Page 13 of California Wild

Jesse huffed a laugh, but the weight in his chest didn’t lift.

Jesse started toward the door.

Then—

“You went home, didn’t you?”

Jesse stopped cold.

The air in the room shifted.

He turned back, expression locked down, but Heath saw through it anyway.

Jesse swallowed. “How’d you know?”

Heath just shrugged, easy. “Call it a hunch.”

Jesse licked his lips. “Yeah. I went.” His voice was rough. “Saw my mom. Apologized.”

Heath nodded. Didn’t say anything, didn’t push. Just let Jesse sit with it.

Jesse glanced at the door, then back at him. “No one knows, Heath.”

Heath gave him a slow nod. “I won’t say a word.”

Jesse exhaled. “Thanks.”

Heath just smirked. “Don’t thank me yet. I still gotta clear you for deployment.”

Jesse pushed open the door. “Yeah, yeah.”

As he walked out, Heath called after him—

“And bud?”

Jesse turned back.

“There is something to letting the past be the past.”

Jesse didn’t answer. Just walked out, the sound of Hayley’s voice still running through his head.

* * * * *

The city felt different at night.

Not the way most people saw it—glittering buildings, rooftop bars, couples wrapped up in the glow of a perfect evening.

Jesse knew another side of San Diego. The side most people pretended didn’t exist.

And that was where he was headed.

Jesse rolled up behind Gino’s Pizzeria, a hole-in-the-wall joint tucked between a laundromat and a liquor store, the kind of place that had been there for three decades and never needed a Yelp review.

His truck—a beat-up, rusted-out Ford from another lifetime—rumbled low as he put it in park.

The back door of the restaurant swung open before he even stepped out.

“My man!” Gino’s deep voice echoed in the alley, arms wide like he was greeting an old friend. “Was starting to think you forgot about me tonight.”

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