He’s too upbeat, either ignoring my sarcasm or missing it completely. He passes me the joint.
“And I’m supposed to smoke this? What if I have a bad reaction?”
“It’s a mild strain with low THC. Your high should be tame.”
“Should be.” I stare up at him. “Is this peer pressure? Ooh, I never got to experience that as a kid. I really want to be strong so I can tell Brix I said no to drugs, but on the other hand …” I hold it up in front of my face. “Really, how bad could it be?”
“I love the smell of corruption.” Iris lights it for me, and I take a deep drag.
“Can I be considered a pothead now?” I joke. And then cough.
Iris laughs. “Total stoner. I still can’t believe you’ve never smoked weed before. Or experienced peer pressure. Where were you at twelve?”
“I was a short, overweight redhead with pimples and the last name Stench. As you can guess, my friend circle wasn’t too big. I threw everything I had into music.”
Iris grabs his chest. “Wait, you mean to tell me your real name isn’t Harley Valentine? My heart can’t take it.”
“A simple google would’ve told you that.”
“I know. I’m messing with you. I bet it’s weird when people call you Harry. When Mom calls me Isaac, I’m like, Who? What? That’s not my name. Even when the guys call me by name, it’s Griffin, my last name. Isaac feels foreign and weird and just … no.”
“How did you get the nickname Iris?” I ask and take another hit.
He waves me off. “Long and boring story from back in my basic training days. Let’s just say that following orders took a while for me to get used to. A lot longer than anyone else in my squad it seemed.”
“That is shocking news. You? Ignoring directions? Never would’ve guessed.”
“Apparently, you can’t charm your way through the military. I was surprised too.”
“Who would’ve thought the military was full of rules and orders and no goofing off?”
Iris doesn’t even crack a smile, as if lost in a memory. He quickly shakes it off. “How’s the joint working out for you?”
“Good. I think. I don’t know. I don’t feel any different, but I guess I’m less … anxious? I mean, I’m still thinking about what the label will say, but I no longer care as much.”
“Sounds like it’s working perfectly, then.”
I keep smoking it until there’s nothing left, and I stub out the end.
“When is Brix coming home?” I complain.
“Mmhmm, phenomenal sex with your hand my ass,” he mutters.
I don’t know if I’m supposed to hear it or not. “You want me to put my hand where?”
Iris laughs, but it dies when an alert goes off on his phone. He looks at it and frowns. “Movement detected in the front yard.”
“Like, as in Jamie’s here?”
Iris bites his lip. “Not Jamie. Hang on, I’m pulling up the security cameras.” He’s out of his seat in an instant. “Stay here.”
The backyard connects to the front through a gate. Iris opens it but pauses. He looks a little ridiculous wearing nothing but boardshorts and holding his gun. If there was someone in the front yard, I don’t know how intimidated they would be.
I climb to my feet in case I have to move suddenly, but my brain goes to a million different scenarios. Like, someone’s there, or another letter, or, I don’t know, it could be anything.
Not knowing is the thing that’s killing me. I move closer to try to see between the small gap in the fence and the house, but I can’t see shit.
Then Iris comes running, looking like a crazed man and yelling at me to get down.
I don’t have time to comprehend what he wants before he tackles me to the ground and covers my body with his.
“Someone threw a pipe bomb over the fence,” he says, and my heart stops cold.
Where I’m expecting the blast, a bang, or anything that remotely resembles something similar to when we blew up C4 in the desert, nothing comes.
For, like, a really long time.
We lie there, Iris on top of me, with no sounds but our heavy breathing. While I’m shit scared, waiting for a detonation, I think my mind isn’t truly comprehending the threat.
“Is this a bad trip from the weed? If so, I want a refund.”
Iris doesn’t even laugh. He’s on his phone. “Trav? I need the fucking bomb squad.”
That’s when I understand how serious this is. No amount of weed can keep