Army Strong

Chapter Four

I Can't Stop Drinking About You (Remix)

Army Strong

Chapter Four

Its been two days since I came home from my parents house for the holidays. And I miss them terribly. Lilly has already called twice to talk to me and Liam has called once to see how I was doing. He promised he and Curtis would visit me in a few weeks before Christmas since they both are still worried about me.

I sat in an empty bookstore with The Hobit in my hands keeping my attention. I was in an exciting part of the book so I didn't even hear any customers enter the store. I sucked in a breath and turned the next page with my heart pounding and my eyes wide. I had my fingernail in my mouth biting it painfully short.

I saw a dark blue figure walk to stand in front of me. I drew my eyes away from my book to the handsome man in front of me. He had a mop of black hair on his head and dark brown eyes that startled me. His unshaven beard grew only an inch to show just a little bit of a wild side to him. He was a large man, about 6'4 with a broad chest and shoulders creating a line-backer type of body feel. He wore a dark blue shirt that was tight on his chest so I could see just how large his biceps were. He paired his shirt with black jeans that hung loose at his hips. He wore a small smirk on his face as I looked away and towards the four other friends in the store.

They stared at me too which worried me. These men were huge and reminded me too much of my military family back in Afghanistan. But I didn't like the idea of them all coming into a empty bookstore with me being the only one occupying inside.

I cleared my throat and glanced at the man in front of me, "Can I help you find something?"

He nodded while biting his own fingernails, "Yeah we were looking for a-," he paused and looked over the counter at my book, "-syfy book."

"What type?" I asked becoming myself again.

"What do you recommend?" he asked as I stood and took my cane in my hands.

I hobbled out from behind the counter and towards the syfy section. I let my fingers slip across the spines of the books as I pulled out some books I have read and some I haven't gotten around to reading. The man followed me silently watching me as I explained each one.

"This one is good," I paused and ran my fingers over the pages. "Its about this guy who lives-."

"We will take them all," he interrupted me.

I nodded and smiled slightly while walking to the counter again. I checked him out in which he handed me a one hundred dollar bill. Was this guy trying to show off to me or something? I rolled my eyes and produced four twenty dollar bills and some change to finish his transaction.

"Um," one of the friends stepped froward and leaned on the counter.

I raised an eyebrow at him waiting for him to ask his question. The guy that bought the books placed a firm hand on his arm and squeezed tightly trying to make the guy not ask the question.

"How can I help you?" I asked.

"I uh-we were wondering what happened to your leg?" the guy asked.

My eyes narrowed as I looked away and towards the three other men. They all had curious stares as they peaked at my leg. But as I looked back at the man that bought the books, his eyes were black and swirling with yellow hues that made me uneasy.

"I was shot," I said simply. "Thank you for coming in and have a great night."

I considered lying to the guys but I usually try not to lie to people. Even people who I don't know. The men took my tight words as a goodbye. Four of them left leaving the first guy to talk to me with his bag of books. He still leaned against the counter close to me as I sat back down and held my book in my hands.