5. Jared

5

JARED

Nine Years Ago

T aking the ticket from the woman, Jared smiled because that was the polite thing to do. The woman had already given him a list of demands, including using only premium soap—even though her ticket was only for regular—and then ensuring that he used a new rag to polish off her car once done. Women like Jonnie Mayberry made the Karens of the world seem like kittens.

Jonnie was a stay-at-home trophy wife, living off her husband's money while he worked twelve-hour days and fucked his secretary every lunch hour. Jonnie didn't care. She had her dream home, a housekeeper, a butler, and a masseuse who visited her twice a week to work out her… kinks.

Letting out a breath, Jared loaded the premium soap into the dispenser, then kicked on the power. Streams of purple, yellow, and red spilled out onto the Jag as Jared moved the hose over the car. Once the vehicle was covered in suds, he began working the lather across the smooth surface, being extra careful not to leave any scratches. He didn't need Miss Big Tits and Fake Nails clawing out his eyes when he was done.

He wiped soap from his eyes, then tucked the dry rag into the back of his jeans, taking note of the two women watching him from across the lot as he worked on Mrs. Mayberry's car.

Sorry, ladies, you're barking up the wrong tree.

The owner of the carwash only hired fit young men to work the wash, knowing that hot, shirtless men, all wet and soapy, brought in the bored, thirsty housewives and a few questioning men.

Jared didn't mind. He worked hard to stay in shape and didn't mind the attention.

Turning back to the vehicle, he grabbed the water and began hosing down the suds.

Behind him, a car engine backfired, sending Jared down to the ground.

His heart was pounding, and all around him, he heard shots being fired and explosions going off.

Sweat poured down his face as images of his friends, fallen soldiers he had left behind, flashed through his mind. He was back in Iraq. Crawling through the dirt as he tried to get to safety. Another explosion. A cry of pain, silenced by a second explosion.

This was it. He was going to die.

Footsteps. They were coming!

Jared closed his eyes, hoping that the enemy wouldn't find him. He didn't want to suffer the same fate as so many other prisoners who had been captured. He was still young. He had so much of his life left to experience.

"Oh my God! Are you okay?" a high-pitched woman's voice screeched somewhere above his head.

Jared blinked.

The dirt was gone. The explosions had stopped.

All around him, red and yellow suds slid by him, carried away with the water from the hose he had dropped.

"What?" Jared asked, slowly getting to his feet. He was shaky, but the feeling was returning to his body.

Fuck, it had happened again.

From across the lot, he watched as his boss, Gerald Dean, came stomping toward him.

Shit, the man looked pissed.

"What the hell is going on here?" his boss shouted. "Ma'am, I'm so sorry if this idiot messed up your car. I'll have Harry over here handle the rest of the wash. Don't you worry about a thing. Why don't you head inside and get yourself one of our free complimentary coffees."

The woman glanced at Jared, almost showing a hint of concern, before abandoning human decency in favor of a free coffee. Not that she would like the trash coffee that Gerald served in the waiting lounge. It was something that he had available, mostly for those people who didn't want to miss a moment of watching raw muscle bend over a car as they scrubbed out those tough and dirty spots.

Once the woman was out of earshot, his boss turned his fury at Jared.

"That's it. I'm tired of your bullshit! Grab your shit. You're done here."

It was always the same song and dance. His bosses grew tired of his… episodes, then decided that his services were no longer needed. This was the third job he had lost in the past six months.

Deflated and beaten, Jared grabbed his shirt and what remained of his dignity and left yet another dead-end job. What was he going to tell his mom and grandparents this time? They already looked at him like he was a wounded bird incapable of taking care of himself. Talk about being a man.

This was the shit they didn't tell you when you filled out the forms to join the army. It's all adventure and glory, they convinced him.

Total BS. He wished someone had warned him.