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“Thanks for getting this ready,” he said, breaking the silence.
Her head snapped up. Her gaze licked every inch of his naked torso. These sleep pants were not doing much to hide his erection that seemed ever-present around her.
Charli stood. “Of course. It’s not a problem.”
She walked over to him, squeezing her hands at her sides as if she wasn’t sure what to do about this situation either.
“Finn?”
“Yeah?”
“I’m really glad you’re home.” Charli offered him a small smile, her eyes glassy.
He wasn’t sure what to say, not wanting to lie. This didn’t feel like home to him. She didn’t feel like his wife. His body might be the man she knew, but in his mind, he was a seventeen-year-old high schooler who was still dating Laura Bridges. “Thank you.” His voice came out gravelly.
Charli blinked twice and nodded. Disappointment flashed in her beautiful brown eyes. Her mouth flattened. “See you in the morning.”
He lay on the couch, turning his back to her as her feet padded up the stairs. Closing his eyes, he willed sleep to take him and offer some relief.
The tick of the clock on the wall was the only sound in the room. Hours passed as he tossed and turned. His stomach knotted with unease. Eventually, sleep came, but rest did not.
Finn pointed out the windshield, speaking to the soldier driving the Humvee. “Six more klicks east, and then we’ll be at the meet point.”
“First thing I’m gonna do when I get back to the States is ask my boyfriend to marry me,” Smithson said from the driver’s seat. His white smile contrasted against the tan camouflage uniform he wore. His helmet was clipped snuggly under his chin.
“Hopefully Zack comes to his senses and turns you down.” Finn laughed.
Smithson gave him a goofy smile back. “I’m gonna be one lucky son of a bitch.”
Finn kept his gaze trained out the window, searching for insurgents or anything that seemed out of the ordinary. The dust from the caravan in front of them made it hard to see out there in the desert.
“What about you? This is your last deployment. What are you gonna do when you get back home?” Smithson asked.
“I’m gonna kiss my girl and never come back up for air,” Finn said with a wide smile.
“Sounds like a good way to go,” Smithson agreed.
A loud noise blasted through Finn’s ear as his world turned upside down. Glass shattered. Metal screeched as it bent and twisted. Pain radiated through his body. Blackness swallowed him.
There were screams, muted by white noise, then piercing his ears in sharp contrast. Smithson’s face was frozen in fear. Gone were the military fatigues, replaced with a sweatshirt and jeans. His mouth opened and closed like a fish. Blood poured from the wound in his neck. And then his movement stopped all together. His cold dead eyes stared back at Finn, pleading for the impossible.
Finn reached out to his friend, his head spinning. A red haze covered his vision. He swiped his hand over his face. Blood. More blood. Gunfire blasted all around him. His chest squeezed tight. Ropes of fear strangled him as he clawed at his neck for air. A crushing weight settled over his chest, cracking his ribs as he tried to scream, but no sound came out. The vehicle shook as another loud blast sent him back into darkness. Death swallowed him whole.
4
Charli
Charli jolted awake. Scanning the dark room, she sat up. The clock on the bedside table was the only source of light in the room. Four A.M.
A moan filtered in through the darkness. Finn? She slipped her feet out of the blankets onto the rug, leaving the comfort of her warm bed. Charli headed towards the stairs, listening intently.
“Nooooo!” Finn screamed.
Charli’s heart raced, panic flooding her veins. She hurried down the stairs.
Finn was tangled in the sheets on the couch, eyes closed, his skin shiny with perspiration in the moonlight.
“Finn?” she whispered, reaching out her hand to his bare shoulder. His chest heaved up and down, his body thrashing side to side as his screams grew louder.
