Free Broken Barriers (Barriers Series Book 4) by Sara Shirley Page B

I was crazy. Nobody would ever truly understand the sacrifices made until they walked in my shoes. That bed of freedom everyone slept on each night…I fought for that. I’d lost a piece of me for that freedom.
    Everett turned away and told everyone there was nothing to see here. Just a little Marine roughhousing. Both Locke and Deroche came around me and nodded in understanding. With a snap of a piece of wood from the fire, my eyes trailed back to the brunette with golden flames dancing across her skin.
    Cole looked at me with concern, but not empathy like most others did. The girls around her gave me cautious looks and whispered into each others’ ears before moving farther away from me. One of them was Morgan. A few of the girls I hadn’t met yet. With a soft smile, I saw her turn back to Morgan, saying something out of earshot.
    Cole turned and walked in my direction again. I watched her as she moved closer. Her long legs and flip-flop covered feet were in front of me in the blink of an eye. The tunnel vision had returned, and I finally saw her then.
    Compared to my tall frame, she hovered close to my shoulders even in flats. Her light brown hair fell just below her breasts. My eyes wandered from her neck down to her just barely exposed cleavage of her flowing tank top. She was possibly one of the most naturally gorgeous women I’d ever laid eyes on. There was nothing fake about her. She reminded me so much of… Well, let me say that after just meeting Cole, I was already attracted to her.
    She cleared her throat as if knowing where my eyes were heading. She took a sip of her wine before my eyes returned to hers. The flames of the fire danced in the glaze within her eyes, but even in this light, I could tell they were a bright blue. They said a person’s eyes were the window to their soul. I had no idea why or how, but in that moment, I felt as though I’d been there before with her.
    “Everett tells me you just got back from overseas.” Cole shouted over the chatter of the other guests and the music coming from someone’s tablet on the snack table. I nodded at her as she moved closer to the food, grabbing a few cubes of cheese. I watched her long fingers pop each cube into her mouth one by one in slow movements.
    What I wouldn’t give to be one of those cheese cubes.
    Her face scrunched as she sipped her white wine and then raised her eyebrows as she waited for me to respond. Everyone else had gone about their other conversations except for her. Even with her friends nearby, she still only wanted to talk to me. The music grew louder, and I knew I wouldn’t be able to continue trying to talk with her by the snack table.
    I looked behind her at the water and noticed a couple of chairs along the shore, away from the noise. After I pointed in that direction, she turned her head and then nodded in understanding. As she grabbed a refill of her wine, I dug into my cooler for a beer before we walked to a quieter corner of the yard.
    When I finally reached the edge of the yard and sat in the beach chair, Cole sat next to me. “So, Everett told you I was overseas? But, first let me say I’m sorry about what just happened back there. You could say after living in a war zone for so long I’m still a little tense at times.” I ran my hand through my hair and glanced down at my beer, hoping she wouldn’t feel the need to be sympathetic like most people.
    “You were in Afghanistan I assume? What was your job over there?”
    “Military Police. But somehow I managed to get attached to another unit, and well, the MP role really took a backseat when you headed into combat.” I looked over at her and caught her subtly running the tip of her finger over the rim of her wine glass. I could tell her mind was trying to think of what to say or ask next. She was focused entirely too much on her wine glass rather than talking with me.
    I had never really had any issue breaking the ice with other girls, but something about this