Free Giving In (The Sandy Cove Series Book 1) by M.R. Joseph Page B

I can talk to my brother Craw
about things but Greta, my sister, no way. She’s way too caught up
in her wedding plans to hear my sob stories. Mom and Dad aren’t
aware of anything, so I can’t go to them.
    Someone knocks at the door, and Willow gets up
to answer it. She automatically slams it again, not giving me a
chance to see who it is, but I have a pretty good idea.
    She leans against the door and rolls her eyes.
“Son of a bitch.”
    I smile. “It’s fine. Let him in. It can’t get
any worse.”
    She eyes me for a second, not believing I just
said that.
    I nod my head as she pulls at the doorknob.
    Cruz walks in, looking as pale as a ghost and
holding a cardboard box in his hands. He looks awful, and that’s
unusual for him.
    Willow eases up to him, gets inches from his
face, not saying anything. She just stares at him, because in the
case of Willow, sometimes her scowl is worse than her words.
    Oh, God this is uncomfortable. She’s so good at
it.
    She turns to me and winks before exiting.
    The room is still, so is the air between us. I
look to the floor, playing with my fingers in my lap, as he
continues to stand.
    “You’re leaving?”
    I nod.
    “I don’t blame you. I haven’t made this easy for
you.”
    I look up at him, pursing my lips together, my
eyes agreeing with him.
    “Look, I’m not a jerk. Really I’m not. I’m just
not good with sorry’s or hello’s or goodbye’s. I’ve been really
hard on you, but you don’t make it any easier.”
    I start to speak to stop him, because I’m pretty
sure I’m not the cause of this.
    He holds his hand up to stop me.
    “Let me finish talking, please.”
    I let out a sigh. “Fine, continue.”
    “You think I’m a stupid person. Well, I’m not.
Just because I didn’t have an extensive education like you, doesn’t
mean I haven’t been educated. The Marines paid for me to go to
community college. I got my Associates Degree in Criminal Justice,
and I haven’t pursued a full time position with a force because I
just got back from my third tour in Iraq. The world has educated
me.”
    Oh, no. God forgive me. I had no idea.
    “I’m sorry. I didn’t know.”
    “Damn right, you didn’t.” His voice raises and
appears a little sterner. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to raise my
voice. I’m just sensitive about it. I’m not usually, but for some
reason, you bring it out of me.”
    He told me he was in Afghanistan and Iraq when
we were fighting on the dock, but I had no idea how many tours he
accomplished. I owe him an apology.
    “Cruz, I don’t what to say. You’re right. I
haven’t been fair to you, and I guess I jumped to conclusions. I
apologize.”
    He comes to sit on the bed next to me. I flinch
when he does, like I think he’s going to hurt me, and when I do it,
he is a taken aback.
    I sweep my hair behind my ears, feeling
uncomfortable, and I’m not sure why. I mean I had sex with him.
You’d think I wouldn’t feel like that, but in reality, I think that
is the reason I’m feeling like this.
    “I’m not going to touch you, don’t worry. I’m
not going down that road again. No offense.”
    I laugh. “None taken.”
    He smiles at me, as I try to dodge my eyes from
looking at him.
    “Is that a smile I see? You actually have teeth?
My God, I thought you just forget to put your dentures in all the
time.”
    I shove him and let out a small chuckle.
    “Jerk.”
    “You should do it more often.”
    “What’s that?”
    “Smile, it looks good on you.” He smiles broadly
at me. I wish I could allow myself to smile the way he does.
    I’m up. Time for me to try to make amends.
    “I think maybe sometimes with you, I remember
what happened between us, and I realize I didn’t know you, and I
did what I did…”
    He interrupts, “What we did. I was a part of it
too.”
    “Ok, us both, but I think I was angry with
myself because I had never done anything like that. I disappointed
myself, and I was well, embarrassed. It was totally