the fucking agony Megan had brought on, made me swear off love. But enough about him. If he’s happy now, I’m cool with that, but I know it’s not in the cards for me.
“Dude, was that the same brother you stayed with?” J. Mac asks, brows furrowed.
I snort at the thought. “Nope, that was my younger brother. The other douche… We don’t talk much.”
It’s true. We don’t speak. His story was that Megan had told him that we’d broken up. He didn’t give a shit that it was a lie. Fuck, he was happy to be screwing my sloppy seconds. He always had some weird competition thing with me, and when I caught them, I swear he fucking smiled.
So the next day I walked straight to the recruiter’s office and joined the Army. Megan and I were supposed to go to the University of Tennessee together, and I couldn’t stomach the thought of even being on campus with her anymore, so when I saw an ad on TV for the Army, I spontaneously decided that getting as far away as possible sounded like the best new plan for me. Mom screamed; Dad said that he’d disown me. For the first time in my life, I took the silver spoon out of my mouth, and I’ve never looked back.
And now I’m pissed off that I’m even thinking about it. They’re all lost to me. It’s been over ten years and my younger brother Cohen is the only one who gives a shit, and I’ve already been giving them more thought in the past few minutes than I have in a long time.
I park the MRAPP and the guys check the perimeter. Montgomery signals the all-clear, but before I get out, Jace touches my arm.
“You’ll find her, man. And I can’t fuckin’ wait,” he says, grinning as he gets out, and I want to kick his ass for even wishing that for me.
Scowling, I exit the vehicle and begin to move towards the suspicious area. Out of the corner of my eye, I catch a glint. I turn around to face the Hindu Kush Mountains. Don’t let popular belief fool you. Afghanistan is beautiful, with mountains and hills and poppy fields full of gorgeous color. The problem is, those very things can hold threats. I get J. Mac’s attention, and he gives me a questionable look.
A shiver runs down my spine as another reflection comes off a hill nearby.
“I think we’ve got a spotter,” I tell him.
Looking at Jace, I see his mouth move as an explosion sounds in my ear. The bomb blast rips through my body, throwing me at least twenty feet in the air. Pain immediately tears throughout me, and shrapnel slices my skin to shreds. When I hit the pavement, I can feel the crunching of bones in my back and my arm, and the wind is knocked out of me, making it difficult to breathe.
When I look towards where Jace was one last time, I see him lying on the ground, his eyes closing before I can tell if he’s okay. My head is the last thing to smash against the road, and as it hits, another explosion of bright light bursts in my mind. My vision starts to blur due to the slamming force of it. No longer able to keep my eyes open, I close them, all the while trying to fight like hell to keep from succumbing to the darkness, but it’s no use.
I can feel myself drifting off, and instead of flashes of my life and loved ones running through my mind, I see nothing. Absolutely nothing. I’m fucking alone, and I’m going to die this way in this godforsaken country. Shattered. Broken. And utterly alone.
Keep reading Incinerate here.
Tessa Teevan is a book junkie who decided that there were too many stories in her head to keep to herself. It’s a crazy, busy life, and she loves every single second of it. She’s a research analyst by day, reads/writes by night, and is married to a guy 15 inches taller than her, making them quite the pair!
They currently reside just outside of Dayton, OH with two adorably grumpy cats. If she’s not writing or scouring through tons of photos of hot men, all in the name of research, then you can probably find her curled up with her Kindle, ignoring the rest of the world. She loves her sports almost as much as she loves her books. Her other obsessions include red wine, hot men, rock music, and all things Corey Taylor.
She adores hearing from readers, so please feel free to contact via any social media site!
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