When the Stars Fall (Lost Stars Book 1) by Emery Rose

Author:Emery Rose [Rose, Emery & Rose, Emery]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2020-10-16T18:30:00+00:00

Part II

Chapter Twenty-Two

Lila

Five Years Later

Jude was home. It was the first thought in my head when I woke up that morning. It was the Fourth of July weekend, and he’d been back for two weeks. I still couldn’t believe he was here, and that this time he was back for good. I hadn’t even opened my eyes yet but I was already thinking about him. I felt the mattress dip under his weight as he shifted on the bed away from me, and when I opened my eyes and rolled onto my side, I was gifted with a view of his back.

Shoulders hunched, he was sitting on the edge of the mattress, his head in his hands. Two days ago, I woke up and found him sleeping on the hard floor. When I’d asked him why he was sleeping on the floor, he said he didn’t know. He’d looked confused, like he had no idea where he was or how he’d gotten there, and that had scared me.

“Are you okay?” My voice was low and quiet so I wouldn’t startle him.

“Yeah. All good.”

I crawled across the bed on my knees and wrapped my arms around his middle, resting my chin on his shoulder. “Do you still have the ringing in the ears? And the headaches?”

The shoulder under my chin lifted in a shrug. On his third and final deployment, Jude had gotten a TBI, a traumatic brain injury from a bomb blast. I didn’t know the details because he wouldn’t talk about it.

What I did know was that his convoy had been ambushed and hit by a roadside bomb. Six Marines were killed, four wounded. Kate and I read about it in the news. We used to scour the news and hang out in the families of Marines chat rooms, desperate for information that Jude withheld from us. Whenever I used to ask him how things were going over there, he’d always say it was quiet. Nothing to worry about. Lies. There was always something to worry about in a combat zone. But it was his way of trying to protect me, I guess.

Pressing my chest against his back, I kissed the side of his neck while my hands coasted downward, over smooth skin and taut muscles that flexed under my touch. My right hand dipped inside the waistband of his boxer briefs and wrapped around his hard length.

He grabbed my hand and pulled it away. Disappointment slammed into me and I leaned back on my heels. “What’s wrong?” I tried to mask the hurt in my voice.

“Nothing. I’m just not up for it right now.”

“You seem like you’re up for it.”

Without responding, he stood up from the bed and strode to the oak chest of drawers. I stared at his back as he took out a T-shirt and running shorts and got dressed.

“Let’s go for a run,” he said, his back still turned to me.

“Okay,” I said slowly, staying right where I was.

He sat on the end of the

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