Page 5 of Fall Back
She tries to twist her face into an expression of understanding, but it falls a little short. “Of course,” she chirps. The tone is bright, but the words sound hollow.
I put more than enough money on the bar for Brandy’s drink, my two beers, and a generous tip. “I’ll see you another night, Brandy. If you work before I see you, safe travels.”
“Thanks, Jared,” she sends me off with a smile and the fakest tone I’ve ever heard, which I have no doubt she uses when she’s working.
Normally, it would bother me, but I’m going to take the out and run with it. It’s better for me if I do.
I give a few nods as I head out of the Range and toward my truck. I know I made the right decision back there, but part of me is worried that not taking Brandy home is a cry for help. Or would taking her home, knowing how shitty of an idea it is, be the real cry for help? I don’t even know, my mind is scrambled.
Sleep will do me good. The world will be clearer in the morning. Hopefully.
If I can even get to sleep. I haven’t been having issues lately, but there have been periods of time when sleep has alluded me. There haven’t been tough cases lately, what with crime down along with accident rates, which has helped me sleep better.
Just because Wintervale’s crime rate is low doesn’t mean terrible things don’t happen. People still make bad decisions here and evil exists no matter where you are. There isn’t a place on Earth that is safe all the time. It’s just not possible, as much as I wish it were.
By the time I get home, I’m tired, but I still get done what I need to get done. It only makes me regret going out even more. I should’ve come home and been an adult, but as the loneliness starts to creep in around the edges, I remember why I wasn’t ready to head straight home after work.
Turning the TV on to something random I don’t pay attention to helps a little, but not enough.
I hate this fucking feeling.
After taking a shower and climbing into bed, I let my mind relax for the first time in hours. The loneliness is still there, and it becomes a sharp feeling.
My mind flashes to a vision of Carson Burns, the one Burns sister, and the last time I saw her. It was at Eden and Fletcher’s wedding. She was beautiful in a way I never noticed before, probably because it had been a while since I’d been anywhere near her.
She’s two years younger than Noel and me, which means we joined the military and left while she was still in high school. From what I heard, she didn’t stick around Wintervale very long after she graduated and set out to follow her dreams with her art.
But when I saw her at Fletcher’s wedding, she looked so damn different. She was all woman with her long black hair in soft waves and a few tattoos peeking out of the dress she was wearing.
The moment I saw her, my mouth went dry, and I swear I stood there looking like a fish out of water for a solid minute. Not a single part of me was prepared to have any kind of reaction to Carson, the little sister of my best friend, someone who has been off limits her entire life.
The more I try and push that memory away, the more I remember about her.
She moved through the room like she owned the place and didn’t want to be remembered at the same time. I knewshe wasn’t sticking around; something about her screamedtemporary.
The most I got from her was some extended eye contact from across the room. When she turned away, I swear she smiled, and her cheeks turned pink.
Did I want to go to her, get a closer look, and talk to her? You better fucking believe it, but it would have caused problems I wasn’t willing to deal with. Not on Fletcher and Eden’s day.
I force my eyes closed and push those memories away. Memories of her don’t matter. She’s back in Denver and, from what I’ve heard, thriving. I’m happy for her, but it means my attraction to her will never amount to anything.
CHAPTER 3
CARSON
“I can’t fucking believe I did this,” I mutter to myself as I circle the little house I’m renting for the sixth or tenth time.
I’ve found an unlocked window, but I’ve been hoping the back door or another window, one easier to get into, would magically unlock. The front door being open would be ideal. At this point, I’d waste a wish from a Genie to get in this house without needing to shimmy through a window like a cat burglar.
This would happen to me. “I swear this is so fucking typical,” I admonish myself.
All I wanted to do was enjoy a cup of coffee on my back porch. I didn’t realize I had turned the lock on the knob, which meant it automatically locked when the door closed. I was just enjoying sipping on my mug and disaster had already happened and set in.
And now I’m circling my house in shorts that are probably tooshort for polite company and an oversized t-shirt. Without any specific plans for the day, I was going to take a shower and get out of my pajamas. Considering my outfit, the only good thing is it’s still pretty early and I haven’t seen anyone. Which means they haven’t seen me either, right?
I hope no one has seen me. It would look creepy and questionable as fuck.
“Nothing else is going to magically unlock, Carson,” I hiss at myself, “now it’s time to crawl through this damn window.”
