“Jace, meet my ex-husband, Ryan.”
His uniform indicated he held a rank of an enlisted E-6, Technical Sergeant. Even though I was an officer, I wasn’t about to pull rank on him in a school parking lot.
So I held out my hand. “Nice to meet you.”
The fucker snubbed me and rounded his attention on Monroe. Anger, hot and fast, had my jaw as tight as a violin string.
“Have you learned anything in the military?” I asked him.
His nostrils flared. “I’m not on base. Therefore, I don’t owe you any respect for practically groping my wife in public.”
Monroe fisted her hands at her side. “Ex-wife. And for someone who cheated on me, you have some nerve to be jealous. What would your girlfriend think about that?”
Cheated? That in my book was grounds for war. If I had been married and my wife had cheated on me, I would be in jail for murder. Not sure who I would’ve killed, but someone would’ve died.
My parents had had a great marriage until my dad passed away from a heart attack about five years ago. He’d always told me and Caleb that the union between a husband and wife was sacred.
Ryan squared his broad shoulders. “Fiancée.”
Monroe rolled her eyes, and I couldn’t have stopped the laugh if I tried.
She shook her head and started for the football field.
Ryan glared at me.
“Jace, are you coming?” Monroe tossed over her shoulder.
I hurried to catch up with her, leaving Ryan in my wake. “That went well,” I muttered, still feeling the heat of her against me long after she’d stepped away.
“He’s… Argh! He used to be a great guy, but I’m not sure what went wrong. Though the more I think about it, the more I realize we were too young to tie the knot.”
I rubbed my hurt shoulder that was beginning to throb. I’d been taking Advil left and right, but the pain meds were wearing off.
“Shoulder bothering you?”
“Nah. Just a twitch. I’m more worried about you.”
She smiled albeit not warmly. “Don’t. I have to find a way to deal with him since we have a son together.”
“If it helps, I got your back.” Not that I wanted to be in the middle of a post-divorce war. But for Monroe, I would. It would tear my insides to shreds to see her in pain of any kind.
We crossed the parking lot to the football field, where kids were running cone agility drills.
“That’s sweet of you. But I don’t need help with Ryan.” She clutched my wrist as we stood near the bleachers. “You seem like a nice guy, but I’m not in the market to date. I have a lot on my plate. But thank you for sharing about your brother and participating in Career Day.”
She’d gone from hot to freezing in a matter of minutes. Hell, it had been years since a woman had dismissed me or rather, told me in so many words to fuck off. I would be lying if I said her words didn’t feel like a stake in the heart.
Any sense of tension or pain I felt went by the wayside when my phone rang. I wanted to ignore it, but if it was Major Lawson, he would make my life hell if I didn’t return his call from earlier.
I pulled my cell from my flight suit, and sure enough, Lawson’s name flashed across the screen.
Brushing my hand across her back, I said, “I’m so sorry, but I have to take this. Give me a minute?”
Despair washed over me as she let out a breath.
Walking away, I braced for impact. I had a feeling Lawson’s daughter had filled him in about Career Day, not that I’d done anything wrong.
“Yes, sir.”
