Page 11 of The Comeback Road (Leaving #2)

Jace

I spent the day after I had ushered Jess out of my office with my door closed and my mind going over every possible outcome of the situation I was in. No matter what I do, someone gets hurt because of me. I was sitting with my head in my hands when Dexter knocked on my door. “Come in.”

He entered slowly and cautiously, as if knowing any sudden movement might set me off.

“Jace,” Dex said, but it sounded like more of a question.

“Jace, it’s after five.” I lifted my head to look at him, not fully believing I had spent the entire day there, knowing that the hardest thing and the right thing were often the same.

Knowing I had made my decision. Knowing I was just about to hate myself as much as she would.

“Ah,” was Dexter’s only response once he took in my face. “So, you made your choice then.” I could see the disappointment on his face. He didn’t even need to tell me how he felt. I just knew.

“Dexter, it’s not that simple,” I stated as I leaned back in my office chair and put my arms behind me, trying to delay the inevitable.

“It could be.” He didn’t even try to hide his glare.

“I know you don’t like Jess because of what she did, but she’s my wife, Dexter, and she came back to me.

That has to mean something,” I offered. “I used to think she was the love of my life. We have a history. I owe it to that history to try,” I whispered.

And even though the words tasted like burnt ash on my tongue, it was the choice I was making.

“Did you even notice that you said the words used to ?”

I hadn’t. “ It’s irrelevant,” I told him.

He shook his head in disappointment at me.

“Look, I just…Jess and you weren’t good together, and everyone could see that but you.

I really think you should take a few more days to figure this out.

Lexie…” Something about the way he said her name with a softer tone had my hackles raising.

“I can’t throw away my marriage on one date, Dexter. I just can’t.” Right?

“You’re even more of an idiot than I thought if you think Jess is back for anything other than personal gain. She didn’t even take a single look in her rearview mirror when she left you behind, Jace. So I’m going to be completely honest when I ask you. Are you sure you know what you’re doing?”

“Yes.”

“You’re wrong.”

“Like you have any room to talk,” I spat at him, knowing that was unfair. He had gone through hell with his ex, and had just finally escaped her clutches.

“Then you should listen to me when I tell you that you’re about to make the biggest mistake of your life.”

“I don’t think that’s true. I can’t live in a state of what if . That wouldn’t be fair to Lexie—me having unresolved feelings for Jess.”

“Then you shouldn’t have started this in the first place,” he all but yelled at me.

“You think I don’t know that? You think this is easy for me?

That I didn’t sit here all day agonizing over the girl I used to love, and can’t figure out if I still do, because one look at her brought all those feelings back that I thought were gone, but apparently, I just buried them?

Or the one girl who’s like a light in the dark, that felt like it could be something big?

The person who gave me hope in that dark.

This isn’t easy for me!” I shouted back at him.

“You’re making a mistake, Jace.”

“You can’t know that,” I said vehemently, almost as if trying to convince myself he was wrong.

“Yeah, I do.” He turned on his heel, slamming my office door behind him.

Grabbing my keys, wallet, and phone, I couldn’t help the slow pace at which I made my way to my truck, as if hoping that my steady steps would make what I was about to do better.

The drive did nothing to simmer the feeling of dread all around me in the car.

My skin felt itchy, and I just wanted to peel myself out of it.

I slowed the truck down to a pace a snail could outrun me in once I hit the drive, the gravel crackling underneath my tires. Wishing the journey was longer, wishing I hadn’t just hit the end of my travels and reached my destination.

I walked up and knocked on the door. It opened, light shining through, along with laughter that died at the sight of me and turned into an uneasy, assessing look. “Jace,” Magnolia said as she looked me over. She knew, just like Dexter did.

“Is she here?” I couldn’t help the way my voice cracked.

“She is, but I don’t want to let you in.

I want to ask you to turn around and go to your truck.

I don’t want to let you in because I can tell you’re about to hurt my friend.

My best friend. The one I encouraged to go for it with you because I thought you were a decent guy.

I don’t want to let you in, Jace, and I never thought you’d be a guy I didn’t want to let in.

” Her steely gaze let me know everything that she was feeling, disdain being the primary emotion.

But sadness was a close second, and I could do nothing but hang my head in shame. “I’m sorry.”

Her lip wavered as if she were trying to hold back her tears, but Magnolia nodded her head and let me in.

Before I could fully pass, she leaned in and grabbed my arm, pulling me down to her, and whispered, “If you do this, there’s no coming back from it.

” The sincerity and stillness in her words almost brought me to my knees.

“I know.” I swallowed, in hopes of wetting my dry mouth.

Nodding her head again, she finally let me pass.

Lexie.

She was standing right there, to the side, hidden where I didn’t see her. Lexie had heard every word spoken, and I couldn’t help but shrink at the weight of what that meant. She knew.

Lexie knows.

“Starlight.”

“Don’t call me that.” I winced at the words she threw at me, knowing Lexie was right.

I no longer had a right. “I asked you repeatedly if there was a chance you were going to get back together. If you were sure,” she whispered.

Lexie’s voice sounded hoarse, like she’d been crying, and I had to flex my fingers and ball them into fists to prevent myself from reaching for her.

“I know.”

“You lied.” She said it so quietly I almost missed it, and I couldn’t help but take a step toward her. “I didn’t know, I didn’t know…” I said, almost to myself. “When I saw her, I became unsure.” I felt Lexie flinch at the confession, and my cheeks burned in embarrassment.

“You should have known.” I could hear the anger in her words, but there was also devastation. “I told you about my past. About him .”

I paled. How did I forget?

“Lexie…” I reached for her, unable to help myself.

“Don’t touch me, Jace. Just go. This is done.

” She turned to go, and I had to touch her.

I had to feel Lexie one last time. I caught her hand and pulled her to me from behind.

At first, I felt her stiffness, but then Lexie’s whole body relaxed, and I just breathed her in. “I’m sorry,” I whispered into her hair.

“It’s not enough.” I felt the wetness of her tears on my arm, and I wanted to stay there, comfort her, go back a few days to where I didn’t feel that way.

To where I had been sure. “It’s not enough,” she whispered again, and pulled out of my embrace.

“Go home to your wife , Jace,” Lexie called behind her, not looking back.

Not once.