“It was gre— wait, hold up a minute. Back that right up. We arenotgoing to pretend like you didn’t just say what you just said.”
I wince internally. Should have known Hunter would pounce on that like a cat on a mouse. Still, I play dumb. “Which bit?”
“Well, pretty much all of it, but mostly that you got laid.”
“Must we?”
“Uh – yeah. It’s been a while – and I know why – but that’s big, woman.”
“Yeah, it was.” The words are out of my mouth before I can think better of it. Clapping a hand over the offending body part, I grimace, knowing I’ve opened a can of worms I’m not ready to face.
“Oh-ho. This is going to begood. Start talking, and don’t leave anything out. Well, leave the sex out, but spill the rest. And go …”
“You’re worse than my mother, you know that?”
“Yeah, I do. Now spill.”
Heaving a sigh, I start talking. I’ll get no peace if I don’t. Since I don’t live far from the station, we’re there long before my story is done. I’m just winding down when someone bangs on my window. I get such a fright that there’s no biting back the scream. Up to this point, I’d been leaning back against my door, but I launch myself away from it like I’ve been scalded.
Two of our colleagues are standing beside the vehicle, laughing their heads off.
“Don’t do it,” I hear Hunter say behind me. He knows me too well. I was a hair’s breadth from yelling at them when he spoke. “You know they’ll never let you live it down if you react.”
“True story that,” I say, sighing. I smile and wave instead.
“That’s my girl.” He checks the time. “Welp, guess it’s time to get this party started. Come on then.”
As we enter the building, our colleagues just ahead of us, I hear Hunter whisper, “Don’t think you’ve been saved by Mutt and Jeff over there. I still want the rest of the deets.”
“God, youreallyare worse than my mother,” I whisper back.
“Mason, Hunter, a moment please?” Captain Rivera calls as we walk past her office.
My heart sinks. I know we haven’t done anything wrong, so it can only mean one thing – some more bureaucratic crap relating to the shooting, which happened a good long while ago. Hunter and I exchange glances before following the captain into her office.
8
BEAR
With the bump of the wheels touching down on the runway, a cheer goes up through the plane. It’s been a shitty few weeks, and we’re all thrilled to be back home. A couple injuries, one pretty bad, but thankfully no loss. This clusterfuck went south so badly the potential for worse was very real.
It never fails to amaze me how some missions go off without a hitch – a quick in and out, no issues. And then others, like this one, appear doomed from the start. Grateful to be back and in one piece, I can’t wait for a pizza, a beer, and to sleep for a week. And not necessarily in that order.
But first, we have to get through the debrief. My eyes are burning so bad, and I can’t seem to keep my focus on the matter at hand. The voices are like a buzzing in the background until I hear Commander Hurt call my name.
“Sorry, sir. I missed that.”
“Yeah, I can see that.” He chuckles. “So sorry I’m boring you.”
“My apologies, sir. I –”
“No need to apologize to me. I get it.” He cuts me off, turning to the room at large. “All right, gentlemen, I’ve got the crux of the story. I know it’s your downtime, but we can reconvene tomorrow at oh-nine-thirty to finish this debrief. In the meantime, get your asses home and get some rest. I’ll see you all in the morning.”
A murmur of appreciation ripples around the room before being drowned out by the scraping of chairs.
“Bear.” I stop at the door when I hear my name being called. Knight comes up to me. “Dude, you look wrecked. Everything okay?” he asks, concern clear in his voice.
“Yeah, I’m good. Just loopy with tiredness, you know?”
