Page 8 of Give Me Redemption

“Yeah, with slightly burnt bread.”

He chuckles. “It was pretty bad, but once you got past that part, the cheese was good.”

This time I laugh as I place my bag onto the floor. I walk to the fridge to see how empty it really is. Half a six pack sits inside, along with mayo, mustard, and ketchup. Well, at least I have the important things.

I grab two beers and offer him one. He takes it and twists the top, tossing the cap into the trash.

We stand in the kitchen, both leaning against the counter. Bryce looks down at the floor, and I can tell his mind is spinning with questions he wants to ask me.

I take a sip of my beer, bracing myself.

“You gonna tell me what happened, man?” he asks, his eyes jumping back to me.

I shake my head, thinking back on how everything worked out.

“Shit, there’s not a lot to tell. I made some dumb choices and I got sloppy. Now I’m here.”

“You know that’s not all there is,” he says.

I swallow, looking across the room at the plain clock hanging on the wall. The hands don’t move. It needs batteries.

I push away from the counter and walk over to the drawer, looking for AA batteries.

“The fuck you doing?” Bryce asks.

“Clock’s dead,” I say.

“What?” he asks like I’ve gone crazy. “Dude, stop. Talk to me.” He grabs my arm. I look back at him.

“Look, I don’t want to talk about it. I’m home now and it’s over.” I bring my drink to my lips.

“So that’s it then? You’re just not going to tell me.”

“Not today,” I say. “And probably not tomorrow either.”

He scoffs and looks down. “Well, I’m here when you’re ready.”

I nod. “’Preciate it.” I pull the smoke from behind my ear and the lighter from my pocket. I’m really not sure when I’ll want to talk about the things that happened over there. It’s hard enough to think about, much less say out loud.

“What now?” he asks.

I shrug as I inhale. “Who knows.”

“There’s always Grant Ranch,” he tosses out, obviously trying to make light of the situation, but there’s no way to do that. I should be sitting in jail right now, but I’m not because my commander looked out for me. He’s still trying to work on my case. I’d love for that dishonorable discharge shit to go away.

But I laugh anyway. “Yeah, there’s always that.”

He drinks from his beer, looking around at my apartment. “Wanna get out of here tonight? We could hit up Red. It’s been a while.”

“Sounds good to me,” I say.

He finishes his beer. “All right. I’ll let you get settled. I’ll call you later.” I nod as he heads for the door. He turns to me after he opens it. “Good to have you back.”

“Good to be back,” I reply, but I don’t feel it. I’d love nothing more than to be back with my team, but that’s impossible.

I sigh and toss my empty beer bottle into the trash. Guess I better settle in.

Chapter Five

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