Total pages in book: 60
Estimated words: 57237 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 286(@200wpm)___ 229(@250wpm)___ 191(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 57237 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 286(@200wpm)___ 229(@250wpm)___ 191(@300wpm)
“Fuckin’ Danny Rose?” the soldier laughed. He was younger than Danny, but not by much. “You went private?”
“Uh, yeah. A few years ago.” My boy grinned and shook the guy’s hand. “Good to see you, fucker. You lost the baby face.”
“I see you’re still a dick,” was Mathis’s response.
“Question is if you’re still hard for demolition,” Danny answered. “You know, we could use you at our agency.”
I felt my mouth twitch. Every operator at Hillcroft was in recruitment mode to handle the pressures of wartime.
Danny reached for my arm. “This is my man—Emerson. Em, Mathis and I were at Fort Campbell together.”
I nodded once and shook hands with Mathis.
He furrowed his brow. “Wait—as in, Emerson Payne?”
“Aw, you have a reputation, hon.” Danny grinned.
I smirked wryly.
September 10th, 2002
“One beer,” I warned Danny. “And no whining.”
We were getting up at four, so we didn’t need to add a hangover to the list.
“Just one,” he promised.
He was gonna ask for a second.
We walked into the pub, which was luckily not crowded, and we opted to sit at the bar. It was the place we usually went to around here. They had a rainbow flag next to the register, and it was close to work.
Given how early we were shipping out tomorrow—back to the fucking sandbox—we’d decided to sleep at Hillcroft tonight. Darius and Sid were leaving too. We’d all fly to Frankfurt together, and then Danny and I would hitch a ride with a cargo plane heading for Fallujah, and Darius and Sid had an extraction in Pakistan.
I missed the days of extractions. But Danny and I had too much history in combat zones, so TJ and Quin only sent us to military-heavy areas these days. Where we would gather intel, not shy away from direct action, and do recon on the borders between friendly areas and enemy territory.
I ordered us two pints and brought out my wallet.
“Oh, and those gross salt and vinegar chips,” Danny added. “My man loves those.”
I smiled and kissed his temple. He knew how to keep his Daddy happy.
Someone sat down two stools away from us, and it was close enough for us to avoid shop talk. Instead, Danny rambled about our dogs. We had a new pup joining us next month when we got back, and my boy was certain we’d manage to upgrade the shed before it got too cold.
I took a swig of my beer and—why was that guy watching me? Except, he turned away when I caught him.
Hm. He looked a little familiar.
“Are you listening, Sir?” Danny pressed.
I squinted and replayed his words—something about the food dispensers in the shed. And I knew what was wrong with them. They didn’t always work.
“Replace the food dispensers?” I guessed and hoped for the best.
“Repair them,” he corrected with a look. “I’m gonna repair them.”
Oh. Got it.
He’d have to excuse me. I was exhausted. We’d been in training all week, and we had the first anniversary of the attacks coming up tomorrow. I could barely turn around without seeing reminders. Watching the news was currently out of the fucking question. It filled me with remnants of last year’s anger every time.
“Forgive me for being out of it. I’m just tired.” I draped an arm around Danny’s shoulders and smooched his cheek.
He pursed his lips. “I think it’s best I give you a massage when we get back to our room.”
What the hell had I done to deserve this boy?
“I love you.” I kissed his cheek again. “You’re too good to me.”
“That’s a load of crap. You spoil me all the time.” He got me quickly on the lips before he pushed the bowl of chips closer. “Eat your disgusting Brit chips.”
I chuckled and grabbed a couple. Kids these days. They didn’t know good snacks if they hit them in the face—
“Excuse me.”
Now what?
We turned toward the voice—the guy sitting a couple seats away from me.
“Do I know you?” he asked me.
I frowned. He was familiar, but I couldn’t place him.
“He’s hella taken, if that’s what you’re wondering,” Danny told the guy.
I gave his leg a squeeze. Down, little one.
“No, that’s…” The guy shook his head and sat a little straighter. “I think I saw you in a bar in Norfolk a few years ago. You were there with someone.”
I scratched my head. It rang a bell—
“Yeah, you were vague about not being military and not being a civilian at the same time,” he added.
Okay, okay, I remembered now. Yeah. It’d been my first assignment after meeting Danny. I’d missed him like crazy.
“You were the Navy kid,” I stated.
He smirked faintly. “Yeah. We’ll see how long that lasts. I’m Elliott.”
Elliott. I remembered that now too. The kid had grown up, which I suspected had more to do with a deployment than anything else.
“What’s the Navy doing these days other than sending cruise missiles?” Danny joked. Half joked. “Gotta love war in a country that’s landlocked.”