by Susan Stoker
Aspen blinked in surprise. “No, I’m not.”
“Sure you are,” Devyn returned.
“I’m a combat medic,” Aspen said.
“Right, who’s on a Ranger team. And Rangers are special forces. So are my brother and his friends. Therefore, you’re one of them,” Devyn reasoned.
Aspen couldn’t help but laugh. “Okay, but officially, on paper, I’m a combat medic, not a Ranger. And Kane and the others have way higher clearance than I do, so whatever they’re talking about is probably need-to-know only, and the only thing I need to know is how long my team’s going to be gone and how many medical supplies I need to pack.”
Gillian leaned against the counter and, after taking a sip of the glass of wine in her hand, asked, “So…how is it being the only woman on your team? Walker told me that, by the way. I’m not just being stereotypical and assuming.”
“It’s…hard,” Aspen said. That wasn’t really the right word, but it would do for now.
“I bet. Are the guys all as good-looking as our team is?” Kinley asked.
Aspen chuckled. “Our team?”
Kinley smiled. “Well, yeah. I might be with Gage, but they’re all kinda ours.”
That was true, Aspen realized. The men had all greeted the women with huge hugs and genuine affection. They weren’t just tolerating them because three of them were going out with their friends.
When she realized the others were staring at her, she remembered Kinley had asked her a question. “Oh, well, if I’m being honest, I’d have to say no, they aren’t as good-looking as them.” She gestured to the men out on the patio. “They’re all in shape though, six-pack abs and all that stuff.”
“There’s more to a guy than looks,” Devyn chided them.
“Oh, really?” Gillian teased. “So the lustful looks I’ve seen passing between you and Lucky don’t have anything to do with his looks?”
Devyn blushed and took a large gulp of her wine before she shrugged. “Hey, I’m not saying he’s isn’t nice to look at, but I’m not going there. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. Guys are trouble.”
“Are you into girls then?” Aspen asked.
“No. I’ve just learned the hard way that most men are manipulative little fucks. They’ll use you until there’s nothing left, then they’ll still try to make you out to be the bad guy. I’ve had enough of it. Give me a nice, shy man with no siblings and no other family and I might give him a chance. In five years. No, ten.”
Aspen wanted to laugh, but there was so much bitterness in Devyn’s words, she couldn’t. She didn’t really know her all that well yet, but she couldn’t help saying, “Hey, if you ever want to talk…I’ve been told I’m a pretty good listener.”
“Same here,” Kinley said.
“Me three,” Gillian added. “I think we’ve all had our share of asshole exes, and we’re happy to share whatever burden you’re carrying.”
“I never said it was an ex,” Devyn mumbled, then shook her head. “But thanks, guys. I’m just a little resentful right now, I’m sure it’ll pass. And in the meantime, you’re right, there’s nothing wrong with looking at a little eye candy. Although you’ll have to forgive me if I say that lumping my brother in with that gives me the willies.”
They all laughed.
“But Grover’s hot,” Gillian said.
Devyn rolled her eyes.
Aspen enjoyed the gentle ribbing the women gave each other. It had been a very long time since she’d been included in any kind of teasing among female friends. And while she hated that Devyn seemed to be going through a hard time, she liked how she was doing her best not to wallow in whatever was going on.
“So, Aspen…you and Brain, huh?” Kinley asked.
Aspen hid a smile in her wine glass. She’d wondered when the topic would come around to her and Kane. “Appears so,” she said.
“I’m happy for you both,” Kinley said. “Brain seems…different from the rest of the guys.”
“How so?” Aspen asked, genuinely curious as to what his friends thought of him.
“I don’t know…less in-your-face alpha,” Kinley suggested.
Aspen couldn’t help it. She laughed.
“I guess that’s not true?” Gillian asked with a grin.
“I can see how you’d get that impression,” Aspen said. “Kane’s not the kind of guy to strut around barking at people or ordering them about. And I’m not sure what your definition of ‘alpha’ is, but make no mistake, he can be as bossy as the next guy.”
