Read Online American Made (Against the Tides #2) by Katheryn Kiden - Free Book Online
Authors: Katheryn Kiden
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much to watch her shut me out as I thought it would. I don’t want to walk away from her again, but I can tell there’s no getting through to her right now. I wonder if all of us ganging up on her and telling her everything I just did would do any good or if it would make it worse. Either way, I can’t sit here and watch her kill herself in front of me. I climb into the truck and open the text on my phone when I see the notification. It’s from Knox. It’s nothing but an address and a request that I show up as soon as I can. I don’t want to because I’m still fuming over the way he acted the other day when Gentry was at my house, but I know that we need to talk now more than ever.
When I punch the address into the GPS it brings up the end location as a gun range. Is he trying to piss me off? I came home because I lost the ability to shoot and now he’s going to rub it in my face. The thought does piss me off and on top of being upset about everything that just happened, I’m not sure I would want to be Knox when I show up.
Backing out of Ari’s driveway, I throw the truck into drive and slam my foot down on the gas pedal, launching it down the road. The GPS said it would take me twenty-seven minutes to get to the address Knox gave me but I make it in seventeen. I skid into the parking lot, throw the transmission into park without caring if I’m parked correctly in the spot and ignore the pain in my thigh and arm when I jump from the truck.
“You!” I yell when I finally find him. His back is turned toward me as he talks to someone, but the second he hears the tone of my voice his shoulders stiffen and he turns to look at me. I get a glimpse of who he was talking to when he turns and it fuels the fire when Rush nods and Gentry has the nerve to smile at me. He should know the best out of all of them how bad of an idea this is right now.
“Emerson,” Knox replies calmly.
“You’re not a very smart man this week are you? Did one of those jumps into the rotor wash knock something loose in that thick fuckin’ skull of yours?”
“Fuckin’ hell it’s hot when you use terms like that,” Gentry speaks up from behind Knox. I peer around and glare at him. “Not the time, got it.”
I turn my attention back to Knox and talk myself out of reaching up to hit him. The sound of a gun firing behind me makes me jump. My heart begins to race and without hesitating, Knox pulls me into him and tells me I’m OK. I’ve been lucky and through all the tours I’ve done I haven’t come out of it with PTSD. I wonder if that will hold true now. Maybe being shot was the final straw for me. Gunfire never bothered me before and the fact that it does now and the three of them just witnessed it scaring me makes me feel weaker than ever.
Knox slides his hand over my back to calm me down while he continues to whisper to me.
One… Two… Three… Four… I count, repeating it until I have a handle on myself and my heart rate is closer to what it usually is. I step away from him and force myself not to stare at the floor and make what just happened worse.
“You good?” Rush asks, stepping up next to Knox with Gentry doing the same thing on the other side.
“Other than bein’ pissed the fuck off, I’m fine.” It’s a lie, we all know it, but I refuse to focus on what just happened any more than we already have. Turning my attention back to Knox, I rest my hand on my hip. “Why the hell would you ask me to come here knowin’ God damn good and well that I can’t do anything here anymore?”
“We had an idea if you’re willin’ to try.” His body language screams nonchalance, but there’s a glint in his eyes that tells me he’s nervous about his idea. It makes me want to know what the idea is. I shrug and tell him to tell me his idea but instead, he grabs my hand and leads me to the outdoor portion of the range. I find it odd that there isn’t anyone else out here but the second I see the rifle set up I
When I punch the address into the GPS it brings up the end location as a gun range. Is he trying to piss me off? I came home because I lost the ability to shoot and now he’s going to rub it in my face. The thought does piss me off and on top of being upset about everything that just happened, I’m not sure I would want to be Knox when I show up.
Backing out of Ari’s driveway, I throw the truck into drive and slam my foot down on the gas pedal, launching it down the road. The GPS said it would take me twenty-seven minutes to get to the address Knox gave me but I make it in seventeen. I skid into the parking lot, throw the transmission into park without caring if I’m parked correctly in the spot and ignore the pain in my thigh and arm when I jump from the truck.
“You!” I yell when I finally find him. His back is turned toward me as he talks to someone, but the second he hears the tone of my voice his shoulders stiffen and he turns to look at me. I get a glimpse of who he was talking to when he turns and it fuels the fire when Rush nods and Gentry has the nerve to smile at me. He should know the best out of all of them how bad of an idea this is right now.
“Emerson,” Knox replies calmly.
“You’re not a very smart man this week are you? Did one of those jumps into the rotor wash knock something loose in that thick fuckin’ skull of yours?”
“Fuckin’ hell it’s hot when you use terms like that,” Gentry speaks up from behind Knox. I peer around and glare at him. “Not the time, got it.”
I turn my attention back to Knox and talk myself out of reaching up to hit him. The sound of a gun firing behind me makes me jump. My heart begins to race and without hesitating, Knox pulls me into him and tells me I’m OK. I’ve been lucky and through all the tours I’ve done I haven’t come out of it with PTSD. I wonder if that will hold true now. Maybe being shot was the final straw for me. Gunfire never bothered me before and the fact that it does now and the three of them just witnessed it scaring me makes me feel weaker than ever.
Knox slides his hand over my back to calm me down while he continues to whisper to me.
One… Two… Three… Four… I count, repeating it until I have a handle on myself and my heart rate is closer to what it usually is. I step away from him and force myself not to stare at the floor and make what just happened worse.
“You good?” Rush asks, stepping up next to Knox with Gentry doing the same thing on the other side.
“Other than bein’ pissed the fuck off, I’m fine.” It’s a lie, we all know it, but I refuse to focus on what just happened any more than we already have. Turning my attention back to Knox, I rest my hand on my hip. “Why the hell would you ask me to come here knowin’ God damn good and well that I can’t do anything here anymore?”
“We had an idea if you’re willin’ to try.” His body language screams nonchalance, but there’s a glint in his eyes that tells me he’s nervous about his idea. It makes me want to know what the idea is. I shrug and tell him to tell me his idea but instead, he grabs my hand and leads me to the outdoor portion of the range. I find it odd that there isn’t anyone else out here but the second I see the rifle set up I
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