Mark
“Hey look! It’s the Fudge Packer!” I yell as I see Liam in the backyard. Of course, he likes the Green Bay Packers. He’s even got my goddaughter wearing that crap and yelling things about it. It’s fine, soon she’ll realize all the talent is with my G-Men.
“There are kids at this party, asshole. Watch your mouth.” Liam walks forward to greet me. We clap hands and hug.
“You should talk.”
“Who sent him an invitation?” he asks as Lee appears at his side.
She slaps his chest and peers at me with a smile. “Hey! I wasn’t sure you’d make it back.” I engulf her in my arms. She’s so freaking tiny, I’m afraid I’ll break her. “Maybe for the next party, you’ll show up on time.” Even though her attitude is anything but little.
“Lee . . .” I step to the side as Charlie walks forward. “Meet Charlie. Charlie, this is Natalie Gil—, I mean Dempsey.” I still can’t get that right.
“Nice to meet you, Charlie. I have a lot to thank you for.” Lee takes Charlie in for a hug, surprising us both. Even though I shouldn’t be shocked, that girl would hug a leper. “Sorry, I’m a hugger.”
Charlie smiles. “It’s really nice to meet you. Sorry Mark brought me along without an invite.”
She waves her hand, “Oh, please. You’re more than welcome. You know my husband, Liam, right?”
“Good to see you, Charlie.” Liam shakes her hand. I need to ease the tension clear in Charlie’s body language.
“Now!” I clap my hands loudly. “Where are the kids? Because really, they’re the fun ones here!”
“I’m glad you came,” Natalie says as we walk farther into the party area. “Aara has been asking for you.”
“I couldn’t miss our only child’s stepfather’s birthday. She’s my sparkly baby.”
Natalie shakes her head with a smile. “I swear to God.”
“Don’t do that. I command you to say some Hail Marys and a couple Our Fathers to atone for your sins.”
Liam laughs as his wife’s face colors. She wears her emotions so well. “I regret ever letting you talk me into marrying us.”
“Now you’re admitting you wanted to marry me too? Sorry, babe. The brother husband phenomenon isn’t really my thing. No guy should subject himself to having another cock in the hen house,” I joke and she slaps me.
“Oh, how you know all my secrets,” she deadpans. I love the easy sarcasm around this group. We’re all equal assholes and love nothing more than to make fun of each other. If Jackson were here, this would be complete. But with him coming to Virginia for his wedding in two weeks, he had to miss it.
I didn’t realize how much I’ve missed my friends until now. All of us are bonded and are more family to each other than our real families. I was there for Natalie when Liam couldn’t be. Hell, I’m the one who had to tell Lee that Aaron was dead. Aaron was there for me after we lost our three other teammates. While I didn’t mourn or have an emotional episode like the others . . . it wasn’t easy on me, either. I was close with Devon and Fernando. Sometimes I think my friendship with those two was tighter than Aaron and Jackson at the time. Devon lived with me when his wife left him. We surfed every day. Losing him was a very dark time in my life.
“Untle Mark!” Aarabelle runs with her arms open.
“Aara!”
I lift her in my arms and squeeze her tight. This little angel kept this broken, screwed-up bunch afloat and she doesn’t even realize it. We were all saved by her life. She brought us back to center and reminded us that we needed to band together. She also saved Aaron after he lost it all.
“Charlie, this is Aarabelle.” Charlie smiles and takes Aara’s hand.
“Nice to meet you, Aarabelle.”
“Meet you, too!” she squeaks.
Charlie laughs. “I like your dress.”
“Tanks! I like pinkt.”
“Me, too!”
“Athair!” Aara yells at Liam. “Chartie likes my pwetty dwess.”
Liam laughs, as do I. “I’m sure she does. Why don’t you go make sure Shane is still sleeping?” Liam suggests.
She squirms out of my arms and rushes toward her brother who sits in his swing. Life goes by so fast, and if you blink, you’ll miss it. These kids are talking, walking, and soon they’ll be grown before we even have a chance to enjoy them. And here I am, in my thirties, unmarried and childless. It sure as fuck isn’t where I thought I’d be.
“One day.” Quinn Miller comes up behind me and places a beer in my hand.
“Quinn.” I nod. Dude’s on my shit list.
“One day I’ll understand why the hell he thought getting married was a good idea.”
“One day you will. Until then, you’ll keep being a dumbass who walks away from a girl who was willing to even consider looking at your ugly mug.” I take a swig and let him take that in. While Ashton and I never became anything, what he did to her is completely wrong. He’s lucky I don’t lay him out right here, but I respect Liam too much. So Quinn gets to live another day. Until I no longer feel charitable.
He huffs, “If you only knew.”