Kinley raised an eyebrow. “Really? Because to me, he seems like he’s perfectly content to chill in the background. Don’t get me wrong, that’s not a bad thing, but it just surprises me that you think he’s bossy.”
“The other day, he noticed that one of my tires was a little low on air. I told him I’d take care of it on my way home. He shook his head and held out his hand for my keys. I protested, telling him I was tired and would deal with it later. He said he was taking care of it right that second, and I was going into his house to sit down and relax,” Aspen said, smiling at the recollection.
“That sounds like something Walker would do,” Gillian commented.
“Right. Another time, I was cooking dinner at my apartment and forgot to get milk. I needed it for the sauce I was making, so he immediately got up and headed for my door. I tried to convince him that I’d figure something out, but before I could finish a sentence, he’d walked back, kissed the hell out of me, then left without another word.
“Then there was the time he got out of a meeting early, and he knew my team and I would be working out on the obstacle course. He came to watch, and when Derek started berating me for something that was out of line, Kane yelled, ‘Yo!’ and stood on the side of the course with his arms crossed. That was literally all he said, and Derek backed off, ignoring me for the rest of the afternoon. So again, I don’t know what you guys consider alpha, but to me, Kane’s pretty damn intense sometimes.”
“Wow,” Gillian said. “I had no idea either. He just doesn’t strike me as the type. He’s…Brain, you know?”
“No, I don’t know,” Aspen said a little harsher than she’d intended. When Gillian’s eyes widened in surprise, she did her best to temper her tone. “I know he’s smart, there’s no denying that. But a guy can be both smart and tough as hell. I think he’s been stereotyped most of his life, and I know how he feels, because people take one look at me, a woman, and can’t believe I can cut it in the Rangers. But it’s all bullshit. Kane is more than just the brains of the team, even if everyone keeps trying to force him into that role.”
The other women were silent as they digested Aspen’s words. Then Devyn said, “I don’t know my brother’s friends all that well, but I know by experience that sometimes the quietest men are the ones you have to watch out for.”
Once more, Aspen wanted to ask Devyn if she was all right. Find out what was bothering her, because it was more than obvious something was going on. But she didn’t get the chance before Gillian spoke up once more.
“I didn’t mean to offend you,” she said.
“No,” Aspen countered. “I didn’t mean to offend you. I just…Kane’s an alpha when it counts…when it’s something he feels strongly about. And I’m not insinuating that he feels strongly about me, but he can be just as dominant as anyone, no matter how smart he is or how many languages he knows. I think, to be in special forces, it kind of comes with the territory.”
“Thanks for letting me off the hook. And…I don’t think there’s any doubt that Brain feels strongly about you,” Gillian said with a small smile. “Walker isn’t one to gossip, but he’s mentioned more than once that Brain seems happier than he’s been in years.”
Aspen liked that. A lot.
“I’m sorry I missed your wedding,” she told Gillian. “I heard it was awesome. And I’m jealous about the pink sparkly Converse sneakers that I heard you wore.”
Gillian beamed. “Thanks. They’re pre
tty awesome. And thank you for telling Brain about the appetizer thing for our reception party. That turned out really well.”
“You’re welcome,” Aspen said with a smile.
Just then, the door leading onto the patio opened and all seven men filed into the house.
“Hope you guys are hungry!” Oz said, holding a platter of hamburgers. “The meat’s ready.”
“I’d say,” Devyn muttered under her breath.
It was all Aspen could do not to burst out laughing. She turned to grab the casserole out of the oven instead.
Within minutes, the chatter in the small house had fallen to a minimum as everyone began to eat. Between the side dishes the others had brought and the hamburgers, which were cooked to perfection, the meal was one of the best Aspen had eaten in a long time.
Some of the guys ate standing up, giving the women the seats at the table. There was good-humored teasing and lots of compliments over the food, and Aspen loved every second of it.
