Jae shrugged. “Generally, I avoid swimming in the strait or in mudslides.”
“Easier said than done,” Rivera said.
Luke smiled. Maybe he could like this guy. He hoped so, given what he’d just risked to save him.
Jae swore he was a good guy, but Luke was reserving judgment until he found out what happened to Audrey.
Rivera unclipped his water bottle from his pack and poured water over his face, rinsing away mud from his eyes and nose and running his hand over his mouth.
“Let’s get that shoulder put back,” Jae said.
Rivera must be in agony, but he hadn’t said a word as Luke and Jae hauled him over uneven ground without bothering to pop his arm back first.
The guy got bonus points for that.
Badass surfer. Not a whiner. Undine would say this could be the start of a bromance, but she was also Team Audrey.
Rivera nodded and forced himself to sit up, gripping his ribs with his good arm. He grimaced but again didn’t say a word.
Jae moved to his side and quickly popped the shoulder joint back into place. Rivera let out a hissing breath, then made a sound that could be relief. “Thanks, man.” He turned to Luke and offered his good hand. “Chief Warrant Officer Xavier Rivera.”
Luke took his hand. He’d forgotten that Rivera probably had no clue who the hell he was. “Lieutenant Commander Luke Sevick.”
“SEAL team? You mentioned BUD/S.”
“Was. Not anymore. I’m in NOAA’s Commissioned Officer Corps now.”
Rivera nodded. “Uniformed, but not armed service. Quite a switch.”
“Injured on an op. Active duty on the teams was out. Returned to my first love, marine biology.”
“Wait. You’re Audrey’s friend’s husband. She never mentioned your name.”
Luke nodded. So Rivera had been with Audrey, because they sure as hell hadn’t talked about him and Undine last November, before Audrey had known Rivera was in the Navy. “Where is Audrey?” he asked.
Rivera’s gaze turned toward the hillside he’d just surfed down. “Hopefully on the other side of that ridge, calling NSWC.”
“What the hell happened here, Xave?” Jae asked. Then he shook his head. “Wait. We need to get moving. You can talk then. Can you walk?”
Rivera shook his head.
Damn. Hauling the guy and his pack down the mountain was going to suck. He studied the man’s legs. “Sprain or broken?”
Rivera shook his head again, then slowly climbed to his feet, bracing his good arm on a log as he did so. “Sorry. I think I can walk. But I’m not going anywhere.”
Jae frowned. “The hillside can give way again at any moment. We’ve got to get out of here and onto stable ground.”
“Audrey’s going to come back for me. Even though it’s illogical for her to think I survived, she’s going to come back here. So here is where I need to be.”
Luke couldn’t argue with that. They were here to find Audrey, after all. “We should climb up. Meet her halfway, then.”
Rivera shook his head. “What if our paths don’t cross? And besides, I don’t know if I can climb upward. Down, I think I can handle. Up is a different story.”
Luke’s hip wasn’t all that excited about going up again either.
A chill began to take Luke as they sat on the cold, wet ground, him still wearing nothing but mud-soaked skivvies. “I’m going to change. You got something you can change into in your pack?”
Xavier nodded.
“Good, after we change, you’re going to spill everything that’s going on. And don’t you dare try to claim classified after I just pulled your ass out of a pool of mud.”
Xavier nodded. “We’re way past worrying about classified now.”