Wounded

Chapter 7...

The next day I was up an hour earlier than I had to be. My mind was in overdrive. I was still slapping myself for agreeing to meet up with Brett, but another part of me was excited to see him again. Excited to just hear his voice again. The same voice that used to lull me to sleep back in the day. This was all foolish but I could not stop myself.

Even though I was exhausted, I got out of bed twenty minutes later. We should have agreed for a later time, as I was moving pretty slowly to the living room. Even though we were meeting up for coffee, I started a pot. I could never have too much coffee.

As the clock ticked closer to ten, I became more nervous. I quickly showered and washed my hair. I wanted—no, needed—to look somewhat good. I wanted Brett to see what he has missed out on. Crazy, I know.

I spent a good twenty minutes going through my closet to try and find something nice to wear. I knew I was thinking too much of it so I finally just decided on something simple. Dressed in a pair of light blue skinny jeans, a quarter-sleeve maroon shirt, a pair of black flats, and I was good to go.

I left my hair down my back in soft waves and added a little bit of makeup to hide my tiredness. I forced myself not to change again and grabbed my purse, ready to go. Before I left my apartment, I gave myself a small pep talk.

This is nothing serious. Just a simple coffee meet-up with a guy I used to have feelings for. Yeah, nothing serious, I silently chanted to myself.

Peete's Cafe wasn't that far from the hospital so the car ride didn't take long. Parking my car, I took a deep breath trying to steel myself. Don't be a weirdo, Kayla. Just act normal. Knowing I couldn't stall much longer, I finally got myself out of my car and headed for the door of the cafe. I silently prayed he was already here so I didn't have to sit at a table alone.

Heading inside I scanned the crowd, trying to find the familiar face. The place was pretty busy, with it being Saturday. Right when I thought Brett wasn't here, I spotted him in the corner. I weaved around tables until I finally made it to his.

"Hey," I breathed. His head snapped over in my direction and a wide small spread across his face. He quickly stood up.

"You made it." Seeing his smile made me glad I did come.

"I did." I sent him a small smile before taking a seat across from him. I noticed there were two coffees and two muffins on the table already. When he noticed me looking at them, Brett spoke up.

"You still like your coffee with sugar, right? And I got muffins in case you haven't eaten yet." Brett brought a hand up and rubbed the back of his neck. I grabbed the big coffee mug and wrapped my hands around the warmth.

"You still remember how I like my coffee."

"Of course. You are the only one who likes their coffee with so much sugar someone could get diabetes from it." I laughed softly at that. I did like a lot of sugar in my coffee, more than I probably should.

"Better than just black bitter coffee." Brett rolled his eyes, but he was smiling.

"So...you've been out three months?" I asked after a few minutes. I sipped my coffee as I waited for him to answer. The coffee was perfect, just how I liked it.

"Yeah, my tour was up."

"You didn't want to re-enlist?"

"Two tours were enough for me."

"What made you want to re-enlist a second time?" I found myself asking.

"Well..." He was quiet for a moment before he answered. "My entire team was re-upping and I felt it was a good decision." I noticed the look in his eye when he answered. A look passed over his face that let me know something happened over there.