Read A Hero Scarred for Free Online

“Want to go down by the beach?”
    “Sure.” It wasn’t like he’d get any sleep. Not when all he’d been thinking about was Jessie. Jessie’s lips. Jessie sucking his cock. Jessie moaning as she rode him.
    The sun had started to peek up as they reached the beach. He and Ryan sat down by the water, letting it wet their feet as the tide came in.
    “What’s going on?”
    “Look, I know what Kayla did wasn’t the best way to go about things, and for that I’m sorry. She really thought you and Jessie would hit it off being that you’ve had difficult times lately.”
    He nodded. Kayla had been right. “It’s okay. Don’t even worry about it. We had a nice dinner.”
    “That’s the thing.” Ryan turned to him. “Jessie waited up for us last night. She seemed down and asked Kayla to arrange for someone to take her home.”
    “What?”
    Pulsing pain beat at his chest. He’d done that. Pushed her away with his need to hide himself.
    “She said she didn’t want to interrupt our other guests and would return another time.” Ryan’s gaze never wavered from his face. “I just wanted to let you know. She looked kind of sad.”
    “She wanted to see my scars.” He gulped at the sick sensation curling around his vocal cords.
    “So? Why didn’t you show them to her? She sees scars all the time.”
    “What?” His surprise sounded in his question.
    Ryan shook his head. His lips pressed into a tight line. “She works with Kayla. They’ve been working with deformed and severely scarred children. Plus, she volunteers in the burn unit. She’s probably seen worse scars than the ones you have.”
    “I-I couldn’t show them to her.”
    Ryan’s shoulders drooped. “Why?”
    “You know how hard it is to see that sympathy and pity in people’s faces. It only serves to remind us of our flaws.”
    “She’s not like that. Jessie’s husband was an asshole who took her for a ride and then tried to leave her with nothing. Took her two years to get rid of the bastard. This was her first time meeting someone new.”
    Acid burned in Matt’s stomach. She’d seemed so sad with some of the things she’d said. “She said some things that made me question if she knew what it was like to be hurt like we are.”
    Ryan picked up a seashell and started flipping it between his fingers. “She knows all right. Her ex cheated, took some of the money her parents left her, and when she fought back, he put his hands on her. So yeah, she knows.”
    “I feel like such a dick.” He ran his fingers through his hair, gripping the short strands. Frustration and stupidity beat at his insides. He’d felt so insecure, so hurt, that he swore she couldn’t understand. Dumbass. Someone as sweet as her shouldn’t have been hurt at all.
    Ryan sighed. “It happens to all of us man. I almost lost Kayla from my own insecure thoughts.” He pinned him with a serious look. “Don’t do the same. Jessie’s a wonderful person. I’m not telling you to go ask for her hand in marriage. The poor woman has had enough negativity with that to be a skeptic for life, but if you like her to the point you feel comfortable with her, talk to her. When you meet a person who understands some of the fear and pain you’ve been through, get to know her better. She may just be the one who’ll make you feel whole again.”
    Air froze in his chest. That’s what he’d been feeling the hours he’d spoken to Jessie. A bit more like the man he’d used to be. He’d felt…whole. Urgency grew wings in his heart. He had to find her. Talk to her.
    “I need to see her.”
    Ryan smiled. “The chopper’s waiting for you.”

Chapter Eight
    Jessie sat on her living room sofa, staring at the latest set of documents she’d come home to. Another legal battle. This time over her father’s antique car. Her lawyer had already said it wasn’t even worth her time to worry, but he wanted to keep her abreast of what her ex-husband was up to.
    “I knew it was too good to