Vetted: An Everyday Heroes World Novel (The Everyday Heroes World)

by A. M. Williams

  “She knows about dad,” I said, blowing what he was saying off. She didn’t need to know the other reason, at least not yet. There was no need to bring that up unless I absolutely had to.

  “Dad is only a small part of it and you know that,” Rich said flatly.

  I’d looked away from him and into the backyard, but at his tone, I looked back at him and was surprised by what I saw. He was glaring at me and I could see him getting worked up.

  “Rich—" I started, but he cut me off.

  “You’ve spent years trying to deal with being a military brat and what happened to me. You’re to the point that even though I’m mostly over what happened, you still aren’t. And why is that? I get what happened impacted you deeply and you struggle with it. But, man, I’m fine. I’m adjusted. I don’t have issues with it much anymore because I’ve learned to cope and move on. Yet you continue to act like any minute is the minute I’m going to decide that I want to kill myself again. And that isn’t fucking cool.”

  With those words, Rich stood, and I was left gaping after him.

  I watched the door he’d disappeared through for several moments before I looked back at the backyard and swallowed thickly, raising my coffee mug to my mouth.

  I paused with it halfway up because I realized I was shaking.

  I cleared my throat and carefully set my mug down. What the fuck? Why was I shaking?

  I tried to push the conversation we’d just had from my mind, but I couldn’t. Rich’s words were ringing in my ears, bringing up things I didn’t like to think about with him.

  He also brought up things I didn’t want to admit he was right about.

  He hadn’t had an episode in years, not since we first got here, and he finally got the help he needed from the VA.

  And his coping mechanisms were to go camping if things got to be too much. Yeah, he might go more than I wanted him to, but I couldn’t begrudge him for realizing when he needed to take time to get away from whatever was bothering him, even if it was me that was doing it.

  It was his burden to bear, not mine. But I was the one still struggling.

  Was he right? Was I holding on to shit that I should have moved on from?

  I blew out a breath and looked down. My hands weren’t shaking anymore, and I carefully picked my mug back up and took a sip of my coffee and I considered what Rich had said.

  After several minutes of turning what he said over in my mind, I knew he was right; I just didn’t want to admit it.

  I let my own issues with my upbringing and my issues with Rich’s military career color my thoughts and perceptions about the military. And that ultimately tore Britain and I apart when we started dating so many years ago.

  I never told her about Rich and what he was going through because I never told her about my brother, period.

  She had no idea that he was in the military and had deployed several times until he was finally medically discharged because of PTSD and other issues.

  She had no idea that he didn’t get the help he needed initially and sank into a deep depression while suffering episodes from his PTSD.

  She had no idea that he’d tried to kill himself three times, the last one, the one that finally got someone to sit up and pay attention to get him what he needed.

  She had no idea that I still worried that Rich would somehow backtrack to what he was like before; that I worried every day that it would be the day I came home to find my brother dead. It didn’t matter that he hadn’t had those thoughts in years; they were still living in the back of my head.

  She had no idea because I’d never told her.

  I sighed, realizing the truth of Rich’s words. I couldn’t keep something like that from her. It was time I tell her and maybe let Rich tell her what happened. She would understand, I know, because not only was she a part of the military, but she was empathetic. She’d get it.

  But the thought of talking to her about it was easier said than done. And I wasn’t sure I could make myself talk to her about that soon.

  LATER THAT WEEK, I decided to surprise Britain with flowers at work. We hadn’t seen each other since the weekend because of her work schedule and mine. Besides throwing my hand up to her parents in the evenings, I hadn’t seen her at all.

  I knew from listening to gossip in the teacher’s lounge that the clinic had been slammed with patients, so she must have been working longer hours to try to get them all seen.

  Knowing this, I thought she might like something of a pick-me-up. In my planning period Wednesday, I called the local flower shop and placed an order for a spring arrangement to be delivered to her at work that day.

  I opted to not do a card, not trusting that someone wouldn’t read it. So, I just had her put my name on it, hoping Britain would call me about the flowers once she had a chance.

  I was packing up for the day to head home when that call came in.

  I smiled when I saw her name flash on my caller I.D. and quickly answered, “Hey.”

  “Thank you for the flowers,” she said instead of returning my greeting.

  If it was possible, my smile got larger. “You’re welcome. I hope you like them. I told Trudie to do something spring themed.”

  “I’ll send you a pic when we get off then phone, but I love them,” she assured me.

  “I’m glad. Since I have you on the phone, dinner tomorrow night?”

  “Dinner sounds great.”

  “Diner? Seven?” I asked.

  “That works. I’ll probably have to come straight from the clinic. We’re staying open a little later than normal because we’ve had so many people coming in.”

  “I might have heard something about how busy you are right now.”

  Britain laughed. “It’s been insane. We have our scheduled surgeries plus routine check-ups. But now we have people coming in because their pet looks like they have the sniffles.”

  I chuckled. “The sniffles?”

  “Yes, the sniffles! A few of them have seasonal allergies, so I helped them with figuring out how to care for them, but others I think were just nosy busy-bodies.”

