by Susan Stoker
“Awesome! My own Ranger combat medic coach. Totes cool!”
Turning to head for the beginning of the course, Aspen stopped in her tracks when she almost ran into Derek.
“What the hell, Mesmer?” he bit out.
Aspen had no idea what Derek was all pissed off about now, but she quickly took a step to the side, putting herself between Annie and her ex. He didn’t give her a chance to say anything.
“It wasn’t bad enough that we had to deal with you on the teams, but now I get word that you’re considering not re-upping? Figures you’d quit. You should’ve stepped aside a long time ago and given us the chance to train a real medic. Someone who wouldn’t divide the team like you did.”
Aspen saw red. “How dare you!” she hissed. “How dare you belittle everything I’ve done for the Rangers. I’m as much a Ranger as you, probably more. I paid attention in training and would never leave a teammate behind. Unlike you, who not only left three teammates behind, but two who were injured. They would’ve died if that Delta team hadn’t come upon us.”
“A real Ranger would’ve been able to handle it,” Derek shot back.
“I did handle it,” Aspen told him. “While you were busy having a dick-measuring contest with the Deltas. Too worried you’d come up short if you didn’t find Akhund before they did. We’d been there a month and a half and hadn’t managed to catch him, and they did what we couldn’t in less than a week. Leaving me, Holman, and Vandine behind made you look like an ass, not me.”
Derek glared at her, and Aspen raised her chin. She could see the anger in his eyes. This whole situation was crazy; she hadn’t done anything to make him so mad at her. But then again, her simply existing seemed to anger him.
“Stand down, Spence,” a deep voice said from behind her.
Aspen didn’t have to turn around to know it was Kane.
“Stay out of this, Brain,” Derek snarled.
“I’m already in it,” Kane returned, stepping up beside Aspen. She appreciated more than she could say that he didn’t step in front of her, pushing her behind him. That would’ve pissed her off just as much as Derek’s words did.
“Look around you, man,” Kane said. “You’re standing in the middle of a park surrounded by your peers. Walk it off.”
Derek took a deep breath and his hands curled into fists, but he did take a step backward. “She’s no peer of mine,” he ground out. “This isn’t over, Mesmer. You can’t come into my team and fuck everything up, then just walk away.”
“I’m not on your team—and I’m not walking away,” Aspen told him. “I’ve done everything possible to be accepted. I’ve done the same training, crawled through the same shit you guys have. I’ve studied my ass off and gotten my paramedic license through the state of Texas, just to prove I know what I’m doing when it comes to your safety. I even saved the lives of two Rangers! Yet time and time again, just when I think I’m making progress with my team, you do something to sabotage it. I’m done with your bullshit, Derek. You’re lucky I haven’t reported you for making us work in unsafe conditions—and the hundred other little things you’ve done.”
Derek glared at her, his gaze flicking behind her briefly, then he abruptly turned and stalked away.
Aspen breathed out a frustrated sigh. She should’ve been glad he hadn’t attacked her, but all she could feel was pissed off that things between them had deteriorated so badly.
“I have no idea what I ever saw in him,” she muttered between clenched teeth.
“That was kinda hot,” someone said from behind her.
Aspen spun around to see Trigger, Lefty, Oz, Doc, Lucky, and Grover standing there. She wasn’t surprised to see them—but she was shocked to see the seven men behind them.
“Chérie, let me introduce another Delta team that we’re friends with. This is Ghost, Fletch, Coach, Hollywood, Beatle, Blade, and Truck.”
“What an idiot,” the man named Hollywood said with an eye roll.
“Dad! Did you see that? That was so cool!” Annie said enthusiastically.
Fletch’s muscles visibly relaxed at hearing his daughter’s words. “Yeah, squirt. I saw.”
“He gonna be a problem?” Truck asked.
Aspen stared up at him. He was almost a foot taller than her, and all muscle. But she wasn’t scared of him. How could she be when he was more than obviously on her side? She sighed. “Yeah. But I can handle it,” she told Truck and the others.
