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He just grunted and turned, walking off from me without another word, the muscles in his back tense. I frowned after him.
If someone had asked me earlier today, I’d have told them I had Xavier Rawlins all figured out. But now…I didn’t know what to make of him anymore.
And I wasn’t sure how to feel about that either.
4
Harlow
It was hot. Sand was hitting me in my face, and my skin was burning from the sun. It was eerily silent as we waited on the signal from our Captain.
Too silent, actually. And it left a bad feeling in my stomach. The muscles there were knotting tighter and tighter together, warning me to get the fuck out before it was too late.
But I couldn’t move. Disobeying orders wasn’t something anyone did. The military didn’t pay us to think. They paid us to just do what we were told.
That was when I saw her. She couldn’t have been much older than eighteen, and she had a bomb strapped to her chest. Chaos quickly ensued. One of the guys panicked and moved, and someone who had control of the bomb from far away set it off.
When I came to, someone was pulling me away, shouting orders. Gunshots were blasting out all around me. My hip was on fucking fire, and my ears were ringing. My back and head ached something fucking fierce.
A medic loomed over me and tapped my cheek, shining a light into my eyes. “Bishop, can you hear me?”
I managed to nod my head at the words I was sure he spoke, but I could only read his lips. I couldn’t hear anything over the gunfire and the loud ringing in my ears from the explosion. Someone loaded me onto a litter, and I groaned in pain.
“Hip,” I rasped.
“Got burned in the explosion,” Carl said as he strapped me so I wouldn’t fall off. “You’re going to be alright. We’re going to get you to base.”
My eyes fluttered shut, and just as they lifted me, one of them was shot, the blood splattering over my clothes. I hit the ground with a thump, Carl’s name ripping from my lips in a roar.
* * *
I shot upright,sweat running down my body in rivulets. My sheets were soaked. It was still dark outside, and a glance at the red digits on my clock told me it was only about five in the morning. Too early for work. And if I’d been a normal civilian, it would’ve been too damn early to even be awake.
Leaning forward, I braced my elbows on my knees and scrubbed my calloused hands over my face, my heart still racing like I was still stuck in the desert in that tiny ass town, still staring at Carl’s lifeless face with his blood splattered all over my uniform.
A chill raced down my spine.
I grabbed my phone off the charger and scrolled through my contacts until I found the name labeled Chief. After shooting him a text that I couldn’t make it in today, I turned my phone off and padded out to my patio, dropping into the lounge chair to watch the sun rise over the beach. There was no fucking way I’d be able to work today. I was sluggish. Worn down. Fucking bone-deep tired.
I stared up at the sky as it slowly lightened. Carl would never be able to see the sun rise again, which was his favorite time of day. He always told each of us to keep chasing the sunrises when we got lost in our heads. So, despite how fucking hard it was for me to keep going, to keep breathing, most days, I chased every sunrise I could just for him.
I leaned my head back, staring up at the sky as it slowly began to change colors, my chest aching for the best friend I’d ever had. Carl had been a goof, but he’d been one of the best guys I’d ever known.
And now, he was gone, nothing more than a memory in my head.
All because he’d tried to save me.
5
Xavier
Ifrowned when Colwyn stepped into the lifeguard station, setting his cooler down beside his chair. I looked at my phone, wondering if I’d gotten my day off mixed up, but nope. I was definitely scheduled to work today, so where the hell was Harlow? He was supposed to be working with me. Chief had been pretty adamant about that.
“You’re working today?” I dumbly asked like it wasn’t obvious.
Colwyn nodded, thankfully not calling me out on my dumb question. “Harlow called out.”
Called out? That didn’t seem like him.