“I know more than you think.” This guy is something else. Ashton called me a few weeks ago in tears. She fell for Quinn, dated the moron, and then he dumped her.
“Yeah.” He shakes his head. “You only know what Ash told you. I’m sure she didn’t fill you in on what she did that caused it all.”
I lock our gazes so he understands I mean what I’m about to say. “Girls like that don’t come around daily. Girls who are willing to accept you for the dick you are, deal with deployments, and know that you may not come home again aren’t a dime a dozen. I’ve been through my share of women figuring this out. I’ve slept my way through Hot Tuna—and a host of the other bars in Virginia Beach—but those chicks are all after one thing, man, and it ain’t your heart.”
These young SEALs don’t understand it, and they need to learn. When we’re gone, we can’t worry about life at home. Our minds are focused on the job. There are some women who can take it, a lot who can’t. Ashton needs to cut off his balls.
“Whatever, man.” He turns his attention to Charlie. “Nice to see you again, Agent Awesome.”
She starts to chuckle. “I don’t even want to know, do I?”
I wrap my arm around her waist, clearly letting Quinn know she’s here with me. And with me as in more than just a guest. “It’s our name for what we think your ass looks like,” I explain.
Charlie’s eyes widen. “Oh, so you talk about my ass? Is it part of your company meetings?”
Not a bad idea. Hmmm. I may have to add that to the agenda. On the other hand, I don’t want anyone talking about her ass. “No.” Fuck that.
She smirks as if she knows why I’m so adamant. “How long are you guys home for?” she asks Quinn.
Natalie was approaching, but she stops in her tracks. Quinn notices and nods. “Not sure.”
That’s bullshit. They’re leaving soon, and Lee knows it. She’s just having a hard time accepting the idea of it. Part of me wants to tell her to buck up because this is what she gets being married to a SEAL again. There’s a part of us that goes insane being home too long. Sure, it’s a great break, but we live for the field. Being home keeps us human while the field keeps us animalistic. I miss that feeling.
“You can say it, Quinn.” She thaws out. “I know you’re all leaving.”
“I won’t be responsible for you throwing things.”
“I only throw things at you.” Lee gives him a condescending look. “Because you’re an idiot.”
I huff, open my mouth to say something in support of his stupidity, but Liam walks in with the food. “Let’s eat!” he says. At least he gives us a reason to shut up and not get in a fight. Quinn and I will have words, though.
Liam must be aware of the energy in the room. Natalie places her arms around him. He’s a lucky dude. He has the woman he loves, kids, friends, and still gets to kick everyone’s ass.
I’m getting there. I just need to get Charlie fully on board with actually dating and not this trying shit. I don’t need marriage and all that yet. But we’ve been friends for a year, and I know there’s potential.
Everyone digs in while I sit back and observe. Surrounded by the people who matter, I think about how easily Charlie fits in. She’s one of us. She knows everyone here, and all of us are in that same field. We understand leaving, coming home, and never really having a place. We live on the outskirts of relationships.
I glance at Liam and he tilts his head toward the house. I nod. He’s got the information I requested.
“Mark,” he says. “Can you help me with the keg?”
“Sure thing.”
We both get up, but he takes an extra minute because, of course, he has to kiss his wife. I swear they make me sick with how much they love each other. Their honeymoon period is never going to end.
“Do you even have a keg?” I laugh as we walk toward the kitchen.
“Of course I do. It was cheaper than cans between you, Quinn, and Aaron.”
“Is he coming?”
Liam shrugs. “He said he was.”
Aaron says a lot of things regarding Lee and Liam. I know he’s trying, but a man can only take so much. While they’re all really sensitive around him, it’s still hard to miss their glances and the way they’re always smiling. It’s kind of like showing up at a wedding you weren’t invited to.
“So?” I’m unwilling to talk about anything other than what he might know. “I assume you really didn’t need my help with beer.”
Liam checks behind us before he begins. “I made a few calls.” His voice is barely audible. Which is good considering Charlie is a spy and all. “One of my buddies up there is a private investigator. He was on our team a while back, good guy, great at intelligence and reconnaissance. You may want to think about hiring him, since he seems to be good.”
Is he serious? “Liam,” I prompt.
“Anyway,” he gets back on topic. “He said there was one guy who apparently left early. That waiter though, he doesn’t exist. Kind of like Charlie, if you get what I mean.”
“You think the guy is CIA?” I ask. That makes no sense.
“Based on the little information you gave me, the fact she was tailed before, and then she was drugged at a function . . .”
“Why would they drug her?”
“The question you should be asking is: what were they planning to do with her once they had her knocked out?” Liam grabs the keg, leaving me to mull over his question.
If the CIA is after Charlie, what the hell does she know that puts her on their list? Since they were unsuccessful, they’re sure as hell will try again.