  I outright laughed at that. “You’re probably right. You’re still a hot commodity, so they just want to see you.”

  Britain huffed, and I could imagine the look of annoyance on her face. “They can see me in public and not take up extra time at work.”

  “But that means more money…” I trailed off and Britain sighed.

  “Yeah, it might mean more money, but it also seems like wasted time.” She sighed again. “I’m sorry I’m a downer right now. I’m just exhausted because of all the work and am ready for things to slow down again.”

  “They will once they’ve had their fill.”

  “That’s what bothers me,” she muttered. “I gotta run. An appointment just got here and I have a whole slew after. I just wanted to call and thank you for the flowers. They’re very nice.”

  “You’re welcome. I’ll talk to you later.”

  “Later.”

  I smiled as I hung up the phone and finished packing up my things, my mind already on the dinner the following night.

  I already had an idea for another small gift to get her to give her then too. I couldn’t wait.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  AUGUST

  “COME IN,” Rita said when I knocked on the door to their house.

  “Hey, thanks,” I said, slipping by her. “How are you?”

  “Doing okay. How are you? How was this week?” She asked after shutting the door behind me and leading me into the kitchen.

  “Not too bad. The end of the school year is creeping up, so the kids are getting antsy.”

  She shook her head. “I remember those days. I think we all do. Hopefully they’ll finish strong.”

  I nodded. “They usually do, but we’ll have to see.”

  “Britain and her dad are on the back porch.”

  “Can I help you with anything?” I asked, pausing to see if she needed help.


  “Nope. You go on out. I’ll bring you a drink and a top off for those two in a minute.”

  I nodded and turned toward the back door, pushing through the storm door and onto the back porch. Britain and her dad were laughing at something. They both had tears in their eyes and I couldn’t help the smile that came over my face at seeing them together like that.

  The slap of the door closing behind me made them both jump and turn to face me.

  “August! We were just talking about you,” Jon said, motioning me closer to them. “Have a seat.”

  Britain was sitting on the loveseat and I claimed the empty spot next to her, throwing an arm along the back of it. I grinned at her before looking at her dad.

  “And what were you saying that had you in stitches?” I asked.

  “About the first time you came over here.”

  I grimaced at the memory. I’d noticed Rita in the yard trying to water her plants, but she was having issues with the hose. I came over to help. In the end, I got the hose working again, but it also resulted in me becoming drenched from head to toe because of it.

  “I’ll never offer to help someone with a water hose again,” I joked.

  They both burst into laughter.

  “I would have paid to see that happen,” Britain said as her mom pushed the door open and stepped out with our drinks.

  She handed me a bottle of beer, topped off Jon’s lemonade, and handed Britain a glass of wine. I smiled my thanks and took a long pull from the bottle.

  Britain and her dad continued talking about what happened with me before moving on to other topics, and her mom flitted in and out of the house several times, getting things ready for dinner.

  This was my first official meeting of Britain’s parents as the boyfriend or whatever we were. I knew I should be nervous about this because it was important to me that her parents like me with Britain. But I wasn’t because I already had a great relationship with them.

  The only fear I had was if things went sour between me and her. I didn’t think they would, but weirder things have happened.

  “Dinner’s ready,” Rita called out after setting a platter on the table.

  I pushed myself out of the comfortable chair and held out a hand to help Britain up. Once she was standing, I handed her my bottle and stepped over to help her dad up as well. He said nothing, but I could see him struggling to get his feet under him.

  Remembering our conversation a few weeks before, I worried it would make him feel like he was more of an invalid than he was, but he just smiled and said, “Thank you,” before slowly walking to the table and sitting in his chair.

  I slid into an empty seat beside Britain and looked over the spread on the table. There was one thing about Britain’s mom: she knew how to cook, and she did it very well. She also knew how to garden, and I’d been given a few bags of crops from her harvest if she couldn’t use it all. It looked like she’d used some things she grew in tonight’s dinner.

  We set about dishing things up, and conversation was light for the first part of dinner.

  Once we’d all finished most of our food and we were just sitting around waiting for our food to settle before eating dessert, Jon asked, “You heard from your recruiter?”

  Britain jerked next to me and when I looked at her, I caught her gaze on me as she answered, “The other day.”

  “Any word?” Her mom asked.

  Britain shook her head. “No, not yet. Still waiting. But I have my reservist spot.”

  “When’s your first weekend?” Her dad asked as he sipped his lemonade.

  Britain shifted in her seat and I saw her look at me again before answering, “In about two weeks.”

  My hands clenched into fists in my lap before I made myself smooth them out. Yeah, I was uncomfortable and Britain knew it. But I didn’t want my own reactions and thoughts to degenerate into an argument. I didn’t think her parents were aware of my feelings on the military, and I didn’t like the idea of tuning them into it now.

  “Will you have to stay on base? Or will you be able to come home?”

  Britain cleared her throat and sipped her drink. “I’ll have to stay there. I’ll go on Friday and come back Sunday evening.”

