Free Resilient Love (Navy Love Series Book 3) by jc santo Page A

routine, we need to talk over some things before that’s possible, but I didn’t think our friendship was at this level of distress.
    “Well, I'm glad, but I'm here for you, too. Your mom filled me in on her health…”
    This conversation is already so screwed up and emotional, and my genius ass decides now is the perfect time to throw in the fact that her mom has been given a death sentence marked for two months from now.
    That’d be the cherry right on the mother fucking top of this fucked up discussion.
    “Yeah. Doesn't look good. I uh, I,” her voice trails off not finishing with the rehearsed, fake upbeat response. She sighs dejectedly while rolling her neck from side to side, “How am I gonna get through this? What am I supposed to do without my mom, J.C.?”
    I’m actually impressed with her bravado; she’s trying her damnedest and, I’m sure, succeeding in making people believe she’s already come to accept her mom’s fate. However, I see through it. Jo is good at putting on a front, but not with me. I don’t know why or how, but we’ve always been able to call each other out on our bullshit from the moment we met each other. And right now, I know she’s lying through this; it’s killing her to know that her mom isn’t going to be around much longer.
    Timidly, I place my hand on her shoulders. “Hey, your mom has an incredibly positive outlook on what's happening. She's ready to end this fight and you've gotta be supportive. I'll be here for you through it all, Jo.”
    It's slight, but I do catch the stiffening of her shoulders.
    She doesn't believe me .
    And it's my own fault; I caused her to lose faith in me.
    “Jo, I fucked up before. I left when you needed me. I should have been here for you and instead I ran like a coward. But I promise you, that won't happen again. I'm always gonna be here for you, whether it's as a friend or something else, you’ll always have me.”
    She gives a half-hearted shoulder shrug and slight nod before walking away.
    We've got so much to discuss, and I've got a lot to prove to her now. She needs to understand that what happened was a one-time deal; that I refuse to allow myself to let her down again.
    Jo takes my silence as the end of our conversation and leaves the room. I'll let it go for now, but the conversation is far from over.
     

     
    Two days later, I’m surprised when I pull up to the house to be met outside by Jo’s oldest brother, Miguel. We haven’t spoken much since my arrival and our first meeting, but he’s been cordial enough. It seems as though he’s waiting on me today.
    I walk up and he meets me halfway down the sidewalk.
    “Hey man, you gotta minute to talk?”
    I nod, unsure where this is going.
    “I was thinkin’ about you and my sister last night. I don’t know what happened between the two of you, but I know there’s history.” I nod but keep all my comments to myself for now. “I just want to make sure you’re here for the right reasons. Joey doesn’t need a man comin’ around just to take advantage of her then run off, which like I said, I don’t know what happened with you two before, she’s been tightlipped about it, but I don’t want her hurt again. When she came to visit two months ago, she was so depressed and none of us knew how to pull her out of it; I felt helpless. And I can’t help but assume you had something to do with all of that?”
    He looks at me expectantly.
    I’m assuming Jo hasn’t filled her family in on anything with the two of us, and not to be rude, but it damn sure isn’t my place to tell her brother what happened; but I can give him some peace of mind.
    “I fucked up a few months back, Miguel. Overreacted to something and blamed Jo. I ran out and shipped off on a deployment instead of giving her a chance to explain herself. I know that I screwed up big time, and I’m tryin’ now to fix it.”
    He nods his head casually.
    “I can respect that you’re owning your mistake, but I gotta be