Total pages in book: 48
Estimated words: 45573 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 228(@200wpm)___ 182(@250wpm)___ 152(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 45573 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 228(@200wpm)___ 182(@250wpm)___ 152(@300wpm)
Fuck, quit thinking about it, Olivia.
“Listen here, Missy. Enough about me. Let’s talk about you. Is your son staying out of trouble?”
And that does the trick. Missy goes off on a tangent talking about the latest where she had to go to the school’s office again because her son got in trouble. I listen to her, offering some reassurance when she pauses, but the whole time I’m thinking about a certain ex-mercenary and the way his hands felt when he was touching me. I know I should be thinking about Rick, but no matter how hard I try, I can’t get my mind off Jason.
CHAPTER 5
JASON
I bailed on Abby and Davis. I skipped out on dinner, caught an Uber, and now I find myself in the gym at the rehab center, throwing around more weight than I have in a while. Frustration fills me, and I need to let off steam. I don’t trust myself with a handgun yet, so going to the shooting range is not an option. I used to run, that was sort of my thing, but I can’t really do that now. Not freely. So I’ve turned to lifting weights.
I lift the bar over my head and feel the muscles straining in every part of my body as I fight to hold it. When I have nothing else to give, I lower it, letting it slam into the floor with a frustrated grunt.
“What happened?”
I freeze for two seconds when I hear Kanan’s question, and I want to tell him—hell, I need to talk to someone—but instead, I shrug my shoulders as I stretch my arms out over my head. “Nothing.”
He laughs, and if anything, it makes me angrier. I find a bench and sit down on it, and as I do, a towel hits me in the face, letting me know that Kanan is still here. I use the towel to wipe off. “What’s going on with you?”
He chugs his drink and lets out a satisfied sigh. “I had a meeting with Walker.”
I tense for all of one minute before I realize Kanan is waiting for a response. “That’s good, man. What did he say?”
“He asked me to be over grounds maintenance.”
“Fuck, dude, that’s awesome. That’s right up your alley. You like that kind of shit.”
He grunts. “Yeah, it really is, but it’s all sort of crazy too. You think Walker’s finally lost his shit or something?”
I think I know where he’s going with this, but I still ask him, “What do you mean?”
“He brought us all here, and let’s face it, we’re not the healthiest bunch, but he brought us here, is making us do the therapy and then giving us jobs. He could do all this—get the employees he needs—a lot cheaper if he just advertised for the positions.”
Kanan is just voicing what all of us have been thinking. Don’t think I haven’t thought about it until finally it started to make sense to me. “I understand what you mean, but you know as well as I do that this is who Walker is. We were his mercenaries, and he’s always treated us like family. He gave us two years to get our shit together after the accident, and we were all still flailing. He knew what he was doing when he brought us here. Look what it’s done for Davis and you already. I mean, can’t you tell the difference in yourself since you got here?”
Instead of answering me, he asks his own question. “When’s your appointment with Walker?”
I laugh because it’s either that or I punch something. “I haven’t made one.”
“Why not?” he asks.
I’m gripping the towel between my fingers, and I force my hands to loosen their hold. Since I’ve gone blind, I really work on keeping my emotions intact. “Because it’s a waste of time, Kanan. He’s not going to offer me a job. He knows I’m not of any use here.”
“Bullshit!” he says angrily. “That’s bullshit and you know it. How long have you known Walker?”
I shrug and refuse to answer.
There’s a loud thud and it takes me a minute but I figure out that Kanan threw his water bottle away and stomps toward me before sitting heavily on the bench. “We’ve known Walker for at least ten years, Hawk.”
I know he’s mad when he calls me by my last name. “And in those ten years, the man doesn’t miss. He just doesn’t. He knew what he was doing bringing us here. Just like he knows what he’s going to have you do here. But you have to get your head out of your ass before you can do it.”
“Fuck you, man. You don’t know… you don’t have any idea what it’s like.”
He grunts. “I know I don’t know what you’re going through, Hawk. I know that. Trust me, I have guilt knowing that Davis lost a leg, you’re blind, Elias is all fucked up with scars, Colter has a brain injury, and I just have a little pain in my arm. Trust me, I know I don’t know what you’re going through.”