AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Yemen let out a long, deep sigh.
“Fuck, Kane…”
I nodded, even though he couldn’t see me. I felt the same way.
“Nothing I can do if they don’t want me. I’m more of a liability to the team than a benefit as a teammate, so that means I’m out.”
“Dammit, Kane. They can’t do this to you!”
“We can’t change it, Yamin. We can’t bring O’Kiell, Bart, or Rodger back. Besides, you guys are better off without me. Obviously.”
“That’s bullshit and you know it. I don’t care what the others think. You’ve saved our asses more than a few times. Hell, you’ve saved my ass eight times and counting.”
I just scoffed.
“Fuck…I’m coming out. I have some time I can scrape together and we’ll—”
“Don’t,” I countered vehemently. “You’ve got a family to see. Use your time to do that. Besides, I hear Florida is stifling this time of year. You might enjoy it.”
He let out a strangled laugh, but didn’t deny that he should save his time to see his parents in Miami.
“I’m ok, bro. I’m really ok.”
I wasn’t though. I was lying through my fucking teeth, but he didn’t need to know that.
Yamin was a great man, and I needed him to just forget about me. He was in his late twenties with a girlfriend and a future. I was officially a washed up old Marine with no Goddamn clue. He was better off without me.
“Dammit, Kane,” he murmured. “I know you’re not ok. I’ve never met a more devoted Marine than you. This has got to have left you spinning.”
Sure it did.
“Nah. I’ve been staying with a buddy in Vegas and he’s keeping me distracted.”
More like his daughter is keeping me distracted.
“You sure?”
“Yes. Stop asking me, jackass.”
Yamin laughed halfheartedly again, then sighed once more.
“Alright. But I’m still going to be on your ass at least a couple times a week until we go on our next mission. Got it? Answer the phone when I call, bastard.”
I might or might not have been avoiding his calls. But only sometimes.
“Got it. No life so I can stay by my phone for when my impromptu mommy calls.”
“Fuck you,” Yamin said with more humor in his voice. “Ok, take care, and I’ll talk to you later. But seriously, man, if you need anything—”
“Hanging up now,” I drawled, then pulled the phone from my ear to smash my finger into the little red END button.
Well, that was a shitshow.
Part of me was grateful he still bothered to call after the others had written me off, but I was also pretty damn tired of lying to him, telling him I was fine when I wasn’t.
I'm so not fine.
Starting the engine, I flicked the car into gear and headed back to Tommy’s place for hopefully a meal before I really started some kind of house search. Well, that and some whiskey. I still had half a bottle Freya gave me that I’d been nursing, trying not to get too drunk so I would be able to pass the neuro exam. Fat lot of good that did me. I had every fucking intention of finishing the bottle and getting pass-out drunk in celebration of my shitty day.
