1. Peyton

Chapter One

PEYTON

"Everyone ready?" I ask my squad of eight soldiers. I was promoted to Sergeant about six months ago and assigned to lead a great group of soldiers. Soldiers I would lay my life down to protect, and I know they'd do the same for me.

"Yes, sir!" they all call out to me, and I just shake my head at the smartass response. We're more like family than anything. You have to be when you've been deployed for as long as we have been in this desert hellhole known as Afghanistan. Thankfully, we're headed back stateside tomorrow, to Fort Campbell, which is situated on the Kentucky-Tennessee border, about an hour outside of Nashville. Our six-month deployment has come to an end and I've successfully kept my squad alive and unhurt in our time over here.

"Have you decided what you're going to do once we make it back and are officially on leave?" Lukas Espinoza, one of my best friends and squad guys, asks as he takes a seat next to me.

"I'm going to head down to Nashville for a few days. Check in with my old man, see a few friends," I tell him. "What about you?"

"I don't think Tia is going to let me leave the apartment," he says, a smirk on his face and his eyebrows bouncing up and down.

"Ah yes, the honeymoon stage is still in effect with you two. You'll be fucking like rabbits twenty-four seven for the entire time we're on leave," I joke with him. "Be careful, or you'll be reporting back to duty with a baby on the way, unless y'all are ready for one."

"Maybe." He shrugs his shoulders. "I'm just ready to have time to actually spend with my wife in person. Kinda sucked to ship out just a week after we got married. But it was the right thing to do. I needed to know she'd be taken care of if something had happened to me while we were over here."

"Well, I wish you guys all the best. You know that."

"Yep, now we just need to find you a woman," he says, smacking my back.

"Nope. I don't need one," I answer him, shaking my head. "You know my stance on women in my life."

"I do, and I think it's shit. Just because your mom walked out on you and your dad doesn't mean every woman is going to be the same," he tells me for what's probably the hundredth time.

"Not worth the heartache. I'm perfectly fine with the occasional one-night stand. Scratch the itch and move the hell on. No relationships, no chance for someone to walk out on me or fuck me over."

"Trust me, when you meet the right woman, you'll be changing your tune, and quickly."

"We'll see," I say, placating him. "Not all of us are meant to settle down with a wife and kids. Nothing wrong with me living out my days as a bachelor."

"There's also nothing wrong with finding your soulmate and settling down. Can't knock it until you try it."

"I suppose you're correct. I can't completely knock it until I try it. But I don't have any plans to try it out anytime soon."

"Hey, Sergeant." Amber Jones, one of my youngest crew members, saunters over. She's one hell of a soldier and one I'm proud to have on my team.

"What's up, Amber?" I ask, turning my attention in her direction.

"What time do we need to report to the airstrip?" she asks.

"Zero nine hundred hours was the last I heard. If that changes, I'll let you know."

"Sounds good. If you don't need anything else from me, I think I'm going to head to bed."

"You're good. See you in the morning," I tell her, then turn back to Lukas.

We shoot the shit for a while longer, joined later by Keaton Baldwin and Maxwell Abbott, two of the other guys in our squad. Lukas, Max, and I have been together since basic training. Thankfully, over the years, we've been lucky enough to stay together as we've been moved around to different bases. We've all risen up the ranks, and I'm sure once both of them are promoted again, we'll be split up as they'll be assigned squads of their own to oversee.

"All right, guys, I'm calling it a night. See y'all on the flip side," I tell them, standing and stretching.

I head to the bathroom and do my business, brush my teeth, and head to my bunk. I strip down to a t-shirt and my boxer briefs and slide into my bed. It's finally the last night I'll have to sleep on this uncomfortable mattress.

I might not have anyone waiting for me when I return, like most of my squad does, but my bed is waiting for me and I can't wait to get back to it.

We make it back stateside after stopping in Germany to refuel and swap out supplies. It takes us a full twenty-four hours to make it back to our home base, and as soon as we're cleared to leave, I head straight to my apartment and crash. I've got the next two weeks off for rest and relaxation and I plan to make use of every second.

