The Butterfly Effect (Boggy Creek Valley #1) - Kelly Elliott Page 0,15

Feel her warmth wrap around me and ease the torment in my own fucking head. Yet, at the same time, I was scared shitless of seeing her. I’d rush into a building under gun fire, but one woman terrified me. It wasn’t that Willa herself scared me, it was the idea of her being free. Of the two of us finally being able to be together. Could I do that to her? Or to her son Ben? With the shit that was going on in my own head, I wasn’t sure I could pull her into it.

Hunter remained silent next to me for a few moments before he chuckled. “You’re not the type of guy to sit around and do nothing, Aiden. Normal life hasn’t ever been two words in your vocabulary. Do you think you’ll be happy running the construction company?”

I didn’t answer because I truly didn’t know. Right now was not the time for me to think about it, not when I was still dealing with the loss of never being a SEAL again.

Hunter reached down and stroked Jack. “I know this is hard for you, and if you want to talk about it, I’m here.”

I turned and shot him a smirk. “Are you going to pull the therapist card on me, Hunter? I had enough of that bullshit in the Navy. People wanting me to talk about my feelings. There’s nothing to talk about.”

He shook his head. “No, just offering up an ear if you need someone to listen. I know what it’s like to see things that stay with you, trust me, Aiden. I may not have had the same experiences as you, but I’ve seen things that still haunt me at night. I can’t even imagine what you’ve seen.”

“Or what I’ve done,” I added almost under my breath.

Hunter stared at me with a worried expression.

I stared at him for a few moments before I replied. “I’m fine, Hunter, but thanks for the offer, dude. It means a lot to me.”

He let a smile play across his face. “I’m a cop, not a shrink, but I’m still your best friend, even if you do have a brotherhood now. I’m only letting you know I’m here, that’s all I’m saying, bro.”

I reached over and placed my hand on his shoulder. “Thanks, Hunter. I appreciate it, but I really am okay. It’ll just take some time to adjust, that’s all.”

If I had a dollar for every time I’d uttered those fucking words, I’d be a damn millionaire. The only time I was ever okay was when bullets were flying by me, strangely enough. Or when I was kicking down doors and rushing into rooms, my brothers right there with me. The only time I felt at ease was during the chaos, and when you try to explain that to a shrink, they think you’re insane.

The guys I served with felt the same way though. We were a brotherhood in the fact that we all needed that rush. The idea of going back to an empty place after an op made my skin crawl. It was one of the reasons we had spent so much time at the local bars near base. None of us ever seemed to want to go home, not even the guys who had wives to go home to.

Well, only a couple sought the refuge of their wives or girlfriends. It was hard when we couldn’t tell anyone a single thing about what we were doing or where we were going. The secrets often built walls that not even love could tear down.

Hunter cleared his throat. “I got a call from Willa’s friend, Brighton Rogers. She went to school with Willa and is some big fancy lawyer in Boston now. She was only too happy to be Willa’s divorce attorney.”

I only nodded. Just hearing Willa’s name made my heart beat a little faster.

“The last time I saw Brighton, I’m pretty sure her face was covered in acne and she had on clothes two times too big for her. She wore glasses, too, if I remember. Typical law school nerd. Anyway, she wants to take Willa out tonight to celebrate her divorce from that dickhead of a husband she found herself stuck with.”

I lifted a brow. “Stuck with?”

He nodded. “Yeah, the only reason she married him was because she got pregnant, and I’d bet my left nut he got her pregnant on purpose.”

My stomach dropped at the thought of Willa being pregnant with another man’s child.