Total pages in book: 109
Estimated words: 101501 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 508(@200wpm)___ 406(@250wpm)___ 338(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 101501 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 508(@200wpm)___ 406(@250wpm)___ 338(@300wpm)
“For what?” he whispered against my lips.
“For Josh. For looking for Duke. For being you.”
_______________
Driving in the snow was slow going. A ninety-minute trip took twice as long if you wanted to reach your destination in one piece, so that left a lot of time for questions and answers. We’d stopped on the way out of town for gas and provisions, so with a hot chocolate resting securely in my hands, and a beef stick hanging precariously from my mouth, I turned my back to the passenger door and leaned against it so I could watch Logan as he drove.
I was sick with worry for my friend. A million scenarios ran through my brain about what could have happened to Duke, each of them worse than the next. I knew I needed a distraction before anxiety wormed it’s way back through my system or the next few hours would be unbearable.
“Where were you born?” Twenty questions would help take both our minds off of what we might find when we reached Yellowstone.
Logan glanced at me quickly then back at the road. “Nashville.”
I’d noted a hint of the South in his accent, but not like I would have expected for Tennessee. “You don’t speak with much of a twang.”
He chuckled and shook his head. “I grew up in foster care after my mother overdosed. The last home I was in was close to five years. My house parents were from England, so I suppose it counteracted the twang.”
“Your mother overdosed?” I reached over and squeezed his arm for comfort. “I’m so sorry, Logan. Do you remember her at all?”
Logan took his hand off the wheel for a brief moment and squeezed my hand back in appreciation. “No. I was four when she died.”
He didn’t seem upset by the questions, but I moved on to keep the conversation from being too dark. “Um. How about favorite movie.”
He looked at me and grinned. “Playing twenty questions, are we?”
I’d kicked off my boots to get comfortable, so I uncurled one of my legs and poked his side with my foot. “I want to know you inside and out.”
Before I could move my foot back, Logan grabbed it and pulled it across his lap, rubbing the arch in a delicious way. “Fight Club.”
I rolled my eyes. What was it about that movie?
“You like rolling your eyes at me.”
Did I?
“Is that a problem for you?”
“Not for me, no. But you might think so when I kiss you every time you do it in public or bend you over the closest surface when we’re not.”
My mouth opened and closed like a fish, then I cleared my throat. “Duly noted.”
A low rumble shook his body as he chuckled quietly.
“Um. How many girlfriends have you had?”
His forehead creased. “None.”
My brows shot to my hairline. “None? How is that possible considering you’re you?”
He glanced at me then back at the road. “I was in foster care. I didn’t want to bring a girl into that atmosphere in high school. Then I joined the army and my focus was on my job, not my love life.”
“So you’ve never been in love?”
He shook his head without taking his eyes off the road.
I bit my lip. Had he ever had anyone who loved him?
“Have you ever loved anyone?”
The hand still rubbing my foot squeezed it once. “Yeah.”
I knew I was wading into dangerous territory now. You don’t have nightmares like he had if he didn’t care about the men who died. “Was it your friends Coop, Buster, and Loverboy?”
He nodded instantly but didn’t offer an explanation.
Did I push or let it go?
I went with my gut. “I’m sorry you lost them.”
His quick intake of breath was the only indication he’d heard me. I started to pull my foot back to give him some space, but he held it in place. He drove silently for a few minutes more—while I worried I’d messed up and pushed too hard—before he finally responded.
“I was a sniper. Recruited for the position my first six months in the army. I had a natural skillset for long-range kills, and they honed those skills to a razor’s edge. Later, I was recruited again for Delta Force. As a sniper, I spent time on my own, sometimes in enemy territory. It suited me, the isolation, but members of my unit, Coop, Buster, and Loverboy broke through the wall I’d built during my youth. It was a natural fit for us. I protected them from a distance, and in return they gave me the closest thing to a family I’d ever had.”
A knot tightened in my chest. No wonder he had nightmares. “You lost them on the twenty-eighth of November, didn’t you?”
His eyes shot to mine as the truck slowed to a stop on the side of the road. I held my breath and waited while he fought the demons swimming in his eyes. I’m sure a psychologist would say not to force the issue, but I’d come this far, I wouldn’t back down now. Even if he didn’t feel like talking about it today, I’d opened the door for the future.