Free Unhurt by K.S. Thomas

years behind me.”
    I waited a moment. “Crazy aunts? Kids?”
    Derek’s eyes were locked on mine and he chuckled softly. “Joss, I wouldn’t be here about to play house with you if I had a kid out there somewhere.”
    Oh crap. This man was going to be a problem and I could already tell playing pretend was going to feel way too good for me to keep track of what was real and what wasn’t.
    “I was just checking,” I mumbled as I went for more coffee. My cup had been empty since two fake sips ago, but it was giving me something to do with my hands and they needed it.
    “Was there anything else you wanted to know? Credit score? Results from my last physical? If I have a record?”
    I smirked. “You’re ex-military? SEAL? Yeah, I’m not so worried about any of those. If you pass their physicals and security check, you pass mine.”
    His eyes narrowed briefly. “Military brat?”
    “Yeah. My stepdad. He was supposed to be retired three years ago, but the Army roped him back in for one more round. Not that it was hard. It’s been his whole life. His dad was in as well. I don’t think he’d know what to do with himself if he got out. Probably drive us all crazy.” I shrugged and took another habitual sip. “Well, my mom anyway. They’re out in Arizona, so Bobby and I don’t exactly have to worry about dealing with him should he come into some unexpected free time.”
    I placed the empty cup back on the table and Derek reached for it almost instantly. Instinctively, I grabbed my cup to keep it from him.
    “What are you doing?”
    “Getting you a refill.”
    I still refused to loosen my grip. “What makes you think I need one?”
    He grinned. “Because you haven’t swallowed the last five times you put that cup to your lips. Now let go so I can get you another one. Or else I’ll just have them use a new cup. And I know how much you like to recycle.”
    Reluctantly, I released my coffee cup. Not because I was against a refill. It just felt like I was surrendering so much more than a paper cup by doing so...
    ***
    J oss was nervous. Not that I could blame her. I just wished I knew if it was me or the prospect of what we were about to do that was causing her to unravel with such anxiety. Wasn’t like I’d had a ton of time to spend with her before, but when I had been around her she’d always been so chill and matter-of-fact about things, like nothing could shake her. She was steady. Confident.
    Today she was a ball of nerves, and not just because she kept drinking from an empty cup. She’d barely made eye contact with me since we got there. Plus, I’d noticed her knee shaking under the table. None of it bothered me, I just wished I knew how to help her feel more at ease. With everything she was already dealing with because of this Travis guy, the last thing I wanted was to add to her stress in any way. I mean, clearly, I was attempting to do the exact opposite. It was fucking annoying to feel like I was failing at it already.
    I was walking back to the table with a fresh coffee in hand when I realized filling her up with sugar and caffeine probably wasn’t going to lower her blood pressure any. At the same time, it was suddenly crystal clear what would.
    “Come on.” Rather than return her cup, I held out my hand for her. For a moment she looked like she wasn’t going to take it. Okay, for a moment she looked like she was going to smack it out of the way and crush it like a giant cockroach that had come up on her out of nowhere. But then, surprisingly, she reached for me.
    “I forgot you had that job you needed to get to. Sorry.”
    “Never mind the job. It can wait until tomorrow.” Still holding onto her, I maneuvered a path for us through the busy coffee shop.
    “Then where are we going?”
    I could feel her hand tense up in my palm, like she was having second thoughts about the contact.
    “To pick up some soil.”
    “Soil?” We were back outside. The sun hit her eyes, blinding her, and she