Sacrifice (Heart of a Wounded Hero)

Bryce gives me his number, and I type it in quickly before sending him a text. It's right then that Logan walks into the room, watching Bryce and me with his eyebrows raised high. "What's going on?"

I put my phone in my back pocket, and I know that I have a guilty look on my face. "Nothing. Have a good time tonight."

Before I can confess anything, I turn on my heel and walk out. "Night, guys," I call to them as I go back into the kitchen. It's not until a few minutes later after the guys have left and the house is quiet that my mind starts to wonder. I have four more days until I can move back over into my apartment and put some distance between Logan and me. The way my body has started to react to being near him is a little embarrassing. It's a good thing I'll be gone soon because this feeling that I have for him is growing and getting harder and harder to hide.

Chapter 7

Logan

The only bar in Whiskey Run is the Whiskey Whistler, and it's right downtown. It only takes a few minutes to get there from my house, and I sit in the front seat and listen to the three men talk all around me. I try to participate in the conversation, but my mind keeps going back to what I saw as we were leaving the house.

Finally, I can't stand it any longer. "Bryce, what were you and Ella talking about?"

The three men stop talking, and Bryce laughs behind me. “Nothing.”

I turn in my seat to glare at him, knowing he’s lying. "It didn't look like nothing.”

He shrugs his shoulders as if it wasn't a big deal. "You know me, I was just flirting a little."

I turn back in my seat, and my hands tighten together in my lap. Bryce is a good guy, and I don't have any claim on Ella, but that doesn't mean I have to like it. We get into town, and Tommy parks in front of the Whiskey Whistler. From the outside, the bar looks rundown. I remember the first time I walked in here. The inside is nothing like you would expect. It’s all modern and fancy.

We walk in the front door, wave at Malcolm, the manager, and find a seat toward the dance floor. Jeremiah goes up to grab some beers.

I look around the bar. There's plenty of women here, and they’re good-looking. If it was any other time, I would probably go and talk to one, but I have no interest in doing that tonight.

Tommy elbows me in the side. "What's up, man? Talk to me."

I take the beer that Jeremiah hands me and take a swig. Tommy holds his hand up. "Should you be mixing—?"

I shake my head before he gets it all out. I try not to get frustrated. I know he’s only looking out for me. "I haven't taken any pills since I left the hospital. I'm good. A beer's not going to hurt me."

He nods and takes a drink of his own beer before setting it down. "All right, spill it."

I look around at the three sets of eyes, and all of them are looking at me worriedly. I can sit here the rest of the night and have them do this, or I can just go ahead and get it all out in the open so we can move on. "I mean, it's going pretty much how you’d expect it to be. I'm still dealing with everything. I've been going to therapy.” I throw a hand up in frustration. “I don't know what I'll do without the Army, but I don't think they're going to clear me to go back."

Tommy, who has personally experienced not being admitted into the Army because of health reasons, chimes in. "There's plenty of other things that you can do to help."

"I know. I just need to wrap my head around it all. I'm supposed to get fully released next week, and they're going to do some more tests on my head, but I've lost a lot of muscle in my arm. I don't even know if I could hold a gun at this point."

I laugh as if it's funny, but none of us thinks it is. Without even saying it, the guys know exactly what I'm feeling right now. Tommy takes another drink and then points his beer bottle at me. "What about Harper?"

I roll my eyes and shrug. "What about her? The day she came to see me at the hospital, I broke it off with her."

And that's when Bryce cuts in. "Heck with Harper. Let's talk about Ella. Does she have a man?"

I grit my teeth. "She's not going to be one of your conquests, Bryce."

He looks at me seriously for a minute and then holds his hands up and laughs. "Okay. Okay. I get the picture. Hands off. Got it."