Read Broken Barriers (Barriers Series Book 4) for Free Online Page B

was funny how two Marines could just meet, and yet there was a bond there that only we could understand. It was a brotherhood. We were family, not by blood, but by sacrifice. Everett’s time in Iraq was certainly a lot more hostile than anything I encountered on a daily basis in Afghanistan. Two totally different wars and all it took was one convoy to turn a simple deployment into chaos.
    My pulse raced again at just the thought of that day, and suddenly the room was about to cave in on me. My palms grew sweaty, and my eyes that were clenched shut opened with alarm. I gauged my surroundings, and with one final glance toward their table, I swigged back the last few drops of my beer. The sun had shifted slightly, and I caught just a glimpse of her as the two of them walked down the outside ramp and out of sight.
    My pulse settled and slowed back to normal, and I rose from my barstool. With a quick wave to Everett, who was chatting with other staff members, I dropped a twenty onto the bar and told him I’d catch him around soon. Apparently, he was having a little bonfire party that weekend at his cottage for the big Fourth of July weekend. My sister was doing something with Josh’s family, and, well, since they all had kids now, I was the odd man out. I got the invite, of course, but said I’d take a rain check.
    I moved out the front door of the bar and heard faint sounds of giggling and saw Morgan and Cole pulling a boat out of the docks from a distance. My eyes still hadn’t adjusted to the sunlight, and by the time I pulled my sunglasses from my pocket to cover my eyes, it was too late to see them clearly. The boat had already turned away, headed even farther away out on the lake.
    Given my situation, I understood that I shouldn’t get mixed up with any girls, but the truth was, I had to start somewhere. I had to move forward and put her in my past. My future needed to begin now. I had all the puzzle pieces. Somehow I just had to put them all back together.

After a quick walk through town to buy new supplies, the kayak trip back to the cottage seemed to take twice as long as before. I shut off my phone after I put everything away since the mental fatigue had finally won out. My body wasn’t used to this life.
    My arms ached even worse now from rowing, and I was more tired as I woke up from a late afternoon nap than I was when I lay down. Rolling over on the living room sofa, I watched the last few minutes of daylight as the reds and oranges gleamed over the calm water of the lake. Cicadas buzzed outside, and the sounds of the water lapping against the shoreline brought a sense of relaxation I hadn’t experienced in well over a year. My weary eyes wanted to shut again, but I knew the flashbacks would begin again, too. The fact I had managed a peaceful sleep for the last two hours was a miracle alone. I forced myself to get up. My throbbing arms nearly gave out as they pushed my body up off the sofa.
    I slowly ran my hands over my face and threaded my fingers through my hair into a disorganized mess, or as I liked to call it, the just fucked look. My feet felt as though they were being weighed down by cinder blocks as I made my way toward the fridge. I grabbed a clean glass from the cabinet and pushed it onto the water lever on the fridge. A few chunks of ice cubes fell and clanked into the glass, and I filled the glass with water soon after.
    As I waited for the glass to fill, I noticed a black and pink magnet holding a couple of notes and business cards to the stainless steel appliance. The word Trouvaille was the main title scrolled in pink on the business card. I removed it from underneath the magnet just as the glass was done filling. Below the shop name were five words that had me more intrigued about the girl who made my body more aware than anything else in months.
    My tongue licked my lips just before the cool sensation of the water hit them. I held the thin card between my fingers and stared at the words one