Chapter 16
Leo
Thirty-one…Thirty-two…Thirty-three…
Sweat pours down my forehead and the muscles in my torso tighten as I effortlessly raise my upper body into a sitting position. I pause for a breath, just one second of reprieve. Then with both hands cupping the back of my head, I lower to the floor again and the muscles relax.
My body is used to the pain, my muscles crave the burn. After being in the military for so long, I need a grueling regime that keeps me strong and ready. It keeps my demons at bay. Without it, I feel vulnerable. And I can’t afford to feel vulnerable.
Thirty-four…Thirty-five…
The basement is cold. The cement walls are unfinished and covered in cobwebs. I’m sure if I stay down here long enough, some rodent will scamper by, searching for food. It doesn’t matter, though. This damp floor is the lap of luxury compared to the places I’ve been.
Thirty-six…Thirty-sev—
My eyes flutter shut and I see Charlie’s face. Bruised and battered, blood dripping from his chin. One eye swollen shut. I hear Archibald screaming at me to get back. I see Johnson’s lifeless body facedown in the dirt—
My phone rings on the concrete next to me. I jolt. There are still certain things about civilian life that take me off guard and cause all the alarm bells to sound. A ringing phone is one of them.
I drop onto my back and grab the phone, checking the number on the screen. I don’t recognize it but that’s not surprising. The only people who have my phone number are Charlie and Brent’s preschool. I contemplate letting the call go to voicemail, but my gut tells me to answer it.
My gut is usually right.
“Hello.”
A deep laugh rumbles through the speaker. “Holy shit! It’s actually true!”
I chuff, recognizing that voice immediately. Speak of the devil…“What’s true?”
“They let you out into the general population,” he snorts. “They must not know that you’re a fucking lunatic!”
I almost laugh, too. Almost. “Takes a lunatic to know a lunatic, my friend.”
Goddamn Archibald Jones. Never takes anything seriously. He was always able to find the silver lining when everyone else could only see mushroom clouds and wreckage and misery. That was his gift out in the jungle. Injecting just enough levity to keep the rest of us from going insane.
“When Charlie told me that you were in Copper Heights, Illinois, working for his construction company, I thought he was pulling my leg. But it’s true, isn’t it?”
“It’s true,” I confess as I wipe sweat from my brow with my t-shirt.
His voice grows somber in a rare moment of seriousness. “So, I’m guessing the other bit is true, too? The bit about Mara? She left you with the kid?”
I sigh heavily at the mention of my son’s mother, the woman who no longer wants to be in our lives. Now, she’s gone and I’m left on my own trying to navigate the life we were supposed to live together.
“Yeah,” I say solemnly. “Mara’s gone.”
Archie whistles under his breath. “She was never a good woman, Montgomery. We tried telling you that.”
“Did ya really?” I say snarkily. My team had hinted at it over the years, I guess, but no one would dare come straight out and tell me that my wife was a bitch. I wish I had seen that on my own.
“Chin up, Buttercup. You’ll find somebody,” he says encouragingly. “In time.”
A scoff is my only response.
I hear the playfulness in his voice when he speaks again. "Charlie's got two sisters in town, doesn't he?"
I grunt. “Don’t even joke about that.”
Laughter pelts out of Archie's mouth. "When I spoke to him just now he said that he’d break your balls if you got anywhere near them but you could take Charlie and we all know it."
He's right. I know I could kick Charlie’s ass. But I really don’t want it to have to come to that. I value his friendship and I’d rather not rock the proverbial boat.
Archie’s cackling peters off. “You aren’t laughing,” he observes suspiciously. There’s a drawn out pause as he puts the pieces together. “You aren’t messing around with one of his sisters, are you?”
Fuck. “Look—it’s not ‘messing around’, okay? It was just one kiss.”
His groan rolls through the phone like thunder. “Bro…”
The guilt pulsing through me becomes a second heartbeat. I have every reason to feel bad.
It was a very simple rule. It was right there on Moses’s scroll. Etched in stone. The eleventh commandment—thou shalt not mess around with thy best friend’s little sister. I broke that rule.
“It was one kiss. It won’t happen again.” I make the promise more to myself than to him. It’s true. There won’t be any more kissing.
The kiss left me completely discombobulated but it didn’t affect Reese one bit. Can’t say it didn’t sting, though.
What’s her deal? Do I have bad breath? Did I use too much tongue? Yeah, I’m sure that’s it—too much tongue.
To hammer the point home, I add. “Besides, she’s my damn babysitter. I can’t be carrying on with my babysitter.”
“If she’s legal, it’s not a crime.”
“That’s not helpful, man. Not at all.”
Archie sighs in resignation after another long silence. “Man, if you’re having a good time with the girl, don’t let Charlie cock-block. Get your dick wet. Live a little.”
“It’s not even like that, Archibald. It was a mistake. A one-time thing. I don’t have the time or the interest to get involved with a woman right now. My focus is my son. Making sure he adjusts to this new life we’re living.”
My body aches for one woman's attention. For her kiss and her curves and her warmth. But I don't think I'll ever be able to trust anyone with my heart again. Not even sweet, innocent Reese. And more importantly, I don’t have room in my life for a woman. Brent is my focus. My only focus.
My friend chuffs dismissively. “Don’t puss out, Montgomery. If you’re happy, your kid’ll be happy. It’s that simple.”
“So, you’ve got a degree in child psychology now or something?” I chuckle snidely.
“It’s just common sense,” he says in a serious tone. “You’re not doing the people around you any favors when you’re moping all the damn time.”
I hate the way his words resonate with me. It feels like he might actually be right. I don’t want that to be the case. Needing to move the conversation away from this territory, I change the subject. “Enough about me. What are you up to, man?”
The grin in his voice travels over the line. “Just got back from another tour. Alive and well and ready to make the most of it.”
I lean an elbow against the cold concrete. “What exactly does that mean?”
“It means that I jumped in my dad’s old Chevy and I’m riding around this country from city to city, living my life to the fullest.”
“Before you head back for another tour?”
“You know it. That thing is in my blood, man. I need to be out there. Desert. Jungle. It doesn’t matter. I’ve got to be doing what needs to be done to defend our great country.”
He can’t see me but I nod in understanding. That sense of duty is what propelled me into the service in the first place but now that Mara has bailed on our family, my duty is to my son.
Brent comes first.
He always comes first.
“Don’t leave before you call me again,” I tell Archie.
“Sure thing. And if you need to reach me, you can call this number. Any time of day. All right?”
“All right.”
“And Leo?”
“Yeah?”
“Get your dick wet.”
On those words of wisdom, he hangs up.