Free Breaking Through (Atlanta #3) by Kemmie Michaels Page B

something to appease him.  
    "Fine. This is all about Afghanistan."
    "Bullshit."
    Luke glared at him in angry shock. How did he know? He brought his fist up to the speed bag again.
    "Your face doesn't have Army written on it," Marcus observed through narrow eyes. "This is new. What the hell happened tonight?"
    Fuck . Without thinking of another option fast enough, Luke spilled the entire story with the exception of Jenna's name.
    " That's what has you so worked up? You had a good date?"
    "No! Didn't you hear me at all? I had a good date and I'll fuck it up with all the stupid shit in my life."
    "Get off the equipment, you idiot. Why don't you go home to write me a damn essay about what a moron you are," Marcus said shaking his head. "I can't believe you almost made me late because a beautiful girl went out with you and wanted you to call her again."
    "Shut the hell up," Luke grumbled, throwing a hard punch into the speed bag again, causing it to bounce wildly.
    "Think about this, ok?" Marcus stopped him and stared him down. "She didn't care you have anger, which means she's smart enough to see past it. Don't assume she can't handle your shit. If she's as amazing as you describe, she'll handle your shit for you. Erin did for me. At least give this girl a chance. Don't be stupid enough to walk away."
    Luke threw one final punch and walked to the locker room without another word. Marcus pissed him off, but made sense. Still, even if Jenna could handle his shit, was it fair to expect her to? He shook his head and threw his sweaty clothes into a gym bag. While he was taking a quick shower, Marcus called into the locker room.  
    "I'm heading out. Hit the lights before you go. Be here tomorrow at two so I can kick your ass again," he called over the noise of the shower. "And come back any night you need to."
    Luke heard a set of keys hit the floor in front of his locker. What? Marcus trusted him with the entire gym? Luke's chest got a little tight at the thought. Before his time in the Army, Luke was a party-hungry pain-in-the-ass and got suspended from high school more than once. He barely graduated. With no other options, he went straight into the military at age eighteen. So basically, his whole life was spent under someone else's responsibility, and nearly always as a fuck-up.
    Now Luke was a year out of the Army, twenty-five, and Marcus wouldn't let him be a fuck-up anymore. Luke now had a real job, an apartment, a budget, and the responsibility of keys to the gym. He hadn't earned such trust, but Marcus took a leap of faith with him. Fuck-up wasn't an option if Luke wanted all the good things in his life to stay there.
    The responsibility intimidated him, but Luke understood the significance of this. Marcus was forcing him to finally step up, working on the assumption Luke would succeed. No one ever had that kind of faith in him before. And now Jenna knew of his anger and smiled at him anyway. He had a job and a place to live. This all felt an awful lot like hope.

    A second date. Jenna beamed because he called her every day for a week, and asked her for a second date . The first had gone well, she knew, but the thought of Luke Baylor, this gorgeous man, wanting to go out with her again…that was beyond inspiring. Jenna thought of herself as simple, even plain compared to Cassie's style or Erin's sophistication, but Luke called her for a second date anyway.
    Happily, she spent Saturday afternoon that next weekend primping, spending nearly an hour on her mani/pedi. She took an hour-long soak in her apartment's big iron tub, complete with a subtle floral-and-spice bath oil. By the time she was done with her body and hair, Jenna was smooth all over with a delicate, feminine scent and soft waves in her blond tresses.  
    She donned her favorite low-rise jeans and a ice-blue cotton top which rested softly on her frame and barely skimmed along the denim. The same canvas flats from their first date finished off the outfit and Jenna