“It’s okay, Dad. There’s a reason I call her Troublemaker.” I smile at her as I take a seat and rest my arm around the back of her chair. Her eyes widen as I pick up a piece of hair and twirl it between my fingers, but she says nothing as she drinks her beer.
“Ah, makes sense.” Dad eases as he realized she was teasing and smiles slowly. I know that look. He likes her, and he likes the way she isn’t gushing over me and defending me to my old man or that he needs to prove that I’m some worthy catch or some shit. I am who I am, and I think Bailey is realizing she’s A-OK with that.
“Rick would have liked her.”
I grunt at Dad’s words. Rick would have more than liked her. Damn bastard would have stolen her if he had the chance.
“Who’s Rick?”
Dad gives me a side-eye. Maybe he’s surprised she doesn’t know who he is. Or maybe he’s reading me to see if I want to open this can of worms.
I shrug either way. It was going to happen one day. Why not get it out now?
“Rick Malone served with Reese. They became battle buddies from the start, as everyone always confused them since Rick Malone and Reese Stalone sound too much alike. They dubbed them the R&R boys, but the jokes landed on them as they became friends. Even got transferred to the same units together.”
“Rick was my first brother,” I say before I look around the club. “He grew up here and always wanted in the club. He talked about it often enough that by the end of bootcamp, I agreed to pledge this place with him once we got out of the Army.”
Not sure if it was the note in my voice or the silence afterward from both Dad and me, but Bailey hesitates before she asks softly, “What happened to him?”
“Landmine. We were clearing a town in the Middle East. Got intel that the place was going to get raided, and we wanted to get the civilians out before we attempted to ambush the insurgents. We had one house left to check. Rick went in alone. Usually took five minutes to clear a building that we expected to be vacant, but he never came out. I went in and saw him standing still. The entire ground was dug up, and he’d just stepped one foot in and heard the click of the pressure plate. I called it in, but the bomb techs were too far out. Then the insurgents got to us, and it was too late.”
I spare her the rest of the story as I drink my beer. Takes me a second for my shaking hand to find my lips. Talking about Rick always brings up the memory of it. I could never detach myself from it and just tell the story. I relive it every single time. Which is why I don’t like to think about it—I don’t like to be unstable like that. Thinking about the good times before, that’s what I focus on. But watching him take a hit in the chest from a stray bullet, then falling down and the place exploding is a memory I wish could burn from my mind. I don’t mind the scars from shrapnel I received from the close proximity to him, just the thought of my best friend never being around anymore.
I feel the weight of her hand on my leg, followed by a squeeze. It’s enough to bring me out of my head, and I look over at her.
“I’m sorry.”
I smile at her and breathe out my pain. “Thanks.”
I don’t give her the bullshit line that it was a long time ago or that I’m okay. Both will never be true. Time doesn’t heal shit like that. Breathing every day gets you through it enough to breathe another day. That and a person to ground you in the tough moments. First it was my dad, then the club. Now it’s her. I already know that all three will bring me to a brighter future. A trifecta in the making.
“Enough about him. What about you, dear? What makes you tick?”
Got to hand it to my dad. He knows when to break the ice. Even if it’s at other people’s expense.
“Not much. I teach high school English.”
I huff out a laugh, and she turns with a glare. “Don’t sell yourself short, Troublemaker. She’s also one of the original members of the infamousMperformance group that brings in over ten grand in ticket sales for each show. She owns her own home, and she volunteers weekly at a children’s hospital, dressing up as a fairy princess just to make them smile.”
“How do you know all that?” she says with a tilt of her head.
“I got my ways, babe.”
Dad just laughs as we stare at each other, me smiling, her glaring.
She looks away with a shake of her head. “Fucking Jules.”
I just keep smiling and say nothing to confirm or deny. Some of it was from Jules, and some of it was me doing what I always do: digging in and finding things out.
I wasn’t always good with computers, and if push came to shove, I’m nowhere near as good as Flint. I taught myself how to access things; the military taught him. We might all give military intelligence shit, but they really know how to train their people and recruit some heavy hitters. Flint being a top one till they fucked him, and then he said the same to their faces before he walked out.
I didn’t go away with so much grace. Technically, I was a grunt soldier, so they showed me the back door once my time was up, and I didn’t re-up. Worked out for me. I don’t like to make big deals out of shit. Especially after my best friend died and they barely said “Sorry for your loss” before they gave me a piece of paper that said I was clear to return to active duty and expected me to continue on as if nothing happened.
“Well, just know that there’s more to me than even Jules knows.” She sticks her tongue out, and I have half a mind to lean in and bite.
“Challenge accepted, Troublemaker.”
“Here you go, Gator,” the prospect says before placing three cups of coffee on the table. “Y’all need milk and sugar?”
