Page 67 of Faking it with the Green Beret

“Her breakfast, lunch, and dinner?”

“Not food. Mostly her.” Jillian kept scrolling. “She’s posted screen captures from the show. Says she’s looking forward to the wedding and the reunion with her friends. Here’s one of her with John. She’s definitely the one.”

“How can you tell?” Elizabeth asked.

“She wrote something about giving him singing lessons so they can ‘make beautiful music together’ or ‘they can just make joyful noises.’”

“Did he respond to her?” It wasn’t up to her to judge if he took Shelby up on what she was clearly offering. Something Elizabeth couldn’t. John had needs and the poor guy had come home from his deployment to get dumped.

“No. And she didn’t, or couldn’t, tag him. He likely doesn’t have a social media presence, or at least a public account, for security reasons.”

That made sense. She didn’t have accounts either. There wasn’t anything newsworthy in her life to share. “You sure you won’t go to run interference for him?”

“I’m sure. Besides, I think you should go with him. You’ve got some unresolved issues to deal with, my friend, and going with him might be a step in the right direction. Even if it’s just a short-term, no-strings, it’s-been-way-too-long, get-back-in-the-saddle experiment.”

ChapterThirty-Four

YOU BROKE UP WITH ME – Walker Hayes

Boss nearly knockedJohn down Hope Harbor’s steps with his exuberant greeting. “Hey, buddy. Did you miss me?” He rubbed Boss’s head. “Go on. I’ll be out in a minute.”

He’d changed out of his uniform and started tossing a ball to burn off some of Boss’s energy when his phone sang. He recognized the ringtone. Damn. Had he left Britney in his contacts? She’d sure ruined “I Want Crazy” for him forever.

Question was, did he answer or not? What the hell? “Hello.” He kept his voice neutral as if he didn’t know who was calling.

“It’s Britney.” Her voice was sugary sweet.

He didn’t immediately respond, but Boss must have recognized her voice because he barked—and not in a friendly way.

“Is that Boss? I’m so glad you got him back.”

“Me too.” No thanks to you.

“Was he still at the shelter?”

“No, a kind-hearted woman adopted him but was willing to let him go when she heard of the circumstances of how he came to be at the shelter.”

“That was Richard’s doing.” Hurt leached through her voice. “I should have told you.” It wasn’t exactly an apology. She still hadn’t said why she was calling, and he wasn’t asking. He picked up Boss’s tug toy and let his playful growl fill the silence.

“I called because a reminder popped up on my calendar about your friend Nate’s wedding.”

“No worries. I figured with Richard moving in with you, you weren’t planning on going.”

“Richard and I—we’re, uh, not together anymore.”

What was he supposed to say? Sorry?

“He, um, cheated on me. Again.”

“I’m sure that hurts.” He didn’t point out that he spoke from experience. Karma’s a bitch sometimes.

“I got to thinking about you and the fun we had. I thought we could get together for a drink, or you could come over here to talk things out.”

Talk things out sounded like Britney’s code for sex. Maybe she was lonely or horny or hoping for revenge sex as payback for Richard sleeping with someone else. Or was she angling for an invite to the wedding in hopes of connecting with reality show celebrities? “There isn’t any point.”

“I’m sorry about everything. It just was so hard not being able to talk with you while you were gone.”

“I told you communication would be limited. Then you went and posted things on social media after I specifically told you it was confidential. You put me and my team in danger.”

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