Page 75 of Marvelous

It was about half an hour after dinner, and I was in the hoodie he had on earlier.

My nose was buried in his hoodie, and yes, he caught me sniffing it.

He winked, “Keep that. Got a little bit left in a bottle on my dresser. It starts to fade before I’m back, spray it down.”

I smiled, and then stood up, walked over to him, and buried my face in his chest.

Those strong arms of his wrapped around me, and he hummed to a song as we swayed in his kitchen.

He made sweet, sweet love to me last night, and then when I woke up the next morning in his bed, it was to see a note on his pillow.

Cupcake,

Garrick is bringing my truck back. Had you gone with me so I could leave my truck with you, I wouldn’t have gotten on that plane. Garrick will hand you the key. Keep yourself safe for me. – Alec.

I got the key from Garrick and a side hug from him, then he left.

Since the weather had gotten colder, we had all agreed to meet at Tatum’s house for our girls’ night.

I was on my way to her house in his truck when my phone pinged.

At a red light, I read it.

Soldier Boy – Going dark. Text you when I have the all clear.

Soldier Boy – Miss you already.

Me – Miss you too.

Me – Stay frosty.

I knew what going dark meant. He told me the other night.

Going dark meant he couldn’t have any contact with the outside world. And to not message him or call him.

He had programmed a number into my phone.

It was an in case of an emergency number.

I pulled the truck into her drive and then climbed out, tagging the bags of chips and bottles of wine spritzers I bought.

We were in their living room, she was showing me her pictures from her wedding, when Tatum said, “Huh, that’s weird.”

I looked up at her and asked, “What’s weird?”

Harlee lifted a brow, as did Everly, Lila, and Talia.

“I don’t see Alec. We all know his face, but it’s not visible in any of these photos.” She said.

Shit.

Harlee nodded, “Yeah, that’s weird. Right? Same with mine. I honestly thought it was just one of those things.”

Talia leaned back in her chair and thought about it for a moment, “Okay, so that’s weird, but what’s weirder is that I can’t recall a single photo of Alec where you can see his face since before he turned eighteen.”

I shrugged, “For us, he hates having his picture taken. He said it’s just one of those things.”

They all shrugged, then nodded.