Page 39 of Fifty First Times (Sharing You 0.40)
I whirled my head in his direction but he kept his eyes carefully averted from mine. “You were shot?”
When he finally looked at me, the humor was gone from his eyes. “It wasn’t a coincidence I showed up at your place today. When I heard the chief was going to ask for your help, I volunteered to get you. I’ve thought of nothing else but you since I arrived back in town. I wanted to see you earlier, but I didn’t think you’d talk to me. There’s so much I have to explain. I know now’s not the time, and you have every reason to turn me a way. But please, Cricket, hear me out.”
“Avery,” I muttered. His words swam around my head so fast I became dizzy, so I focused my attention on walking, grabbing on to small trees as I passed in order to stay upright. For the first time in four years, I considered that maybe it hadn’t been the distance or another girl who’d kept us apart, but rather something much worse. “You’re right, though. Now isn’t the time.”
His eyebrows lifted hopefully. “Later then?”
I knew I should leave the past in the past, but the possibility of finally having answers was too much for me to resist. “Fine. We’ll talk.”
He smiled the crooked smile that used to make my knees go weak. And damn it if it still didn’t have the same effect. “Just tell me one thing,” I said, while leaning out of the way of a reaching branch. “How did you get shot?”
His smile vanished. “A man in my squadron.”
I could feel the blood drain from my face. “Why?”
He shook his head. “Don’t really know for sure. The official report stated he snapped under pressure. Personally, I can’t help but wonder if someone put him up to it.” He glanced at me before focusing on the trail ahead. “But that’s a story for another time.”
Oh my God. My fingers tightened around the leash. “And that’s why you’re no longer in the military?”
He nodded and patted his stiff leg. “Honorable discharge from Delta Force.”
“Delta Force?” My head snapped up. “Isn’t that black ops stuff?”
He gave a quick nod of his head before looking up at the sky. “Which is why I’d be willing to bet they’re not done with me yet.”
“What do you mean?”
He turned to me and the look on his face stole the air from my lungs. For several heartbeats, my high school love, a boy I’d known his entire life, stood before me as a man I’d never seen before. His hands tightened into fists. “When I aim a gun, I never miss.”
A ball of ice formed inside my stomach. He’d been through more than I’d imagined during our time apart. Up until now I’d pictured him partying and flirting with various women from around the world, using the cliché guy-in-uniform addiction to his advantage. But from the sounds of it, that hadn’t been the case and he’d suffered, too. So did that change things between us? It still didn’t explain why he never called. “I don’t know what to say, Tanner.”
He grinned at me, his dimples deepening. “What happened to Officer Wade?”
Realizing my mistake, I turned back to the trail, trying to ignore the heat in my cheeks as it bled down my neck. “Don’t push it, or you’ll be Officer Wade again.”
He laughed, a deep rumbling from his chest that stirred more than just memories inside me. “Fair enough.”
We continued through the woods, walking side by side as I tried to digest his words. He was close enough I could have slipped my hand into his if I wanted. Four years ago, I would have without hesitation. But time had built a wall between us, a wall I wasn’t sure could ever be torn down. Even if he hadn’t left me for another girl, he’d still left me. And the hurt of his betrayal twisted around my heart like barbed wire.
“Hey there!” A man waved to us from several yards away as he approached. He was a thin man, taller than Tanner, and completely bald save for the beginning of a dark beard shadowing his chin. He grinned, revealing nicotine-stained teeth. A pack of Marlboro menthols protruded from the pocket of his blue T-shirt. “You out searching for the missing girl?”
“Yes, sir.” Tanner’s tone was one I’d never heard him use before. He’d only uttered two words, but they were all he needed to convey he was in charge.
Shawnee jerked his head in the stranger’s direction. The line of hair along his spine rose, and a low growl rumbled from his throat.
“Shawnee!” I scolded. He looked at me, licked his nose, and resumed his searching.
“Aw, that’s okay.” The man stepped toward me. “I love dogs. Can I pet him?”
Tanner placed his hand on the small of my back and gave me a gentle push, indicating I should follow my dog. “Sorry, sir. That’s a working dog and he shouldn’t be distracted.”
The man raised his hands in placation. “Sorry. I’ll let you get back to it then.”
“That’s a good idea.” Tanner shifted his position beside me, angling me out of view of the stranger in a way I was sure was no accident. He grabbed his belt casually, but I couldn’t help but notice the way his index finger rested on the snap of his gun holster.
A tightness squeezed my chest. In some ways Tanner was the same boy who’d kissed me before boarding the bus to boot camp all those years ago. He had the same dimpled laugh, the same mischievous light in his eyes, and though his curls were cut short, the same sandy color of his hair remained. In other ways, however, I could barely recognize the man who’d replaced him. My Tanner didn’t have a care in the world—he loved life and everyone in it. But something had happened to him. Maybe it was his time in Delta Force, maybe it was getting shot, or maybe a combination of the two. Whatever the reason, the Tanner I knew so well had changed into someone who couldn’t meet a stranger without reaching for his gun. It made my heart break all over again.
The stranger turned and began walking in the opposite direction when Tanner called out, “Just what are you doing in the woods, anyway?”