“Maybe I should talk to his commanding officer,” Ghost suggested.
Aspen shook her head. “Just drop it.”
“He threatened you,” Doc said. “He can’t get away with that.”
“Here’s the thing,” Aspen told the dozen men around her. “This kind of thing happens all the time simply because I’m a woman. I can handle men like Derek, they’re mostly bluster. He’s threatened by me simply because I’m a chick. I’ve been dealing with this for the entire eight years I’ve been in the Army. Eight years.”
“It’s not right,” Lefty said.
“You’re right, it’s not,” Aspen agreed. “But that doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen. If you want to help, take a look at how you interact with the women you work with. Do you talk down to them? Do you assume they can’t handle something just because of their gender? Discrimination is both a state of mind and a conscious decision. Just because you don’t think you aren’t being discriminatory, doesn’t mean your actions aren’t.”
Everyone stared at her in silence, and Aspen felt uncomfortable for the first time. She didn’t often get up on her soap box about this kind of thing, she was used to sweeping it under the rug and just dealing with it.
“You mean like when Dad opens the door for Mom?” Annie asked.
Smiling, Aspen turned to the little girl. “There’s being polite, and then there’s belittling. There’s a difference.” When Annie’s brow furrowed, Aspen tried to think of an example. “So your dad holding open a door, or carrying the grocery bags, or wanting your mom to let him know when she gets home while he’s at work and can’t be there to meet her…that’s polite. It’s a part of loving someone and wanting them to be safe.
“But assuming a girl wants to wear pink instead of blue, or when a teacher spends extra time with the boys on math and science, and encourages the girls to draw or write, that’s discrimination. A man getting promoted over a woman, when the woman is more qualified, is discrimination. A dad only telling his little girl she’s pretty when she’s wearing a dress or skirt, and not when she has on a pair of pants…that could be discrimination.”
“I wanted to sign up for shop at school, so I could learn how to fix a car engine, and my teacher, Mr. Smithy, told me it wasn’t appropriate and I should take home ec instead,” Annie said.
Aspen nodded. “That’s discrimination. If you want to learn how to repair cars, go for it. If you want to go into construction, do it. But on the flip side, you shouldn’t assume all boys want to do that kind of stuff either. Some would probably be more than happy learning how to sew, dance, and how to cook, and don’t want to play football and other sports. Discrimination goes both ways.”
Annie nodded. “That guy was a poophole. Can you show me how to be better on the obstacle course now?”
Aspen heard chuckles all around her. She’d almost forgotten that she had an audience. Before she could get embarrassed, she felt Kane’s hand on her waist.
“Thanks for having our backs,” Kane told his friends.
“You’re welcome at my table anytime,” Fletch told her. “And for what it’s worth, we all think you’re a hell of a medic. And if the Deltas used them, and if we were still doing missions, we’d personally request you be attached to our team.”
Aspen blinked in surprise. “Thanks.”
The seven men nodded and turned to head back to their families, who were standing nearby, watching. Fletch stopped to tell Annie that she had fifteen minutes before they’d be heading home. She wrinkled her nose, but nodded before he head
ed for a woman standing next to a little boy.
“No way,” Oz said grumpily. “They aren’t allowed to steal you away. Our team would request you.”
Aspen couldn’t help it, she laughed. “Thanks, guys. I appreciate it.” She looked over at Annie, who was obviously more than impatient to get some obstacle course time in.
“Give me fifteen minutes?” she asked Kane.
“You can have as much time as you want, dušo.”
She raised an eyebrow.
Kane leaned in, kissed her lips, then whispered, “Bosnian.”
“Are you ever just going to call me darling in English?” she couldn’t help but ask.
Kane shifted so his lips were by her ear and said quietly, “When I’m so far inside you that neither of us can tell where we start and where we end…I’ll call you darling.” Then he pulled away with a grin and stepped back.
“That was mean,” Aspen said, shifting where she stood, feeling how damp she’d gotten between her thighs.
