Free My Special Forces Boyfriend Trilogy by Tiffany Madison

Virginia, after they sent me home from war. There ended up being a few complications afterwards, though, including some shrapnel in my leg that they didn’t find during the first surgery. So when they told me I’d need another surgery, but it wasn’t urgent, I decided to come back home and get it done; mostly to see you, Lindsey.”
    I placed a hand on his injured leg, feeling the bandages underneath my fingers.
    “So...you’re injured...” I said. “Does that mean...”
    Alex cut my words short.
    “Yes,” he said. “It means I’m not going back to war.”
    My eyes widened and a smile crossed my face. He had just spoken the words that I had been waiting to hear for the past eight years.
    “You’re not going back?” I asked. “Ever?”
    Alex shook his head.
    “They won’t let me fight any more,” he said. “I’m too much of a liability with an injury like this. I suppose they would let me take a desk job or something, but a Special Forces soldier like me doesn’t have any interest in a desk job. It’s all or nothing. I chose “nothing” because it’s really the only choice my pride will let me live with.”
    I stood silently, unable to express the joy that was in my heart at that moment.
    “Come on,” Alex said. “Hand me those crutches and let’s get the fuck out of here.”
    I grabbed the crutches for him and he propped himself up with them, pulling himself out of bed.
    “Where are you going to go?” I asked.
    He still didn’t know I was married and once again, I quickly slipped my wedding ring into the front pocket of my jeans.
    Alex pulled a tight green t-shirt over his head. Then he slipped on his jeans, which had been folded neatly on a chair nearby.
    “Well, I was just going to stay in my old room at my parent’s house until I’m fully recovered and feel like finding my own place to live,” he said.
    A smile crossed my face immediately.
    “I’ll take you there,” I said. “Let’s go.”
    ***
    A lex and I drove through the old neighborhood, making our way toward his parent’s house. Having him sitting next to me in the car made me feel like a kid again. It reminded me of a more youthful time of my life.
    As soon as we got to his parent’s house, a look of disappointment crossed his face.
    “Damn, they aren’t home,” he said. “I was going to surprise them.”
    I shrugged my shoulders and then parked the car across the street.
    “Why don’t you just surprise them when they get home?” I asked. “They won’t even know you’re here.”
    Alex nodded and then slowly stepped out of the car, grabbing his crutch from the back seat at the same time. He hobbled out and I turned off the ignition, helping him into his house.
    Once we stepped inside, I took a quick glance around. Nothing in that house had changed since the last time I had been in there, over ten years before.
    “Do both your parents still live here?” I asked.
    “Yep,” he responded. “Mom and Dad, still in the same old house. Kind of funny, isn’t it? So many things can change while other things stay exactly the same.”
    I nodded in agreement, as I closed the front door behind us.
    “Come on,” Alex said. “Let’s go upstairs. I want to see my old room. It’s been years.”
    Alex leaned his crutch against the wall and used the railing along the stairs to help him up. He moved faster than I imagined someone with a wrapped up calf would move, but I guess I shouldn’t have been so surprised, based on the phenomenal shape that he was in.
    I followed him up the stairs and watched as he hopped on one foot down the hallway, quickly turning into his old bedroom.
    “Oh, my God, Lindsey,” he said. “You’ve got to see this.”
    I hurried down the hallway, eager to see what had him so excited. When I turned into the room where Alex was standing, my jaw dropped.
    “Alex,” I said. “It’s exactly the same as how you left it. It hasn’t changed a bit.”
    A huge smile crossed his face as he glanced