“Here,” I reply, juggling the box with one hand and dropping the keys into his open palm.
Then, I load the last box into the back of my van and pause, gripping the edge of the door.
I look back at the house.
“I loved you,” I whisper, the words carried away on the wind. “I loved you more than anything.”
But love doesn’t mean anything without trust.
And Benji Gunner?
I guess he never loved me. He sure as hell never trusted me enough to believe the truth.
And I don’t know what hurts worse.
I slam the van door shut, climb into the driver’s seat, and start the engine.
I don’t look back.
Because if I do?
I might not have the strength to leave.
And I’ve already lost everything.
I’m not losing myself too.
Chapter 1-Benji
Some things you can outrun.
I learned that early.
You can outrun a bad house.
A worse man.
The kind of name that gets whispered behind your back before you even step into a room.
You can put miles between you and it, continents even, bury it under sand and sweat and blood and discipline.
That’s what the military was for.
Distance.
Structure.
A way to become something else.
But some things?
They don’t stay buried.
They follow.
They wait.
And when you finally stop moving?
