“I do want to get home,” Cooper said. “To both my girls, but the difference between us is I’ll admit it outright.”
“’Aight. Let’s end that right there and get to our drink,” Mac said, cutting the two yahoos off while grabbing a can of soda. “Stef’s due in ten days, but if you two keep going, she’ll have our son before I get home.”
Holden had met Mac’s wife at the barbeque the other day. She was beautiful and witty, but the poor woman looked uncomfortable and ready to pop.
Cooper nodded. “True. Babies come on their own schedule, not ours.”
Once again, disbelief whispered through Holden. He still couldn’t believe that every guy here was either married or living with a significant other. Plus, Coop was a father. Hunter was astepfather, Mac would be a father any day now, and Dex and Rylee were expecting by the end of the year.
Domesticated.
Once again, he couldn’t escape that thought. It had followed him since arriving in Harland County.
For his buddies, the ‘D’ in D-Force definitely representeddomesticated.
That was good, though. It suited them well, but not Holden. Not exactly. He was happy to concentrate on himself and reacclimate to life outside the military. So, for him, the D in D-Force stood fordealingwith his new life.
“’Aight.” Mac held up his cola and waited for everyone to choose a drink and do the same. “To another mission accomplished, and to our newest teammate.”
Holden also chose a cola, and it went down smooth, in a figurative sense. “Thanks,” he told them.
“Now that you’re here. I need your help with a debate that’s been running for a while,” Dean said, turning to face Holden. “You’ve yet to do the morning bakery run with us, so I’m curious to see if you’re on thebear clawbandwagon or thecinnamon bunone like me.”
Holden knew Dean lived with Loni, the woman who’d baked the delicious cake for the barbeque, and RJ was living with her twin. Lori had decorated the cake and was also one of the volleyball players.
At that thought, his mind recalled another player…one with a set of supple legs and a sweet ass.
Carter sighed. “Don’t draw the poor kid into it, Dean.”
Kid?
Holden’s attention returned to the conversation, and he almost snorted. Thirty-two was hardly a kid. Hell, he was only four years younger than his buddies.
Dean frowned. “What do you mean?”
RJ set a hand on his SEAL brother’s shoulder. “Surely, you’ve realized everyone has been choosing the bear claws because we don’t want to tell you we enjoy your woman’s buns.”
This time Holden did snort, along with almost everyone in the room
“If you were us, would you admit that?” RJ asked, his expression surprisingly serious, considering the subject.
Dean’s gaze narrowed but twinkled. Holden got the impression the former SEAL agreed.
“Amen,” Cooper said, raising his beer in the air. “Loni’s cinnamon buns have always secretly had my vote.”
The guys laughed, and even Dean’s lips twitched.
“Well, there’s definitely no debate on leaving,” Mac said, tossing his empty can in a recycling bin near the bird cage.
“Score,”Marilyn said.
“The crowd goes…wild,”Lex added, his head bobbing as he walked back and forth on a large perch.
Mac laughed. “I’m out of here. We can circle back tobuns versus clawsin the morning.”
Within minutes, everyone dispersed, and with the exception of Carter, who took the elevator upstairs, Holden and Sinjin were the only ones to leave on foot. They lived a block away, on a quiet, dead-end street that led to six cottages, three on each side.
ESI held the lease on the last cottage on the right that Holden currently occupied. Sinjin lived with Isla across from him. Once Holden got a feel for the area, he’d start searching for a permanent place, preferably with land for a dog or two to run freely.
