"My knees are pretty well shot from the damage they took in Afghanistan. Shrapnel is a bitch. I was pretty bitter about it for a long time. I hated everything." He shook his head, opening the door to the pub across the street. "My parents are southern folk, moved to California with the Air Force."
He pointed to a table near the pool tables and led them there. He waited for her order before ordering a beer for himself. He wasn't a complicated guy. "Planes saved me really. I can just go to work, lock myself in a cockpit and make sure we take off and land, and do it again. I'm getting more social now. I'm more at home if it's just me and the sky."