“Guess they don’t trust him to know the location.” Mark squints. “You think it could be the mayor?”
“No, this guy is taller and slimmer.”
They watch as the suit and one of the armed guards disappear inside and the Hummer takes off back the way it came.
“Guess he’ll be staying a while.” Mark rolls onto his back and stretches out his neck, then checks his watch and pulls out a protein bar. Cole inches backward and leans against a rock out of view. He spits his gum out and opens his water.
Mark pulls at his vest. “Fuck, I miss the snow.”
“Me too,” Cole says, thinking of Savannah.
“I know that look.”
“Yup, you have it too,” he shoots back, making Mark grin. “All right.” Cole puts the cap on his water then pats his side, looking for…
“Here.” Mark tosses him a piece of gum. Ever since they joined the Army together, they’ve been chewing gum. When they are out on duty, it helps them relax. Cole pops it in his mouth while he studies the map.
“Ahhh, yuck, what the fuck is this?” Cole grimaces.
“Hubba Bubba.”
“What are you, a twelve-year-old girl?”
“It makes for a better chew.” Mark shrugs.
“It’s disgusting.”
“No, what’s disgusting is your old man cinnamon gum.”
“I can literally feel my teeth sticking together. What shit flavor is this?”
“Sweet and sassy cherry.”
“I…I…” Cole shakes his head. “I don’t even know what to say right now.” He spits out the gum and replaces it with one of his own. They both lie on their stomachs and inch back to their post.
Savannah
I sit on the living room couch, holding my purse on my lap, completely lost in a memory.
“I didn’t even know you were seeing someone,” I say, sitting next to Lynn on my father’s couch. Lynn had arrived on Dad’s doorstep looking like she’d just seen a ghost.
“I’m not seeing someone, Savi. I just hooked up with someone, and now I’m late.”
“How many days late?”
“A week,” she says, drying her eyes.
“So,” I quickly do the math and my jaw drops, “was it someone from…” I inch closer, seeing my father in the kitchen, “from the charity event we went to last month?” She closes her eyes for a moment and takes a deep breath. “Oh, my God, was it Jones, that smokin’ hot blond guy from Dad’s office?”
“Luka’s ‘assistant’? No, not Jones!” She shakes her head in disgust. I ignore her bitchiness toward his title, as I know for a fact that Jones works his ass off for my father and everyone else in the office.
“Then who? And was he not wearing a condom? Not trying to sound holier-than-thou, but come on, Lynn, even I have a sta—”
“Have a what?” my father asks, giving me a stern warning not to finish my sentence. He hands Lynn a bottle of water and takes a seat across from us. “So, you’re pregnant?”
Lynn’s eyes widen. She looks to me for help, but I’m just as stunned that he heard us talking.
“Umm, I don’t know,” she says, turning three shades of red.