After sleeping off the jet lag for a good solid twenty hours, I finally pull myself out of bed, shower, and get some laundry started. With the next two weeks off, I plan to go see my dad and just take it easy. While the first load is in the washer, I run out and grab some takeout. I'm starving and the thought of having a good greasy burger sounds perfect right about now. After eating way too many MRE's over the past six months, I'm ready for a burger from my favorite local joint.

A few hours later, I've got all my laundry done and a bag packed to head to Nashville. I don't have anything else planned, except crashing with my old man, so, with nothing left to do, I jump in my truck and get on the highway.

"Dad," I call out as I enter his house a couple hours later. "You here?"

As I make my way further inside, I anticipate finding him in his recliner as he watches TV, but the living room is dark and there's no sign of him. I head down the hall and as I approach his room, I can hear the low hum of the TV.

The door is halfway open and I can see him sleeping half-sitting up on his bed. I take in his sleeping form and it hits me just how much he's aged since I've been gone.

"Dad," I call out from the doorway and he stirs awake.

"Peyton! When did you get here?" he asks, then breaks out into a coughing fit.

"Just pulled in a few minutes ago. Are you okay?" I ask, concerned.

"Yeah," he says, coughing once again. "Just this nasty case of pneumonia I'm trying to kick."

"You been to the doctor?" I ask, knowing how my old man can be stubborn and doesn't like going to the doctor unless he's practically dying.

"Went yesterday, finally. They gave me a shot of antibiotics and put me on some medicine. They said if I don't start to feel better in the next day or so, to come back in. I think my fever's gone, so I assume I'm starting to respond to the medication they gave me. Enough about me, when did you get back home?"

"About thirty-six hours ago. After we were cleared, I crashed for almost an entire day before getting up and coming here. Figured I'd hang around here for my time off."

"Sorry I'm not better company."

"You're good, Dad. Anything I can get you?"

"I'll be fine. Just need to sleep it off. I'll be back to normal in just a couple more days."

"If you say so," I tell him, scratching the back of my head.

My dad and I have been super close pretty much my entire life. When my mom walked out of our lives twenty years ago, he did his best to make sure I had everything I needed growing up. It wasn't always easy with him being in the Army. The one time he deployed when I was younger, I had to go live with my grandparents for the time he was gone. Thankfully, that was only for about nine months. I did my eighth-grade year with them, and even though I hated it when it was happening, it really wasn't all that bad of a year, looking back now.

"Feel free to head out and go do something. I'm not going to be much company tonight," he says as he swings his legs over the edge of the bed and stands up. He stops his movements as another coughing fit takes over.

"Yeah, maybe."

I pull my cell from my pocket. I hadn't told anyone I'd be in town, so I'm not sure who will be around tonight to meet up. I shoot off a text to my buddy, Ethan, to see if he's available.

Peyton

Hey, man. I just got into town, I'm on leave and will be here for the next two weeks. You around to grab a beer tonight?

I return my phone to my pocket as I walk back down the hall and out to my truck. I grab my bag and bring it inside, taking the time to put my clothes in the dresser and store my bag in the closet. All my years in the military and living in my dad's house has ingrained in me to have everything put away. Many of the guys I went through basic training with struggled with keeping their barracks clean and would get in trouble all the time. Not once did I ever get in trouble for it as I'd basically grown up with my own form of a drill sergeant. The one thing my dad knew well was the Army way of life.

I knew when I was about fifteen that I wanted to follow in my dad's footsteps and join the military. It was the only way of life I knew and I didn't want to change anything. While my dad was proud I followed his lead, he never pressured me to do so. He encouraged me to find my own path in life, but I knew being a soldier was what I was meant to be. So, the summer after I graduated from high school, I shipped out to basic training at the ripe age of eighteen and a half years old.

In the ten-plus years since then, I've been through many good and bad moments. Even with the bad times, I still wouldn't change my path in life and intend to continue on toward a full career in the military.