The sun began to set over the forbidding mountains, giving a slight reprieve to the brutal heat soaking Rhett in sweat, but the constant screaming and echoing of gunfire remained. As part of the Army Rangers, they’d been deployed on a top-secret mission to capture a high-value target, though upon arriving at the town tucked away in the treacherous mountains, they were surrounded by enemy forces and immediately under rapid gunfire. Rhett kept his gun aimed, his focus steady, and fired bullets, watching bodies drop. He never looked at their faces. Never made it personal. This was a job.
His fellow Rangers stayed close, tucked safely behind boulders while they fired.
Rhett felt a body fall next to him, heard the roar of pain. He reached out, grabbing his buddy Matthews by the vest and yanking him back behind the boulder. After a quick assessment, he grabbed Matthews’s hand. “Got shot in the thigh.” He squeezed his hand around Matthews’s leg. “Don’t let go.”
Matthews nodded quickly. “Yeah. Fuck. Yeah.”
Rhett took aim again and saw the enemy forces moving higher up the mountain. Hundreds of them, compared to the ten in Rhett’s crew. He shut his eyes, knowing perhaps this time, death had come calling.
Until he heard the sound of fighter jets overhead, followed by explosions rocking the ground beneath him.
Rhett blinked, staring into the crackling fire. After serving in the Army Rangers for twelve years, he’d retired with a medical discharge after an M60 machine gun, 7.62 NATO caliber, tore into his shoulder. He ran his hands through his hair and drew a deep breath. Pride filled him. He’d kept his brothers safe, but war was war, and it wasn’t pretty. The things he saw came home with him, and there was no fixing that, but that life, that purpose, made sense.
A baby?
He raised the whiskey bottle to his lips again when he realized he wasn’t alone. He didn’t bother looking up from the fire, knowing exactly who’d come. The only person who would show up tonight to demand answers and put Rhett firmly in his place.
“Brought out the good stuff, huh?” Boone asked, pulling the other chair closer to Rhett before taking a seat.
“Just preparing myself for either the punch or the lecture coming my way,” Rhett replied. He deserved both, and worse. For years, he’d kept his control. He never slipped up with Kinsley, knowing she was off limits. And now his one moment of weakness had cost Kinsley her very happiness. He deserved to rot in hell.
Rhett offered Boone the bottle. He took a big swig then handed it back. “Hate to break it to you, but neither of those things are going to happen tonight,” Boone said quietly.
Rhett slowly looked at his longtime childhood friend. He couldn’t find a hint of anger in Boone’s expression.
The orange hues from the fire flickered across Boone’s face, showing only warmth on his expression. “How about just stating the truth.”
“What truth?” Rhett asked.
“This isn’t some chick you don’t care about. It’s Kinsley.”
Rhett dropped his head back against the chair and stared up at the stars, the Milky Way visible tonight. Caring for her was precisely the problem. She deserved better and he knew it. Had always known it.
Boone added gently, “I stayed out of whatever’s been going on with you two when I knew you’d been together at the wedding.”
That was news to Rhett. “Did Kinsley tell you?” he asked.
Boone snorted. “Yeah, right. She’s loyal to her bones. You know that.” He gave Rhett a knowing look. “I’d be a shit detective if I didn’t notice that you two came back from the tropics barely able to look at each other.”
But Boone knowing he’d slept with Kinsley wasn’t a problem. Rhett never thought it would be. As long as Rhett’s intentions were good, Boone would support him, as much as he’d support Kinsley. It had always been in Boone’s nature to stand by those he cared about. But Kinsley deserved a man who had his feet firmly planted on the ground. Rhett was barely treading water lately, nearly drowning in this civilian life he’d returned to after the Army. He dropped his head and threaded his fingers in his hair, stating his truth. “I can’t fucking do this. I’m not good for her.”
Boone hesitated a moment before he said, his voice firm, “What you can, and can’t, do isn’t really up for debate anymore. Kinsley’s pregnant. You can’t run from this.” He turned to Rhett fully, looking him right in the eyes. “I’ve got one thing to say on this, and then that’ll be the end of my involvement.” His gaze went steely, coiled frustration simmering just beneath the surface. “Whatever you’ve gotta do from now until you see her next to pull your shit together, that’s exactly what you’re gonna do. You won’t make this harder for her. Do you hear me?”
The point was clear enough. The fire crackled, drawing Rhett’s attention again. He considered what either Boone or Asher would do in this situation. Finally, he got his answer. “I’ll do right by her, if that’s what she wants,” he finally said.
There was along pause. Then Boone burst out laughing.
Rhett frowned. “This is somehow funny to you?”
“Oh, shit, yeah, that’s hilarious,” Boone said with another booming laugh. “We’re talking about Kinsley here. Do you really think she’s going to let you”—he made quotation marks with his fingers—“make an honest woman of her?”
Rhett considered this then shook his head. “No, she won’t.” Kinsley was tough as hell. She didn’t need him and, apparently, didn’t want him as she so proved tonight. But she wanted to tell him the truth, and that was Kinsley. She always gave it straight. Never played games.
Rhett was her polar opposite. It occurred to him then that he was a gigantic asshole. She’d called him, and he’d dodged her call, thinking she was chasing his tail. He should have known she’d never come running after him. That wasn’t her style.
Whatever Boone saw on his face couldn’t have been good. He cupped Rhett’s shoulder, offering the warm comfort he always gave when things got bad. “All of this, whatever happens between you and Kinsley, it’s gonna be all right, man.” With a friendship that spanned thirty years, they’d seen each other at their worst.
“I’m not as sure about that as you are,” Rhett admitted before taking another swig of the whiskey.