An hour and a half later, everyone had settled into Kane’s living room and were telling stories and joking with each other. They’d given her a recap of Gillian and Trigger’s wedding, and how hilarious Winnie had been at the reception.
Aspen was sitting on the floor in front of Kane, who was on the couch. She had her arms draped over his legs, which were stretched out on either side of her.
Gillian was sitting next to Trigger on the other end of the couch, and Devyn sat between Kane and Trigger.
Kinley was on Lefty’s lap in the easy chair, and the other guys were spread around the room. Some standing, some sitting. But everyone seemed comfortable and relaxed, which made Aspen smile in contentment. This wasn’t her house, wasn’t her party, but somehow it still felt as if it was. Maybe because she’d spent a lot of time here over the last month and a half.
Oz was in the middle of telling a funny story about a time when they hadn’t understood the local culture of an unnamed country, and how they’d gotten into trouble as a result, when Grover’s phone rang.
He was standing on the other side of the room, leaning against the wall. He smiled when he looked at the readout and didn’t bother to leave the room to answer the call.
“Hi, Mom, how are you? I’m good. No, you’re not interrupting anything. I’m just hanging out at Brain’s house with the team. Oh, and Devyn’s here too… She hasn’t?” Grover frowned over at his sister.
Aspen looked up at Devyn to find the other woman was shaking her head at her brother.
“Do you want to talk to her?” Grover asked, and when his mother apparently answered in the affirmative, he brought the phone over to where Devyn was sitting and held it out. “Mom wants to talk to you.”
“No,” Devyn whispered. “I don’t want to talk to her.”
Grover blinked in surprise. “Why not?”
“Because.”
“That’s not an answer,” Grover told his sister. “Just talk to her. She says you haven’t called since you moved here.”
“I know, and maybe there’s a reason for that, Fred,” Devyn countered tersely.
Brother and sister stared at each other for a long moment before Grover brought the phone back up to his ear. He didn’t go back to his spot against the wall. Instead, he stood in front of the couch and stared at Devyn while he spoke to his mom. “She can’t talk right now, Mom, she’s helping in the kitchen. What’s going on between you two?”
There was silence in the room while Grover listened to whatever his mom was saying.
“Okay,” Grover said after a moment. “I’ll talk to her.”
At that, Devyn was clearly done. She stood from the couch abruptly and turned toward Brain. “Thanks for letting me join in tonight. I’m gonna head out.”
Grover was still on the phone, and Aspen heard him trying to end the call so he could talk to his sister. But Devyn wasn’t waiting. She was up and by the door before anyone could move.
“Devyn, wait!” Grover called out after he’d hung up.
Devyn turned to face him. “What?”
“We need to talk.”
“No, we don’t,” she fired back.
Grover walked toward her, the pair standing in front of Kane’s door, but because the house wasn’t all that big, everyone could hear what they were saying.
“Yes, we do,” Grover countered. “Why have you been ignoring Mom? She’s worried about you.”
Devyn snorted. “It doesn’t matter.”
“What do you mean? Of course it matters,” Grover said urgently.
“I love you, Fred,” Devyn said. “But you can’t fix this.”
“Tell me what ‘this’ is, and I’ll try,” Grover insisted.
“Mom was disappointed that I left Missouri,” Devyn said after a long moment. “And she wasn’t shy about telling me how big of a mistake I was making.”
“Maybe she’s trying to fix things between you now,” Grover said.
“She wants to try to ‘talk some sense’ into me. Convince me that I was wrong. That I shouldn’t have left Missouri and everything was a big misunderstanding. But it wasn’t.”
Brother and sister stared at each other for a moment, then Grover reached out and pulled Devyn into his arms. He hugged her tightly and said something into her ear. She nodded and pulled back. Then, without another word, she opened the door and headed out.
Lucky leapt up from his spot on the floor and hurried after her. “Thanks for the food, Brain,” he called as he went. “I’ll make sure she gets home all right,” he told Grover when he passed him at the door.
