“Always am.” With a quick smile, Rys walked past him and through the house to the backyard. George had clearly meant it when he’d said only a few people had already arrived. Only the Dorian family and Gremlin were there. As a matter of fact, Gremlin had commandeered one of the nicer patio chairs and Candace had commandeered his lap. She didn’t seem to have any intentions of relinquishing her spot, either.
From the mile wide smile on Gremlin’s face, he didn’t seem to mind.
It didn’t escape Rys’s notice that Dorian watched the two with a disgruntled frown on his face. Had he been focusing so hard on Rys and Anne that his younger daughter’s relationship had flown by unnoticed? It certainly looked that way.
The place looked ready to receive a few dozen people. Two grills were set up near the pool house, and the sizzling smell of barbecue filled the air. There were string lights up all around the edge of the yard, and with the waning light of the sun, they would soon be needed. Rys had a bag with his swimming gear in it and he had every intention of using it soon. The pool looked particularly inviting.
Anne walked to him and linked her arm with his, practically glowing with contentment. But then, she had every reason to be happy. None of her worst fears had been realized — Bijordan hadn’t been destroyed by Nova’s underhanded tactics, Rys and the rest of SF01 weren’t going to be deployed somewhere far out of her reach, and her father had made it home safe and sound.
“How is my favorite boyfriend this evening?”
“I’m good,” he responded automatically, but really, that had to be the biggest understatement of the year.
“You being good was never in question,” she assured him with a lecherous waggle of the eyebrows.
He nearly choked on a laugh. “Alright, to clarify, I feel almost ready to tackle next week.”
“Almost?” she looked surprised at this qualifier.
“I’ve never actually tried to teach what I know, not really,” he explained with a one-shoulder shrug. “I’ve made out lesson plans and such, but I’m not sure if I know how to break it down to their level.” Half of the lesson plans actually came from Sergeant Barrett, who had already been teaching at the academy since they landed on Bijordan. Rys considered having his old instructor so nearby to be a blessing directly from the Guardians. He fully intended on picking the man’s brain every chance he could.
She patted him on the arm. “You’ll be fine. You did great teaching Ashley and Dylan, after all.”
Hopefully there wouldn’t be much difference between teaching eighteen year olds and pre-teens.
More people started to arrive, and Rys found himself pulled into the usual rhythm of greeting and watching over the kids once they arrived. He found himself answering the same questions over and over: Yes, he was all settled into his new apartment. Yes, he was a little nervous teaching, as he’d never done it before. No, he had no intention of going back to Fourth Colony.
They were all interrupted from their conversations by the announcement that the pool was now open for service. Rys had actually worn swimming trunks and a shirt, anticipating getting into the water. Now, he just shrugged off the shirt and sandals and dove in without any hesitation. He noticed in amusement that the rest of 01 had done the same. Not one wetsuit was in sight, either.
Anne certainly couldn’t accuse them of being body shy now.
He had been through countless meetings, ceremonies, and filled out more paperwork than he cared to remember, but something about the evening brought it home for him. Even setting up an apartment and preparing for a new branch of his career didn’t feel as real to him as this moment. Splashing around with his foster family and brothers-in-arms, he felt it click.
He was home.
“Rys, come out!” Anne called from the pool side. “Food is ready!”
Swimming over, he grabbed the edge and pulled himself free from the water. She handed him a towel, which he took and quickly wiped his face before letting it hang around his neck.
“We’ve got —” she started, only to stop short and look at him more carefully. “What? What’s that smile for?”
Should he try to explain it to her? He wasn’t sure if he could. Trying to do it in this chaos of noise and splashing didn’t seem the right moment either. Shaking his head, he slipped his hand against her cheek and leaned in for a sweet kiss.
Between one moment and the next, he felt himself being body checked back into the pool. On reflex, he tried to spin to get his feet back under him, but the distance was too short and he hit the water with a splash.
Rys came up spluttering, slicking water out of his face in an automatic move. Just who—?! It turned out to be a moot question, as the culprit was leering down at him from his dry perch.
“Aaron! What was that for?!”
Aaron crossed both arms over his chest and gave Rys a smug smile. “Revenge for my paint-smeared shirt.”
Anne slapped a hand over her mouth and choked back a laugh. Rys just glared evilly at his (soon to be former) friend.
“Anne. Hold that thought.”
She grasped thin air as if actually grabbing something. “Holding.”
Rys kicked up sharply from the bottom of the pool, snagged Aaron’s ankles with both hands and yanked.
He made a very satisfying splash when he hit the water.
Afterward
When I started Jaunten, I had another character come and talk to me at about the same time. Rys. I had to wonder where these two mild-mannered men came from, as most of my main characters tend to be girls, but I liked their stories so well that I wrote them down.
Rys, not being good at after-action reports, didn’t really tell me a lot. He gave me about four scenes, a few hints, and then bounded away to go play paintball. I had to really struggle to write most of the book and put it together.
To those of you that read the first few chapters on my livejournal page, you’ll notice that I’ve added quite a few scenes. Whole chapters, in fact. My editor read it and complained to me there wasn’t enough action. Hence…more action. J I hope that you all enjoyed those scenes as I had fun writing them.
To anyone wondering if there will be a sequel to this book: there will not be. I had to beg and plead and bribe Rys into telling me the end of this book. I’m not going through that mental torture again to get a sequel. (You’re welcome to try talking to him, though.)
As always, I hope you enjoyed the story!
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