Free Burn by Aubrey Irons Page A

a beat down.

    “Officer?”

    “Huh?” I look up from tying up my shoes to see him studying me.

    “In the Marines, I mean. Were you an officer?”

    I can feel my temper flare; “Listen, pal, I already told you-”

    “Right, right,” He shakes his head; “My mistake, I meant in the police force.”

    I narrow my eyes at the old guy; I don’t know who this asshole is, but he’s got a lot balls to walk in here trying to bait me like this when we’re about to step into a ring together; “No,” I say quickly; “I wasn’t.” I’m not going to give him the satisfaction of asking ‘why’, even if the question is practically falling out of my mouth.

    “Ahh, I see.” He says, smiling at me; “You just seemed like the leader type.”

    I laugh; “You got the wrong guy, pal.”

    He nods, as if internalizing something; “Well, my mistake then. Shall we?”

    We tap gloves while I glower at him, and once we’re set in position, I come at him hard. He dodges my feint punch, but then he’s also ducking the second and third ones meant to actually connect. Suddenly, I’m off balance and his glove is crashing into the side of my jaw.

    Well, fuck.

    The man’s a whirlwind, and I can barely get my own gloves up before he’s got me off my feet and ass-down in the dirt.

    What the fuck was THAT?

    He chuckles as he pulls a glove off and reaches down to pull my bewildered ass back up; “Not bad for a nosy old man I guess, huh?”

    What is he, a mind reader?

    “Ok, I’ll bite. Yeah, I didn’t see that coming.”

    “Not everything is what it looks like on the outside, soldier.” His eyes narrow for a second as he looks into my face; “I’m betting a guy like you might just take that one to heart.”

    “Listen, I’m really not a Marin-”

    “Hey, I told you; I don’t need to know, son.”

    A week later, I’m dragging Hudson and Bryce with me when I opt out of my - and their - contracts with Blackriver and jump in the back of William Archer’s jeep. I still don’t know exactly where we’re going, or even really who this guy is. But I do know that after two years of looking over my shoulder for the U.S. State Department after ditching out on active war duty, two years of fighting in the mud and the jungles of the worst places on Earth for cash like some sort of honor-less gun for hire, and two years of watching me and both my friends succumb to anger, fear, apathy, drink, and drugs, I’m ready for whatever comes next. And what comes next is William Archer, new names, a new place in the world, and a reset on the game of life.

    I never do manage to knock him down in a match.

    *****

    I’m bleary-eyed and half blind from the sweat, my lungs burning for air. I’m laying hit after hit into the sparring bag when the knock on my front door jolts me into the present. I stop, only then feeling the absolute agony my muscles are in as I turn and wipe sweat from my eyes and peer at the door. The knock comes again, and I start to grin, knowing there’s really only one possible person who’d be knocking here at this hour.

    And I think I even know why.

    “What the fuck is wrong with you?” Quinn spits at me, before shoving me aside and storming past me into my apartment.

    “Oh, please won’t you come inside, Quinn?” I grumble, tearing my boxing gloves off and watching her as she stars digging through my kitchen draws. I’m still partially curious, that is until she shoots me another furious look before she storms over and starts digging around underneath my mattress.

    Oh, now I know what she’s looking for.

    “Where is it!” She snaps, seeing the grin on my face as I grab a towel off the hook by the door and wipe the sweat from my face.

    “I haven’t the slightest idea what you’re talking about, Qui-“

    “You kept my vibrator, you asshole!”

    I can’t help it then, and my grin just breaks into a full-on laugh. I mean honestly, how many times in life do you actually get a chance to