Page 10 of Irons

“Of course I’ll go with you.” I would have said about anything for those lips to keep trailing down my stomach.

“What?” I heard Wrenly and quickly pushed Stacy off me.

“Fuck!” I zipped my jeans as Stacy put her shirt on.

“So, you’re dumping me on the night of the dance for her?” Wrenly had unshed tears building in her eyes.

“Why are you here, Wrenly?” I was frantically trying to throw my shirt back on.

“I thought you cared about me!” Wrenly went running from the house and I caught up to her on the back porch. I grabbed her arm and turned her to face me.

“Why would you want to go with me, huh? You’re always hanging out with all those jocks. You know as well as me I’d just embarrass you! Quit trying to make me like you, Wrenly. I’m not! You’re loved and adored, I’m just trash, so don’t fucking get pissed at me when I don’t want to go to a stupid dance with you!”

Her mouth opened then shut. She wiped a tear away then looked up into my eyes. “You need to stop the pity party, Travis. I love you, Tony loves you, and so does my dad. You are wanted more than anyone by us, especially by me! You are not a burden, you do not bring grief, and I am far from being embarrassed by you! I am going to buy that dress, get my hair done, and be ready and waiting at my house. If you don’t show up, then that just says that you love pitying yourself more than you love me! You just hurt me more than anyone has ever hurt me, and don’t forget, I laid on that bathroom floor with my dead mom! You are not the only one that has felt alone in this world! If you still do after I’ve given you my friendship and love, then you’ve done it to yourself and I’m sorry that I’m not enough for you!” She pulled her arm from my grip and took off.

“Wrenly, wait!” I called after her.

She turned and I could see she was sobbing. “If you don’t show up then I know exactly how you feel about me!” She turned and ran into her house.

She had no clue how I felt. She had guys that had everything I ever wanted chasing after her. There were even seniors trying to get her to go out with them. All the guys that had everything and I didn’t have shit. No mom, no dad, no brother, and not even a real home. I didn’t understand why I made the choices that I did. I didn’t know why I’d get so fucking pissed at school and lose my temper when the guys at school brought up Bobby. I was so fucking jealous of all those guys thatchased her. They could actually be good to her and not get angry so easily. I fucked up everything I ever touched and the last person I wanted to fuck up was Wrenly.

I didn’t understand why Wrenly had the effect she had on me. I never knew why my heart would race when someone said her name. I didn’t get how I would have physical reactions to just her scent alone. Why my chest hurt when she cried and why sometimes looking at her made it hard to breathe. I never wanted to be cared about by anyone as much as I wanted to be cared about by her. Not even my parents were that important. All I knew was that I could wake up the next day and not expect the fucked up shit I did. Why did I smoke pot? Why did I fuck Stacy at just fourteen years old? Why was I drinking beer and staying out all night? All those things just happened, and I planned none of them. I had friends but we were all pieces of shit. None of us had a future. Wrenly deserved more than a kid like me as a best friend. I wasn’t good for her, and it was time to get some space from her before I fucked her life up too. She was the most precious creature on earth, and I no longer trusted myself with her.

Present Day

I felt a punch to my arm. “Where the hell did you just go? Bill just asked if we would help out in the beer gardens at the Farmers Fair this spring. Creed and I are down if you are.” Magnus caught my attention.

“Sure.” I still felt haunted by my memories.

“I’m sure Morgan will be baking up a storm for the dinners or find some fundraising booth to donate pies.” Creed said.

Ellsworth chuckled. “How is Cold Spring’s pride and joy?”

Creed nodded. “My wife is great. She’s definitely ready for her pregnancy to be over, but she’s good. Still doing everything she did before she got pregnant.”

“And little Addie?” Bill asked.

“Were still working through the red tape on her adoption. Other than that, she’s just plotting out the apocalypse if she gets two brothers.” Creed chuckled. “She’s a good kid.”

I once saw that little girl knock a seventeen year old boy on his ass and spit in his face. Well, it was her uncle, and he got her a blue snow cone instead of a red one, but the girl had skills. She would make a hell of an operative someday, but that wasn’t something Creed or Morgan wanted for any of their children. I knew they would support whatever their kids wanted to do with their lives though. They would never be like my parents.

I still remember the day I left for basic training. It was the last time I ever saw Clint and the only time any adult said they were proud of me. He gave me the keys to my Uncle’s bike and house, and I had to leave before I became emotional. I wasn’t there long, just enough time to get what I needed and go. After four years I was still avoiding ever seeing Wrenly again. We were both eighteen the only time I went back home. I had already graduated but she was still a senior and I made sure I went while she was in school for the day. I knew if I laid eyes on her that day, I’d never be able to pull myself away from her. Even after four years I still had those same strong feelings for her.

After lunch we went back to work. Creed stopped and checked on Morgan at the training center while I checked in on my men after their return from the last mission. After that wasdone, we went back to the conference room and dug back into our candidates.

It was Creed’s turn, and he sighed as he looked at us. “I have four total, but two are must have’s, so I’m willing to offer just about anything. It’s one man and one woman with the FBI. They were partners on their last assignment and since they took down the Scorpions, their undercover identities are now a bust. I was forwarded their profiles by Tom Jeffers, the bureau’s director in Oklahoma City.”

I leaned forward. “You have their profiles?” I whistled. “They’re like gold, they know a lot of the ins and outs of the southwest with the cartels after spending that much time undercover. I think we all heard about that bust.”

Magnus spoke up. “Damn, they could be real helpful with our current situation with the Devil’s Rejects.”

Creed wiggled his brows as he smiled a shit eating grin. “They’re both former Marine Raiders.”

“No shit?” Drakos asked.

We only hired former military special ops as operatives for our foreign interests at Creed’s Lake. We did hire your typical veterans for other jobs, but our special contract operatives had to be specifically trained for our types of missions. On the domestic violence side, we could use people with special ops training, but the rest could be veterans. We could also hire veterans for our protective detail side, but we already had someone to run it under Jennings. Darren Rossi, the almost former Sheriff and soon to be commander of South Central Indiana’s SWAT team, was soon to join our community. He got to skip the whole prospect thing since he worked with us previously. Well, that and he was Creed’s uncle in law.

Creed put a photo up on the screen. “First we have special agent Peter Stone. As you know, he along with his partner, just took out the entire Texas Chapter of the Scorpions. He was formerly Gunnery Sergeant Stone, of the United States Marine Corps. He was an E-7 and served missions in the sandbox four times before separating and joining the FBI. He had several undercover assignments, but as you know, he just ended a two year assignment with the Scorpions. He is eligible for promotion if we do not snatch him up.”

---