait, Jace—where are you going?”
“I’ll see you next time, Sadie.”
She continued to call out to him as he strode down the street, but he was past stopping or slowing or, hell, thinking the least bit rationally. Elle was in his head. In hisskin. All he could think about was the fact that she was on a date,a fucking date, with someone who wasn’thim—and how he wanted her to be as far from the guy as possible.
Elle pinchedher left thigh under the table to stop herself from falling asleep. Yes, literally falling asleep. That’s how boring Art was. Like, never stopped talking about himself, or his life goals, or his job, or anything and everything Art-related—thatkind of boring.
How could a person talk about himself for so freaking long?
She could count on one hand the number of questions he’d asked abouther, and even then, he’d interrupted every one of her answers, directing the conversation straight back to himself.
She lifted her glass and took a big gulp of wine. It was her second glass, but there’d probably be a third. And good God, where was the food? It felt like they’d ordered hours ago.
Art had arrived in a suit—probably the only man she’d ever seen wear a suit to a Thai restaurant. And his black hair was packed with so much shiny gel, it looked plastic. She’d told herself not to judge a book by its cover, but it looked like she should have done some judging.
