And I was happy, so happy! I went out with Liam last night! I wouldn’t—no, couldn’t—let my issues or this guy ruin that for me.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Liam
At six thirty, I hurried to call Jenna. We’d texted a few times throughout the day, but I’d been anxiously waiting for her to finish work so I could call. In just a few short days, her voice, and especially her laugh, had become my favorite sounds. Or maybe I was only admitting it to myself now that I finally got to enjoy them more often.
“Hi, Liam!” She answered on the first ring, her warm greeting settling into my chest.
“Hey, Jenna. How was your day?”
“It was great! How about you?”
“Busy, but nothing too wild. What made your day so great?”
“A mom came in with her son who was struggling to read, and he was obviously frustrated, but I got them set up in a quiet spot with an early reader on motorcycles, because he said he loves them. His face lit up when he saw the book, so I’m pretty sure he’s been stuck with Dick and Jane-ish books. He obviously didn’t learn to read in one shot, but they were there with thebook for a while and they checked it out, along with two others. Simply being interested in books is a huge step toward reading.”
Her excited rambling was adorable, and fuck, she was so good and pure. A ray of light. “That’s amazing,” I said. “You changed that boy’s life.”
“Thank you! It’s the best part of the job! So, what about you? Anything interesting today?”
“Two medical calls, a suspicious odor, and a car accident. The best part was Dylan and Juliette came to visit. It’ll be good to have him back.” That was true, but trite. I wanted to give Jenna more. “It just...it hasn't felt right here without him.”
“Yeah, I can imagine. You guys are so close, it’s like a member of your family is missing. And to have gone so long not knowing whether or not he’d be able to come back, that must’ve been hard.”
“That’s it, the not knowing. He’s like a brother and he was hurting. In one moment, he lost his health, his job, and almost his girlfriend. And we had to just go on without him. It sucked when we needed him and he wasn’t there, but it also felt wrong when we were fine without him.”
“When you...”
I waited, but she didn’t continue. “What, Jenna? You can ask me anything.”
“I was just thinking about when you were in the Army. Was your team or unit, or whatever you call it, close?”
Ah, fuck. I didn’t mind telling Jenna, but I hated to make her sad. There was no gentle way to say that I was the only one who’d made it out. That I’d waltzed out of there the minute I could, and on their next deployment, what would’ve beenmynext deployment, my brothers were ambushed—while I was relaxing at the beach with my family.
“Yes. There were six of us. We’d been together since the beginning of our training, so we were already close; then shit hitthe fan within minutes of our first mission, and that sealed the deal. Hardest thing I’d ever done was leave them behind when I chose to walk away.”
Jenna was quiet for a moment, and I could practically hear her trying to read between the lines. Finally, she said, “I have so many questions, but not over the phone. I need to be able to see you.”
“How about a video call?”
“Yeah, let’s do that.”
I switched it over, and Jenna’s beautiful face filled my screen.
“Hi. It’s good to see you.”
“Same.” She studied me through the screen before she smiled gently. “Can I have a tour of the station?”
“Of course.” I had no problem putting off the conversation about my team. Did she know that? “This is the bunk room where I sleep.” I turned the phone around to show her the small bed, nightstand, and closet.
“That bed looks way too small for you.”
A vision of Jenna in my bed popped into my head, along with things too inappropriate to say to her. I hadn’t thought this through when I started showing Jenna the room. “I manage,” I choked out.
“Is that always your room?”
“Technically, no. But, yes. They aren’t assigned, but we all know whose is whose.”