Letting Go Read Online Free PDF

apparently he had been building things up.
    He sighed when her arm slipped around his middle and her leg fell over his thigh.
    “Wow,” she said and planted a few kisses to his side as she snuggled deeper into his embrace.
    “I got a little carried away.” Jake sighed loudly. “I didn’t hurt you did I?”
    Sarah lifted her head. “You can get carried away any time you like.”
    When she grinned, Jake couldn’t help but feel the warmth spread through him.
    As she lay with her head pressed to his chest, she traced the phoenix on his arm.
    “You really do have some beautiful work.” Sarah leaned up to look at him as she spoke.
    Jake turned and stared at the picture frame, now resting on the bedside table. He sighed loudly as he turned back to her.
    “Thanks,” he mumbled. Pain reflected back at her.
    It might be a risk, but she snatched the picture from the table and stared at the smiling men.
    “You are a handsome bunch.” She leaned her head back on his shoulder, holding the picture so they could both see. “I bet you all were trouble when you went out.”
    She felt the rumble of his laughter.
    “You could say that.” He reached over to take ahold of the picture. “Luc and Kurt were always the life of the party. I’ve always been the quiet one.”
    Sarah rolled to look at him.
    “I know something happened with you three.” She sighed. “Luc is so carefree despite the scar. It just seems that where his are visible, yours are hidden.” She slid her hand over to the phoenix.
    Jake closed his eyes.
    “We were out canvasing a small village in Afghanistan. There were twelve of us total.” His voice thick with emotion, he struggled to continue. “Luc called for backup on the set. Several of them were under fire, and they couldn’t find the shooter.” He opened his eyes to stare at the dark ceiling. “I told them all to take cover.”
    Sarah could feel him shake.
    “It was a fucking trap! They ambushed them into taking cover in the only building available.” The muscles ticked in his jaw as he tried to regain control.
    “Kurt had just gone in with Luc, close behind, as the bomb went off. It wasn’t big, but the explosion leveled most of the building.”
    Sarah linked hands with him across his chest. His large fingers squeezed and drew support from the connection.
    “Luc got hit by shrapnel that sliced his face nearly to the bone.” He turned to look at her. “Kurt hadn’t been so lucky.” Jake sighed. “By the time the rest of us had made it to the other side, the only survivors were Luc and Kurt. The rest were buried in the rubble.” Jake looked again at the pictures and swiped a finger over Kurt. “They were both on the ground. Luc couldn’t see for shit but tried to put pressure on Kurt’s wounds. Something had shot straight through his stomach. We weren’t sure, but the best guess is some sort of pipe.”
    Sarah could feel the burn of her tears that threatened to fall. Her throat closed over with emotion when Jake closed his eyes.
    “There was just so much fucking blood.” He sighed. “They medevaced them out with me right along with them. Luc was stitched up quickly and doing well. Kurt, well we all knew where that was going. They took all day operating on him and were successful. It was almost cruel to even give us that hope. Before we even had the chance to see him, he crashed. They were able to fix the wound, but it was too late for the other organs. His body just shut down and like that,” Jake snapped, “he was gone.”
    “I’m so sorry.” She squeezed his hand again.
    He was silent for a moment as he processed his emotion. When he started to talk, his eyes were fixed on the phoenix.
    “Got out of the service after that. Luc was released since his vision in that eye was damaged. Without Kurt or Luc, just didn’t seem like much point.” He scrubbed his hand across the stubble on his face.
    “When I opened the bar, I thought it would be a chance to move on. Got the tattoo