Grover nodded, and just like that, Lucky was gone.
“Sorry about killing the mood,” Grover said when he came back into the living room.
“Don’t worry about it,” Brain assured him.
“It’s just…our mom’s always been overprotective of Devyn because she was so sick when she was little. I just can’t imagine what the hell’s going on or what caused the rift between them.”
“She’ll talk to you when she’s ready,” Gillian told him. “But if you push, she’ll just clam up even more. She seems pretty stubborn.”
Grover snorted. “You have no idea.”
The conversation switched to something less serious, and it wasn’t long before the previous mood was restored.
“You ever hear from that chick from Afghanistan, Grover?” Oz asked.
“What chick?” Aspen asked, her curiosity piqued.
“The short one,” Doc said. “The one from the chow tent.”
“Sierra?” Aspen asked.
“Yeah, her,” Grover said. “And no. I sent her an email but never heard back. Guess she wasn’t really interested.”
Aspen was surprised. She didn’t know Sierra all that well, as she’d arrived not too long before Aspen had left the country. But she’d always been extremely friendly, if not a little naïve. She couldn’t imagine her giving Grover her contact information and then blowing him off. “You think she’s all right?”
“Why wouldn’t she be?” Grover asked. “She works in food service. It’s not as if she’s out there patrolling the village or anything.”
Aspen frowned. Grover was obviously still in a mood over what had happened with his sister and mom, and bringing up Sierra wasn’t making him feel any better. So she did her best to change the subject. “Are you guys going to the organizational day this weekend?”
An organizational day was an event planned by the Army intended to get soldiers and their families together in a social setting. There were usually games, obstacle courses, face painting, and other activities for the children to enjoy.
“Yeah, we’d all planned to head over around eleven and meet up there. I know Ghost and his team will also be there,” Trigger said.
“Ghost?” Aspen asked.
“He’s the leader of a former Delta team,” Kane told her, leaning forward and resting his arms over her shoulders. Because she was below him on the floor, it was as if he was hugging her from above and behind at the
same time. Aspen loved feeling surrounded by him. “He and his team are retired from missions now, but they’re still heavily involved in training and in planning missions.”
“One of those guys is Annie’s father, right?” Gillian asked.
“Yup,” Lefty answered.
“Who’s Annie?” Aspen asked.
“Sorry, yeah, Annie’s thirteen now, I think, and she’s amazing. I went to an obstacle course competition she was in, and she was killing it, but when one of the kids in her heat was struggling, she went back to help him rather than go on to win herself.”
“Awesome,” Aspen said.
“It was,” Gillian agreed.
“Anyway, the answer is yes, we’ll all be there. Are you going with your team?” Doc asked.
Aspen stiffened, and Kane squeezed her shoulders. “No,” she told him. “I mean, we haven’t talked about it. I don’t…we don’t hang out when we aren’t at work like you guys do.”
“Their loss,” Kane said quietly from behind her.
“Well, you can come and chill with us,” Kinley told her with a smile.
“Thanks. I’d like that.”
“On that note, it’s getting late, and we should probably get out of your hair,” Lefty said.
Aspen couldn’t help but chuckle. It wasn’t that late, and it was obvious that Lefty just wanted to get Kinley home so he could have his wicked way with her. The two had been eyeballing each other all night, and if the way Kinley had been squirming in Lefty’s lap was any indication, she was more than all right with calling it a night.
Everyone else agreed, and soon it was just Aspen and Kane in his house. She turned to him at the door after they’d said goodbye to everyone. “Was it something I said?” she quipped.
Kane chuckled and tugged her into his side, leading her back to the living room. He pulled her down on the couch and lay back, taking her with him.
Aspen stretched out beside him happily. There were things she could be doing. Taking out the trash, cleaning the counters, doing dishes, but she was perfectly happy where she was at the moment.
“Don’t take it personally. That’s kinda how these things always end. When one person calls it quits, everyone else usually follows close behind. I’ll see them at work soon enough.”