Page 68 of Operation K-9 Brothers

Later that night, alone in her room, she called Rachel.

“Hey, girl.What’s up?”Rachel said.

“Just missing you.Why can’t you get hired for a movie filming around here?”

“That would be awesome, but that’s not why you’re calling.What’s wrong?”

Nichole sighed.“How can you read me so well from three thousand miles away?”

“I got magic, remember?”

“You do, and it’s spooky.”

“So spit it out.What’s got you sounding like you lost your best friend?”

“Remember the guy I told you about?”

“The SEAL?”

“Yeah, him.Things were really going great.He even asked me to wait for him while he was on deployment.”Nichole swallowed past the lump in her throat.What if he no longer wanted that?

“That’s great, but?”

“But he found out his shoulder’s permanently damaged from the bomb—”

“What does that have to do with the two of you?It doesn’t mean you can’t still be together, right?”

“You’d think so, but he came home drunk after his doctor’s appointment, and he was pretty mean.”

“I’ll come there and make him sorry if he hurt you.You got out of an abusive relationship.You sure don’t need another man like that.”

“No.Jack would never physically harm me.He just hurt my feelings.If something like that was going on with me, I’d turn to him for comfort and support.He doesn’t want me anywhere near him.”

“It’s a man thing.When something goes wrong, they’re like a hurt dog that just wants to crawl in a hole, lick its wounds, and growl at anyone who dares to come near.It’s the equivalent of a girl pity party, but without the ice cream and wine.Don’t take it personal.”

But she did.“So, every time something doesn’t go his way, he’ll shut me out?That doesn’t work for me.”She was falling hard for him, but if that was going to be how it was with them, she’d rather end it now before he owned every piece of her heart.Besides, she didn’t matter to him.

“Then don’t see him anymore.It’s as simple as that.”

It hurt to think of never seeing Jack again, and she squeezed her eyes shut against the burn.

“Not what you want, huh?”Rachel said when she didn’t respond.

“No, but it’s the smart thing to do.”When she’d left Jack’s house, she’d told herself that once he got past his disappointment, he’d realize he didn’t mean what he’d said.But his shutting her out had festered, growing from just being hurt to questioning their relationship if that was the way he dealt with problems.

“Listen, you really like this guy, so give yourself some time to think.Is walking away from him what you really want to do?”

“I don’t know.”She hated feeling torn.Her brain said walk away, but her heart didn’t want to listen.

“Let me play Dr.Phil for a minute.”

“Can I stop you?”

Rachel laughed.“Nope.Lane messed with your head, and now you’re afraid to trust your judgment.You also came out of that mess determined to be on equal footing with any man you had a relationship with.”

“I’d say I’m finally making smart decisions.”So why did it hurt so much?

“Are you really?”