  Her parents nodded. “Let us know if you need something.”

  “I will.”

  We lapsed into a semi-tense silence. I had still said nothing, which I knew Britain and her parents had likely noticed, but what was there for me to say? I still didn’t agree with her position within the Reserves or the military. I didn’t think that would change soon.

  But that didn’t mean they had to avoid the topic around me. If that was something Britain was interested in pursuing still, I needed to get myself together enough to support her, even if she ended up going on active duty again.

  “Well, how bout you two run and do whatever it is you do with your evenings and we’ll clean up?” Rita asked, pushing back from the table and stacking dishes together to carry inside.

  I stood as well. “I don’t mind helping.”

  She waved me off. “You two deserve to spend some time together, just the two of you.”

  She shot me a pointed look, and I understood that she’d clocked my silence and that she was trying to communicate something to me. It was likely she wanted to tell me I needed to get my shit together, which I already knew.

  Britain’s dad pushed himself up and leaned over to kiss her cheek. “I’m heading in to take a shower. I’ll see ya later.”

  He slowly walked inside. It was painful watching him go, but I knew offering to help more than I already had wouldn’t go over well. Britain’s mom came back out and shooed us out the screen door and into the backyard.

  “You want to hang here? Or go to your place?” Britain asked as we walked down the three steps to the grass of her backyard.

  “My place?” I asked.

  She nodded and led me around the house. A few minutes later, I was leading her into my house and up the stairs to my room.

  “Rich isn’t here,” I said as I flicked the lamp on in my room and toed my shoes off.

  “Where is he?” she asked, kicking her sandals off and coming to sit on the edge of the bed.

  “Camping.”

  She tilted her head to the side and asked, “Camping? By himself?”

  I nodded. “Yeah. He likes to do it.”

  She looked at me thoughtfully before asking, “Why by himself? Why doesn’t he ask you to go with him?”

  I forced myself to not react to her question and shrugged. “I’m not big on nature, so I wouldn’t go, anyway.”

  A weird feeling settled in my gut at the realization that while I hadn’t outright lied to Britain about Rich, I was skirting a thin line with him. I knew why he camped, I just wasn’t sure I was ready to admit that to Britain or anyone not in our family.

  And I didn’t love that I felt that way considering how what he’d told me a few days before.

  “You want to watch a movie?” I asked, falling onto my bed and leaning back against my pillows.

  Britain pursed her lips and looked at me before shaking her head.

  The hair on my body stood up as I took her in and realized that she might want to do something else.

  “What do you want to do then?” I asked, my voice growing husky.

  She grinned at me briefly before biting her bottom lip as she crawled across the bed to me.

  “I’ve been thinking about last weekend all week long,” she said, her voice lower than normal. “It was all I could think about Thursday night when we went to dinner,” she continued.

  I couldn’t make my mouth form the words to tell her I had that same problem. All I’d been able to think about was getting her alone, but because we were at the diner, I couldn’t.

  I swallowed thickly as she drew close enough to reach out and run a hand up my thigh. I shivered at the sensation of her lightly touching my leg, even through my clothing, and my dick jumped, already growing hard.

  “And
I think we should have a repeat,” she said, her hand coming to rest on top of the fly of my pants and my quickly hardening cock.

  “You do?” I asked.

  She nodded. “Yeah.”

  Before I could say anything else, her hand squeezed, and I moaned. It was through a layer of denim and cotton, but it still felt good to have her touching me.

  I sat up and pulled my shirt off while she made quick work of my pants and underwear, leaving me naked on the bed, my dick pointing straight up.

  She moved to the edge of the bed and started pulling her clothing off. While I watched, I reached down and wrapped a hand around myself, squeezing tightly as I tried to contain myself.

  Britain hadn’t even touched me, and I felt like a pre-pubescent boy about to blow his load the first time he had sex.

  As she shook her hips to get her pants and underwear to fall to the ground, I watched her breasts swaying and squeezed my dick again.

  Fuck, she was beautiful.

  She was everything I could ever want, and I was the dumbass that let her go so many years before.

  “You’ve got a look,” she said as she placed a knee on the bed, showing me a hint of her pink pussy lips before bringing the other knee onto the bed so she could crawl to me.

  “And what look is that?” I asked, moving my hand out of the way as hers took its place.

  “Like you want to eat me,” she said, squeezing and stroking me before sucking as much of my dick into her mouth as possible.

  The other night, I thought I’d died and gone to heaven when she’d dropped to her knees in front of me. What guy doesn’t love a good blowjob?

  Tonight, might be even better because she was the one that initiated this entire scene; it was incredible.

  As was watching her lips glide up and down my shaft.

  I watched her for several moments, burning the sight of her into my brain before I reached over and laid a hand on her ass, squeezing.

  She moaned when I did that and wiggled her ass. I smirked as I shifted just enough that I could run a finger down the crack of her ass to her entrance.

  She spread her knees a little, allowing me better access, and I grinned at the wetness I found there.