Storm (Linear Tactical #10) - Janie Crouch Page 0,21
dreamed about it.
Dreamed about the sound of her quiet laugh even more.
But right now she was definitely not laughing. She was going after Douchebag Jared with more gusto than she had in a while. Noah slowly approached, coming in wide so he wouldn’t take her by surprise.
Really, she was the one surprising him tonight. This wasn’t one of their usual nights.
And he would know since he spent the hours beforehand looking forward to seeing her on the days they normally got together for a training session.
He almost didn’t recognize his smiling face in the mirror. But damn if he didn’t like the guy grinning like any idiot back at him.
And it wasn’t just Marilyn who brought out his smile. Sometimes she brought those kids along when she didn’t have a sitter back at New Journeys. Or when the kids were feeling a little anxious and needed their mother close by. The trauma they’d been through wasn’t the sort that would be forgotten in a few months, even around friendly faces.
No sign of the kids tonight, nor of Thing Two, who had been renamed Tromsø when Marilyn and the kids had taken him home a few weeks ago. Evidently, they’d been studying the small town in Norway where thousands of visitors flocked to each year to see the northern lights. Not a traditional name for a pup, but Noah couldn’t say much since he’d named his dog Corfu, after one of the Greek Isles.
He’d love to take Marilyn and the kids to both Corfu and Tromsø. Take them to all the places they’d ever dreamed of going.
But right now he just wanted to know what had Marilyn alone in the barn, pounding the hell out of the Douchebag Jared.
Each blow brought another grunt. She was frustrated, obviously not only from her sounds of fury, but her lack of form. He watched her for a few moments before clearing his throat. “You’re still overworking your arm. Remember, use your hips. Core.”
She barely paused. She’d known he was there. “Right.”
Her face was flushed and fine hairs had teased their way out of their ponytail to stick to her sweaty skin. She kept at it, but at least corrected the errors in her form.
“You okay?”
“Yes.” One. Two. She went for the bag’s throat then sternum, just like they’d practiced that first day all those weeks ago. There’d been lots of talks since that night, even a little more hand-holding—the literal and figurative kinds.
They’d become friends. Close friends. She’d dragged more details out of him about his time in Afghanistan and she’d shared a little more about her life with Ellis.
“You want to talk about it?” he asked.
“Do I look like I want to talk about it?” One. Two. One. Two.
Okay, then. “You sure don’t. Have at it as long as you need. I’m going to go on inside.”
He didn’t get far before the hits stopped. “Noah. Wait.”
He turned around but didn’t step back toward her. “Nobody understands the need to sometimes work stuff out with yourself rather than talk it out better than me. If you want to be alone, I’m not offended.” And really, he wasn’t.
“I don’t want to be alone. And I’m sorry. I came to your property, uninvited and unannounced, and here I am acting like a bitch.”
His lips hiked up in a half-smile. “If that’s your definition of being a bitch, you’re going to have to spend more time with Cassandra. My sister really knows how to be a bitch.”
Marilyn didn’t smile, but at least she didn’t start pounding the bag again. “She’s never a bitch to me.”
“She saves it all for me and Tanner.” He leaned against the barn door frame, studying her. “You know you’re always welcome here, whether I’m home or not. Sometimes we all need something to punch.”
She snorted. Her chest still rose and fell rapidly as she caught her breath. “Yeah. I had one of those days.”
“Offer to talk still stands. So does the ‘leaving you alone so you can pound the shit out of that bag’ offer.”
She grabbed the hanging bag by both gloved hands and studied the markings of what used to be “Jared’s” head and torso. The markings had long since faded after the many hours of being pounded by her.
“I had another panic attack today.”
“Bad one?”
“Bad enough that I’m pretty sure I nearly scared Bree to death. Fortunately, the kids were outside playing with Tromsø. I was out of it for quite a while. Had a hard time finding my way