“So was turning me on by looking like you were ready to pound Spence into the ground,” Kane retorted. Then he gave her a chin lift and turned to walk back to where he’d been standing with his team before Derek had appeared out of nowhere.
“Kane?” Aspen called.
He turned. “Yeah?”
“Thanks for standing next to me and not in front of me.”
He nodded, and Aspen could see the respect shining in his eyes even with the distance between them.
“Ready?” Annie asked.
Aspen nodded and turned to face her. “Sorry you had to see and hear all that,” she told the little girl as they began walking toward the start of the course.
Annie shrugged. “I understand more about what you were saying earlier now. That guy didn’t like that you were on his team.”
“Nope,” Aspen agreed.
“Even though you did all the same work he did to be there,” Annie continued.
“Correct,” Aspen said.
“Are you really quitting?” Annie asked.
“I don’t see it as quitting,” Aspen said. “Am I getting out of the Army? Yeah, I think I am. I’ve worked my butt off to give women and girls like you the chance to make a difference. I hope that by helping to pave the way, it’ll make things easier on you when you grow up. But I’m tired. I want a team like your dad has. Like my friends have. I want to know I can one hundred percent count on someone to have my back.”
“Like they did today,” Annie said confidently.
“Yup. They didn’t care that I was a woman. They had my back anyway.”
“My boyfriend’s that way,” Annie said proudly.
“You have a boyfriend?” Aspen asked in surprise.
“Yeah. His name is Frankie and he lives in California. But when we get older, we’re gonna get married. I know I can count on him to have my back no matter what, just as I’ll have his. He’s deaf and gets picked on a lot, but he doesn’t care because he knows the other kids are the poopholes, not him.”
Aspen couldn’t help but smile every time she heard the word poophole. It wasn’t exactly nice, but the little girl wasn’t swearing, so she couldn’t reprimand her. “It’s good to have a boyfriend like that.”
Annie nodded. “So when you get out, what are you going to do?”
“I’m going to use my paramedic license and help people around here. I’d like to get hired on an ambulance and go to people when they need help.”
“Ooooh, like when people call 9-1-1?”
“Exactly.”
“Cool. We had to do that when our house blew up. Come on! I want you to show me how to be faster and better at the pole thing!”
Aspen shook her head. When her house blew up? She’d ask Kane later about that. For now, she wanted to forget about Derek, discrimination, and just enjoy Annie’s enthusiasm.
Chapter Fourteen
Brain vacillated between being pissed off on Aspen’s behalf, and impressed as hell at how she’d treated the entire nasty incident with Spence. He couldn’t believe Derek had the nerve to confront Aspen at the organizational day. Of course, the ass probably thought she was alone, and he could say whatever he wanted and not have any repercussions.
But Derek clearly hadn’t planned on Aspen being willing to take him on right then and there. Nor did he suspect she’d have so much backup. As soon as Brain saw what was happening, he’d headed for Aspen. He knew his team would have his back, and he wasn’t surprised Ghost’s team was there too. Fletch had probably been watching Annie, and when he saw something going down around her, everyone mobilized.
While Brain was still pissed about the entire incident, Aspen seemed to let it slide. She’d talked about Annie all the way back to his house and was as happy as she could be to mentor the teenager.
“She’s amazing,” Aspen said happily. “She caught on immediately and realized how much faster she could shimmy across that pole if she hooked her knee around it and used her leg muscles to take some of the weight off her arms. That gave her enough strength to be able to pull herself up at the end and ring the bell. I loved seeing her smile.”
And Brain loved seeing Aspen smile. He squeezed her hand resting on his leg. “You did good.”
“I did, didn’t I?” she asked.
“Are you okay about what happened with Spence?” he couldn’t help but ask.
Aspen sighed. “Yeah. It was bound to happen sooner or later. He’s a dick, and he obviously thought he had the upper hand.”
“He’s going to cause problems at work,” Brain said. “Well, more problems.”
“He’ll try,” Aspen agreed.
