Page 28 of Fire for Effect

Anyone else would be insulted. But from her? That word was practically a compliment.

“Yeah, Psycho?”

She squinted her eyes, leaning in just a little as if I was something she needed to read on a butcher block that was too far away.

“The fuck?” she said in a gasp. “What are you doing here?”

“The fuck, indeed.” I answered back, closing the distance between us. “I told you I’d see you soon.”

She stared at me like I was a mirage. I wasn’t sure how much longer I could take this. I wanted her, needed to feel her in my arms, and each second she hesitated, my heart threatened to crack with rejection.

I had expected a warmer welcome but maybe I should have called first.

I’d watched her at the parking lot across the way, talking to the fireman who I had to assume was Riley. He looked like a walking jock strap.

Were they going on a date? The familiar, violent curls of jealousy came over my skin.

There was a Sergeant Major back when I was going through the Q-course, the Special Forces Qualification Course, who used to warn us to never come home unannounced. Always call first.

“Drop a dime, stop a crime,” he would say, referencing the days of using payphones to call home. The gist of it was that if you warned your spouse, they could kick their lover out of bed so that you didn’t murder them.

I had laughed that shit off, thinking that it would never happen to me.

Kind of ironic though, since my ex-wife wasn’t caught by an unannounced homecoming but by tangling with my teammate. A dime wouldn’t have saved us then.

But that was a different life, and I had been a different guy. And Kristin was nothing like Guerro.

But maybe I should have called. I couldn’t help the green-eyed monster from clawing its way up my throat, telling me that it was out of fucking line for her to be seeing some other guy… even if I knew that she wasn’t mine… a technicality, at best, but still technically true.

“Is it really you?” she asked, straightening up, her lips looking like they wanted to smile, but she wouldn’t let it happen.

My heart sank. Was I not wanted here? She wanted nothing to do with me now that she had a man to keep her company. I clenched a fist in a knee-jerk response. I was supposed to be the one who warmed her cold feet.

“Yeah, it’s me. Is that a fucking problem?” I was angrier than I wanted to be, ready to walk across the road and punch out that son of a bitch for daring to date my girl.

He wasn’t good enough. Hell, better men than him hadn’t been anywhere good enough for Guerro, so some podunk town fireman sure as fuck wouldn’t pass muster.

Was shit with Riley so serious that I couldn’t drop in and crash on her couch unannounced anymore? Was some other guy about to change our dynamic? Shit…

She squealed, holstered the gun, and jumped into my arms. I oomphed as the full weight of her landed on my chest when she threw her arms around my neck.

Finally. My body sagged with relief, and I tried to force away the negative thoughts. I was home. With my Psycho in my arms.

“I could have killed you, you son of a bitch! Why didn't you tell me you were coming?” The joy in her voice was nothing short of heaven.

I wrapped my arms around her waist, spinning her in the air, her feet flying behind her.

“And spoil the surprise?”

I grunted when my bad leg twisted the wrong way, sending a jolt of pain up my hip. A reminder that I was no spring chicken.

“Oh, are you okay?” she asked, dropping her feet down and stepping away from me.

“I’m good,” I said, feeling a little wheezy. “The leg.”

I hated to admit it. I didn’t want to be weak in front of her, even if it was because of a bullet wound I got for her.

“Jesus, I'm sorry.”

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