Broken Barriers (Barriers Series Book 4) by Sara Shirley Read Free Book Online Page B

how much it had changed him.
    I walked closer, and the image became more defined. The water beyond the window was no longer visible—just my face—and it was telling me everything I needed to know.
    “You dumb fuck,” I said to myself, shaking my head in disbelief. “You made your bed a long time ago.” I lifted my arm to lean it on the glass gingerly and rested my forehead against the glass. My eyes closed to stop me from looking at what I’d turned into.
    I’d lost the fight. I’d lost her. I’d lost the battle against time.
    Now, it was time to move on.
    I pushed off the glass and raised my head. My fist flexed to release the pressure from hitting the counter, and my eyes looked up in the process. I didn’t see me in the glass any longer. A single light shone across the bay, and over my shoulder in the reflection I saw Courtney’s face.
    “I’m so sorry, Court.” My words were barely audible as they fell from my lips. “I’ve got to find my way back to who I was. Loving you was never a mistake. I will always love you, but I’ve got to move on and find myself again.”
    The light in the window disappeared, and Courtney’s image was gone. Suddenly, the room was lonely and empty. The only sounds were those coming from the speakers. A new song started, and Avril Lavigne and Chad Kroeger sang the lyrics to “Let Me Go” that spoke to my soul. I had to let her go.
    I turned and walked back to the kitchen with my head held high. A weight had been lifted off my shoulders, but it wasn’t completely gone… No, it was still there. It was just a little lighter. It was a start, but I knew I’d have days where I wouldn’t be able to ignore what happened in the past.
    She was always going to be a part of my life. She was Josh’s sister, and I had to face the fact that she’d be at family gatherings and holidays. Her husband would be there, too. I had to be ready to handle those times, and I would be. I was confident I could move forward and be stronger than ever.
    Tomorrow was the first day to a new life.

The MRAP, or Transformers version of a Hummer as I called it, was making our usual run to another base about thirty minutes away. Five Finger Death Punch’s rendition of “Bad Company” was playing on an old school CD player we had mounted next to the bikini-clad hula babe on the dashboard. Everything about this trip was supposed to be routine. D-Rock, Lockmonster, and Smitty were my usual back-up singers. My given nickname was Big Dick Daley. I wasn’t complaining, especially with that nickname.
    The sun blazed down on my lead vehicle as I drove through the flat sand-covered landscape. There was nothing around for the eye to see. My sunglasses helped reduce the glare, but even still I saw the heat waves that rippled along the surface of the sand. I couldn’t help but become mystified by the mirage when it occurred. It was always this hot in the summer. Winters were cold, but the summers were just unbearable. I was sweating before I even got dressed and the sun rose; it was just that hot.
    Inside the MRAP, we were like sardines being cooked in a pan of hot oil. Sweat crept down my neck. My thumbs rapped against the wheel with the music as I called out our position through my headset to the base well up ahead. The radio chatter was kept to a minimum, but I could still hear a few raspy check-ins from the vehicles behind me.
    The guys were all singing along to “Bad Company,” and I laughed at Smitty’s attempt at lip- synching and air guitar when everything suddenly went wrong.
    I heard the loud bang and then the bright flash of the explosion. The wheel jerked in my hands just moments before my head slammed back and the MRAP toppled over onto my side of the vehicle. I heard the humming in my ears around me as excruciating pain surged through my left shoulder.
    I couldn’t move even if I tried. My belt was so tight around my waist, and my body was twisted in a way that prevented me from being able to