Page 139 of Make Me Trust Again
The corner of my mouth lifts slightly. “So you’d like to think. You’re what? Well into your forties now?”
Justin Thorn and I met during my first tour. He’s a few years older than me and he was my unit commander at the time before they transferred him to a different location. But we’ve stayed intouch over the years. He’s a good man, a good friend, who helped us deal in those first days out in the desert.
“Excuse you, I’m onlythirty-nine.Like I said, my prime. And I can see that you’re still the brat you were at eighteen.” Justin tips his chin in my direction, his expression turning serious. “How you doing? It’s been a while since?—”
Before he can finish, the waitress comes by our table and leaves a beer for Justin. He thanks her, and I place my order. We wait for her to leave before Justin glances back at me, his brow lifting.
“Fine.”
He takes a sip of his beer, but the look he shoots my way tells me he isn’t buying it one bit. “How’s the leg?”
I shrug. “Still attached to my body.”
“Still a moody bastard, I see.” Justin scoffs.
“Yeah, well, as we established, some things never change, now do they? A better question is, how are you doing?”
“Same ol’, same ol’.” Justin sprawls in his seat, leaning his arm against the back of the booth. “Back on home soil. Hopefully, it stays that way. I’m getting tired of all the moving.”
“Old, like we’ve established.”
He shoots me a death glare, but just then, the waitress comes from behind me. My body stiffens as she leans down to place my Coke in front of me, her strong perfume invading all of my senses.
As quickly as she came, she scurries off again, and Justin tips his chin in my direction. “So, how is it being back home? Charming small town.”
My fingers curl around the glass. “As you can imagine.”
“C’mon, it can’t be that bad.”
“It’s a small town. A lot of nosy people.”
Curious glances have been following me since the moment I stepped into The Hut. I can still feel them on the back of myhead, making me squirm in my seat. I hate sitting with my back to the room. One of the first lessons we were taught when we joined the military was to always stay on high alert, always be aware of your surroundings. That’s hard when you have your back to everybody, and your hearing is for shit.
“Remind me again, why couldn’t you stop at my place?”
“How would I be able to check out all the gorgeous women in this town then?” Thorn smirks.
My brow quirks up. “Aren’t you married?”
Thorn grunts his acknowledgment. “Got divorced a few years ago. She decided that this life is too much for her. Couldn’t even blame her, hell, some days it’s too much for me.”
“Amen to that.”
Thorn grabs the bottle and takes a swig of his beer. “What about you? Found any small-town girl to settle down with?”
“As if.”
But the moment the words slip out of my mouth, the image of Rose pops into my mind. Us sitting on the porch. Her finger holding onto mine. Her tear-stained face. The little sigh she makes every time I kiss her. The trust shining in her eyes when she left her son with me. The big, bright smile that was on her face when she looked at Kyle. How her soft body molded to mine as if she belonged with me. The way her lips lingered on my cheek just a heartbeat too long, making me wish for things I had no right wishing.
A foot connects with mine under the table, drawing my attention to the man sitting across from me. “What’s got your panties in a twist, Williams?”
“Nothing,” I say quickly. A bit too quickly.
And the asshole doesn’t miss it either. His eyes narrow, that smirk growing bigger, knowing. “Well, I’ll be damned. Thereissomebody.”
“You’re imagining things.”
I take a sip of my drink, just as I hear a familiar voice. “Well, I’ll be damned!”
