Chase smiled, nudging Foster. “Did Mac text you, yet? She should have landed at the hospital, by now.”
Foster Beckett held up his cell. “She’s waiting on Greer and Jordan to hand that asshole over to the feds as we speak. With any luck, we’ll all get back around the same time…” Foster nodded at Zain. “Assuming Zain doesn’t try any of Saylor’s tricks and decides to weave us through rocks and shoals for the fun of it.”
Zain groaned. “She only did that when it was life and death.”
“Which I’m betting is just about every trip for her.” Foster chuckled. “Face it, she’s like the rest of us. Always seeing danger whether it’s there or not. Guess the lifestyle rubs off.”
Zain merely nodded, hoping his silence steered theconversation in another direction. Preferably one that didn’t involve Saylor O’Conner — ex-Coast Guard officer and the woman haunting Zain’s dreams. Especially after their botched attempt at a date last night. While getting called away on an emergency before their food had even arrived hadn’t been his fault, he couldn’t stop the voice in his head from wondering if it had been the universe stepping in. An attempt to stop them from ruining the easy friendship they’d carved out over the past few months.
If he was better off alone.
Foster sighed, then took the captain seat beside him, staring at the water as they headed northeast. “You know we’re all crazy about Saylor, right? That we already see her as one of the team.”
Zain groaned inwardly. This definitely wasn’t the direction he’d hoped for. “She’s Mac’s best friend. Of course, she’s one of the team.”
“That’s not what we mean, and you know it.”
Zain stretched his neck from side to side. While he could listen to Foster and Kash talk about Mackenzie and Jordan — tease Chase about pining over Greer instead of asking her out — having them all focus on him… It made his eye twitch. Got those voices in his head shouting at him about how he wasn’t boyfriend material. That he’d already failed his brothers once. He couldn’t afford to fail anyone else, let alone Saylor.
He gave Foster a quick side-eye. “If this is some kind of brotherly matchmaking intervention, I’m afraid you’re going to be disappointed.”
Kash huffed, sitting up a bit straighter. “For a guywho’s all about the bigger picture, you can’t be this blind.”
Zain offered the helm back to Foster, taking his buddy’s chair as he stared at Kash. “I’m not blind. I’m saying that maybe you’ve got it wrong.”
Chase snorted. “Please, the sexual tension between you two is off the charts. And I’d know. I’ve already had to live through this with Foster and Kash.” Chase leaned forward, bracing his elbows on his knees. “You and Saylor might be even more explosive.”
“You mean, like you and Greer?” Zain crossed his arms when Chase glared at him. “Maybe you should focus on your own love life.”
“Thankfully, that’s not the current topic of conversation. Besides, ever since that bomb incident with her car, since old Sheriff Thompson turned out to be a freaking drug dealer…” Chase raked a hand through his hair. “Greer’s hyper-focused on work. I swear she doesn’t sleep more than four or five hours at a time. She’s gonna get herself seriously hurt if she’s not careful.”
“All the more reason to help her learn how to relax.”
Kash reached over and gave Zain a swat. “We’re not falling for this ploy, so just quit, now.”
“What ploy?”
“Where you redirect the question onto one of us. Your go-to strategy when we bring up a topic you want to actively avoid.”
“Great. Then, take the hint.”
“Not this time, Zain.” Kash crossed his arms over his chest. “How many times did you tell me to just growa set and ask Jordan out?” Kash motioned at him. “Time to take your own damn medicine.”
“Who says I haven’t?”
“Look around.” Kash spread his arms, waving at the ocean. “It doesn’t get much better than this. Yet, even sitting behind the wheel, your shoulders were all bunched as you scoured the horizon. You don’t get like that unless you’re either hunkered down in a sniper’s nest or brooding about something. Pretty sure you’re not in a nest.”
Chase grabbed the railing, then stood, using the back of Foster’s seat to maintain his balance as he moved in beside Foster. “Tell us we’re wrong — that you have no feelings for Saylor and would be fine if she started dating someone else — and we’ll drop it.”
The thought had Zain’s eye twitching, again, his hands fisting at his side.
Chase slapped him on the back. “That’s what I thought.”
His buddy crossed his arms, holding his ground as Kash moved to the seat behind him, still under the hardtop but more of a unified front with Foster being the anchor off to the right. Still cruising them along the water, but somehow equally invested on the outcome of the conversation. Not unlike how he was inside his helicopter. Always in control.
Which was largely the issue. Zain didn’t just like being in control, he needed it. Needed to always see that bigger picture, like Kash had claimed. To be the one who kept his brothers safe. To make the ultimate sacrifice. After that screwed up mission…
He’d been floundering. Treading water, exactly the way Kash had mentioned a couple weeks ago. Unable to move forward but no way to change the past. To find redemption for that night. That op. Which was probably why Zain hadn’t told them he’d asked Saylor out. That they’d made it all the way into the restaurant before they’d been interrupted.
