Her Marine Next Door - Aliyah Burke Page 0,80

at the chair beside him. Skylar wasn’t answering her phone and hadn’t been home in two weeks and one day. He was at the end of his rope. Where was she staying now that her house was up for sale? How the fuck was he supposed to make this right if he couldn’t find her?

“Parker!”

He shoved a hand through his hair, and he got to his feet. “Backyard, Sonar.”

Moments later, Gibson stood there, a case of beer in each hand. He placed the cases on the table. “Cullen here?”

“No.” Dammit, he missed his son as well. “He’s having a weekend with the grandparents.”

“Good.” That single word oozed menace.

That was his only warning. Seconds later, he was skidding across the lawn on his back, his chin burning from the punch delivered by Gibson.

His rage, which had come to fester at the top, rose a bit more, only to surge over the side of the container holding it. Much like the countdown on an explosive device, Parker Jax had just hit zero.

A loud roar tore from his chest as he scrambled to his feet, rushing his teammate. Gibson didn’t back off but met him head-on. They clashed with a brutal meeting of hard fighting male. Flesh pounding flesh echoed among the grunts as they rolled around the yard, exchanging blows and more.

Gibson countered a swing, latching onto his arm, then tossed him ass over head to smash into one of his chairs. It shattered beneath the force. Blood trickled down his face, and he flicked it away. Twice more, he rushed Sonar, and twice more the man encouraged an expedient meeting with the ground, knocking the air from his lungs.

Lying there, chest heaving as he struggled to fill his lungs with oxygen, he waited as Gibson, not unscathed himself, neared. He waited two heartbeats longer than he normally would have and kicked out with his legs, bringing his teammate down. Then he was on him, grappling for the upper hand, delivering out hard hits from his fists.

Parker succeeded for all of a minute. Gibson had always been better at hand-to-hand—the man had grown up on the streets, and it had been a matter of survival for him.

Clocking him with his elbow in the eye, Parker swore as a low rumble escaped from Gibson. In that second, he realized his friend wasn’t playing. A realization solidified when he was suddenly in a choke hold he couldn’t get out of, no matter how he tried.

With his arm wrenched in one direction, he knew it wouldn’t take much for Gibson to break it or dislocate it, whichever he wanted to do. More worrisome was the strong forearm along his jugular, slowing the air he struggled to acquire.

Gibson never said anything, and as black spots danced before his eyes, Parker swiftly came to the understanding that he wouldn’t let go unless he tapped out or passed out.

Parker didn’t want to tap, dammit. Head swimming, he did three sharp raps on Gibson’s arm. The man flexed his muscle, effectively cutting off even more air before releasing him, telling him he really didn’t want to let him up.

Gibson shoved him away and got to his feet. Still on the ground, Parker watched him rip open a case and pull out two beers, down one in seconds. Then he popped the top on the second.

On his feet the moment he was 75 to 80 percent confident he could stay upright of his own volition, Parker walked to where his friend sat on the table, the only piece of unbroken furniture left back there. All his chairs were smashed and lying in pieces around them.

He sat beside him and drank a beer he drew from the case. Parker lifted his shoulder and used his shirt to wipe off the blood moving down his face. He didn’t speak until his beer was empty and he had a nail below the tab of the second.

“Gonna tell me what all this was about?”

“Because you’re a motherfucking idiot. And you pissed me off.”

More beer went down. Shit, he couldn’t win for losing. “What the fuck did I do to piss you off?”

Gibson crushed his second can and reached for his third. “You hurt her.” He exploded up from the table. “So fucking stupid. That woman is the best thing that ever happened to you. She got you, she understood you, and more than that she supported you. I can only wish a woman like that would come into my life.”

Skylar.

Even thinking about her pushed