Page 19 of Hold On Through The Pain

“I understand. I didn’t either. But after you graduate, would you be willing to move to Georgia?”

She nodded as excitement pinged through her. “I’d have to come back to take my license test, but I’d move there with you.”

“Good. I want you to live with me. I’ll find a way to have you close.”

He pulled her to him, and she rested her head on his chest. Time needed to stop or speed up so she could be with him.

The few hours they had left weren’t enough. Too soon he was dropping her off near her dad’s house. He asked to walk her to the door, but she said no since the cameras were still there.

After he drove away, her heart ached like it would break. Alone, she made her way to the front door, glad her dad wasn’t home when she arrived. After starting a load of clothes, she cleaned the kitchen and the bathrooms, knowing her dad would be pissed she hadn’t been around during the last week to clean for him.

After she had the bathrooms sparkling and the kitchen spotless, the rumble of her father’s truck coming down the street filled the house. Worry hit. He would ask where she’d been. Lying to her fatherwas difficult, but there was no way she would ever tell him about Striker. If he knew she’d spent the week with a man and wasn’t married to him, he’d kick her out. She needed to stay here until she graduated and could get a job earning real money to afford rent.

Before her dad came in, she headed to the laundry room and pulled her clothes from the dryer. They weren’t too damp and would dry overnight. If she made the mistake of leaving her clothes in the dryer after it finished, he would throw them away. He’d done that once. Now, she pulled them out slightly damp if he was around.

He banged into the house, his voice booming as he griped about his issues with his phone. His voice carried to her room, but she ignored him, not even trying to seek him out. Her tactic only worked for a few minutes before he came looking for her.

“So you came home. Where were you?”

“I was staying with Ashley. She’s in my class.”

His lips curled, and for a second, she imagined he would spit on the floor. “You should invite her over.”

Any excuse she made would be met with him guessing correctly she hadn’t been with Ashley, so she nodded and smiled.

“Are you home this week?” he barked out before he stepped into the hall.

“I may have to stay over at Ashley’s during theweek. We’re towards the end of the class, and we have a lot of tasks to complete.”

“You can do it here. I need you to keep the house clean for me. I can’t have the place messy.”

She nodded, acting like he’d won when really, she wouldn’t have known what to do if he wanted her gone to Ashley’s place. If her father knew she’d been with a man who didn’t even live in the city, she’d be kicked to the curb.

Her dad left her alone for the rest of the evening, and she caught up on homework, studying for her biology test. Focusing on her work was hard when memories of Striker kept popping up.

She’d turned her phone to silent before sitting down for dinner. Her dad hated interruptions and really hated when her phone rang. Later, when she found a text from Striker, excitement pinged, but disappointment flared when she realized he’d sent it almost an hour before.

They exchanged a few texts before Striker said he had to go to sleep. Her dad wasn’t making noise, but that didn’t mean he’d turned in for the evening. He could just be drunk and watching TV. She didn’t want to chance bumping into him again, so she went to bed.

The next week was full for her, so missing Striker wasn’t so bad. The week after was when the real blues started. They talked when they could, and she sent him texts each morning and evening,but the connection was off like they’d lost a little something.

At some point in the weeks following him leaving, she either caught a bug or got food poisoning. She couldn’t afford to miss class, so she hoped for the best as she took off to head to school.

When she had two weeks left at the end of school, Striker said he would be unreachable for a few weeks. Her mind twisted into overdrive about what he’d meant. Fear filled her. Had Striker given her the brush-off? What if he never wanted to see her again?

9

Every text,every call was special for Striker. He wanted to be with Shannon, but she had responsibilities in Charleston, and he had work here. There were some days he putzed around with nothing to do, and those were the days that seemed pointless. When he had a task to keep him busy, life wasn’t too bad. He marked off the weeks on a paper calendar he kept in his storage locker. Every day that ticked by was one day closer to holding her in his arms again.

When she was close to graduation, he learnedhis unit would be traveling to the hot zone to rescue a group of captive American diplomats. They weren’t in immediate danger since the state department was negotiating for their release, but it was looking like negations could fall apart. He didn’t want to leave, but he didn’t have a choice.

He called Shannon, praying she picked up. Disappointment hit when her phone rolled to voicemail. He pocketed his phone and was about ready to head out to grab a drink with his buddies when his pocket vibrated. Then the upbeat jingle of Shannon’s ringtone sounded. He pulled his phone out and answered, pleasure filling him.

“Hey, Shannon, you called back.”

“I’m sorry I missed your first call. I was in the middle of washing dishes.”

“I miss you.” He hadn’t wanted to lead with that. He’d wanted to tell her how great his week had been, which might have been a little white lie, but he didn’t want to sound completely pathetic.

---