“So you knew him well?”
“He was a like a brother to me,” I said truthfully. “To all of us, really. But yes. We went through our PST together. Pre-BUDS, BUDS…” I paused. “Do you know what those things are?”
“Basic Underwater Demolition,” she replied, looking away. Her gaze swung casually back out the passenger window. “Yeah. I know it.”
My eyes wandered again, and I had to forcibly drag them from her legs. Purposefully, I thought about Connor. Guilt flooded in.
“Yeah, we did jump school together afterward,” I said. “That’s where we met Maddox and Kane. “Tactical communications, sniper school, breacher certification… the three of us went through the whole gauntlet, HALO insertions and all. “
“Were you assigned to the same unit?”
“Yup. Got lucky,” I said. “Real lucky.”
Dallas switched legs, and I tightened my grip on the steering wheel. This time I was strong enough to keep my eyes pointed forward.
“Everywhere we went, your brother kicked ass you know.”
“Oh,” she said casually, “I know.”
I laughed. “I’ve never seen anyone in shape like he was. He always made us look bad, no matter what we were doing. The man was a freak of nature.”
I could’ve gone on. I could’ve told her how Connor Winters always ran faster, went further, and jumped higher than any one of us. That I don’t think in all the time I knew him I’d ever seen him out of breath. That he could stay underwater almost a full minute longer than anyone else…
“We loved him,” I said instead. “All of us.”
Dallas remained silent, adjusting her sunglasses. I could tell my words had hit a nerve, though. Whether it was a good or a bad nerve, I didn’t know.
“I— I’m sorry for everything that happened to you.”
The sun sank a bit more on the horizon, and the miles stretched on without answer. Not that I needed an answer. I just needed to tell her.
“Fuck it,” I said suddenly, pulling off the main highway. “Let’s stop for beer.”
Off to my side, I noticed my passenger perk up a bit. Her mouth even curled into the slightest hint of a smile.
“The shit in the basement is probably old as hell anyway.”
Eight
DALLAS
“Okay, so I need to say a few things…”
We’d finished eating an hour ago, and were just lounging around the table now. The beer was ice cold, and it was going down way too easily. Then again, hitting rock bottom tended to make everything go down easily, whether you wanted it to or not.
Buck up, Dallas.
The bad news was that I’d lost everything… and I mean everything. Probably even my job with the casino, because I had no clue how long I would need to stay away.
The good news though, was that there was no place to go from here but up.
“First, I wanted to say thank you,” I said, trying to be genuine. “I know I was a little rough around the edges yesterday, but I had a bad night. A really bad night.”
“Totally understandable,” said Maddox. He looked buzzed. His cheeks were flushed red, like he wasn’t used to drinking like this. Navy SEAL discipline maybe, and all that jazz.
“Yeah,” said Austin. “And you sure as hell don’t have to thank us.”
“Oh but I do,” I went on. “I realize now I’d be dead if you hadn’t shown up. That in keeping your promise to my brother, even if it meant stalking me for a whole year…” I smiled a little at that part, “the three of you totally and unselfishly saved my ass.”