Chasing Temptation: The Glenn Jackson Saga by M. S. Parker

Author:M. S. Parker [Parker, M. S.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Belmonte Publishing, LLC
Published: 2017-09-03T16:00:00+00:00

14

Glenn

“I thought you’d given up on alcohol.”

Cane studied me over the bottle I’d bought and put down between us. The bartender had given me two highball glasses, happy to have somebody else take over the job so he could go back to leaning against the counter and flirting with the only waitress in the joint.

“It’s a goodbye party, right?”

He eyed me through the lingering haze of smoke, a faint smile on his face. “Some goodbye party.”

“You said you wanted to keep it low-key.” I twisted the cap open and poured us both two fingers. The scent of it teased me, and my mouth was already watering. I’d been craving a drink for two days, ever since I’d stormed away from Florence’s house—and Maya.

I still couldn’t believe she was here. That I’d seen her.

The need to get up, get out of here and hunt her down was so strong, I tossed back the whiskey. It hit hard and fast, burning a way down my throat. It had been months since I’d had a drink and immediately, I wanted another one. I was in trouble already, and if I was smart, I’d stop.

But if I was smart, I never would have taken the first drink.

Grabbing the bottle, I refilled my drink.

“You don’t need to be tossing it back so fast.”

I just eyed him over the top of my glass and took a satisfyingly burning gulp.

Cane sighed and reached for his glass. “This is going to be a fun night, isn’t it?”

“Why the hell you gotta go to Vietnam?” Swirling the whiskey in the glass, I stared at him over the top.

“I was drafted.” He shrugged, looking unperturbed, but for the first time, I saw a bit of uneasiness in his eyes. For the past year, he’d been stationed here in the states. This was going to be the first time Cane went into a war zone. Seeing the nerves made me feel a little bit better. At least he realized there was something to be worried about.

I didn’t bother pointing out to him that there were ways he could have worked around that. Hell, plenty of guys had found ways to serve their country without going into combat.

I had mentioned that to him, once.

He’d looked disgusted. Sure, man. While others are out there doing the hard shit, I’ll go around and tell jokes or do tours or something. Is that what you think I should do?

Right then, I didn’t know what I wanted, but I didn’t want to think about my friend living in a war zone.

I didn’t want to think about what happened if…

Stop it, I told myself.

“You’ve seen Florence?” I asked. “Told her goodbye?”

“Yeah.” He nodded and shifting restlessly on the chair. “We had lunch, talked a bit. She’s…not happy.” Cane lifted a shoulder and looked down into his glass, swirling it around before lifting it to his nose to breathe in the scent.

I opened my mouth, the question burning on my lips. But before I could ask it, fate intervened and a man approached, smiling broadly at Cane in his uniform.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.