Brain liked that she wasn’t trying to blow off his concerns.
“But after today, he made my decision on whether to get out or not easy. I’ll tell the major tomorrow that I’m done.”
“You okay with that?” Brain asked. He couldn’t imagine leaving the Army, but then again, he had a hell of a close-knit family he’d be leaving if he did.
“Yeah. I am. I’m actually excited about what’s ahead for me. I’ve got about two more months, and I’m sure the major will take me off the team to make room for my replacement. It’s probably best for everyone involved anyway.”
“It sucks. I’m sorry,” Brain said.
Aspen shrugged. “You know what? I’m okay with it. Even if they replace me with a man, I still feel as if I helped smooth the way for someone like Annie in the future. Maybe she won’t have as hard a time as I did, simply because she isn’t one of the first women to be on the teams. At least I hope so.”
“I know so. I’m proud of you.”
“Thanks. I’m proud of myself,” Aspen told him.
“I talked to my commander about the hurricane that’s brewing out in the gulf,” Brain told her.
Aspen blinked at his change in topic. “Yeah?”
“Yeah. They say it’s supposed to keep on gaining strength, and it’s heading straight for Houston.”
“Fuck,” Aspen breathed. “They’ve been hammered with storms in the last few years.”
“They have. And if this one continues on the same trajectory, they’re probably going to ask for volunteers to head to Houston to assist where necessary.”
“Are you going?” she asked.
Brain shrugged. “We’ll decide as a team if we are or not. It’ll depend on if something more important crops up elsewhere.”
Aspen huffed out a small laugh. “You know, in the past when things like a storm or tornado or something happened, my team was asked if we wanted to volunteer, but it was an individual thing. Like, the last time, Hamilton couldn’t go because one of his kids had a thing at school he felt he needed to be at, and Buckland just didn’t want to go. It was never an all-or-nothing thing on whether we’d go or not. Knowing that you and the others decide to be all in, or all out, just hammers home the fact that I’m making the right decision.” She squeezed his hand and turned a little in her seat. “If you guys say yes, I’m going too,” she tol
d him.
Brain smiled. “Okay.”
“Just like that?” she asked skeptically.
“Just like that,” he agreed. “You’ve more than proven to me and the rest of the guys that you can hold your own. You’ll be a huge asset, and we’d be happy to have you at our side.”
Aspen smiled. She tugged her hand out of his grasp and flattened it on his thigh. “I think I need to thank you for rushing over to my aid today, even if I didn’t really need it.”
“Yeah?” Brain asked.
“Uh-huh.”
Her fingers brushed against his inner thigh, and Brain caught her hand in his once more. “You want me to wreck?”
Aspen shook her head. “Nope. I’m hoping you’ll drive faster. I want you, Kane.”
He glanced over at her and saw she was staring right at him. Open. Honest.
Without a word, he pressed his foot to the gas and his Challenger shot forward.
Aspen laughed and beamed at him.
Brain had wished to have Aspen under him more times than he could count, but he’d never wanted to push her too fast. He’d known months ago that he wanted more from her, but had been content to move at her speed. To get to know her. To make out and hold her, but not go further.
He would’ve waited as long as it took for her to want him with the same intensity, but thank God he didn’t have to wait anymore.
“You sure?” he asked, not wanting any misunderstandings between them.
“Yes,” she said simply.
Needing to distract himself from the feel of her hand on his thigh, Brain said, “I’ve got condoms. I’m clean, but I don’t want you to worry about anything besides enjoying yourself this first time.”
“I’m on the pill,” she told him. “I had an ovarian cyst when I was a teenager. The docs put me on the pill so they wouldn’t keep forming.”
Brain’s adrenaline spiked. But he tamped down his excitement. “Still, this first time, until I can prove to you that I’m clean, I’ll stay gloved to protect you.”
“Okay. But, Kane? I trust you. I wouldn’t be agreeing to sleep with you if I didn’t. And for the record, I don’t jump into bed with just anyone. It’s been three years for me.”