Page 33 of Keeping a Warrior

Rhys huffed out a laugh. “Well, I should’ve shut up and let you watch the movie.”

“Nah, the movie sucked.”

Outside her door, Rhys waited until Devon unlocked it and stepped inside before tapping on the wall with his fist. “See you tomorrow bright and early.”

Despite his words, he didn’t make any move to leave. Devon gripped the doorknob tightly as she gazed into his warm green eyes, her knees going slightly weak for some reason. “Thanks,” she croaked, “for a really fun trip.”

He smiled. “Best seatmate ever. Good night, Devon.”

“Night.”

Devon watched until he’d disappeared down the breezeway before closing her door and leaning back against it with a sigh, thinking, Men really are like parking spaces.

The good ones were always taken.

Chapter Six

“Halloran, my man!”

“Maddox, oh my God. So good to see you.”

After a huge backslapping hug, Rhys stepped back, unable to stop grinning. “You’re a sight for sore eyes, Aaron.”

“Yep. I put my name in, and now I’m here to jazz up your sorry platoon. Way too many white boys.”

With a smirk, Aaron punched him on the shoulder, then went to greet Smudge like a long-lost friend. “Hey, my brother.”

Another man hovered on the ramp to the C-130, a tall blond with a familiar, high-wattage smile aimed directly at him.

“Shane Hovland!” Rhys strode over to grip his hand. “How’s it going, buddy?”

They took a few minutes to catch up, and then Rhys couldn’t help but notice Shane’s attention wandering as he caught sight of something over Rhys’s shoulder.

Rhys glanced back and saw Matt standing frozen, staring in their direction, with Devon hovering next to him almost protectively.

Shane cleared his throat. “Well, gotta go meet the rest of the guys.” As Rhys watched, he made his way around the platoon, shaking hands, until he got to Matt.

“Soup,” he said stiffly.

“Hov,” Matt replied, just as stiffly. They made no move to hug or shake hands. Rhys ran his fingers through his hair. From what he remembered, they’d seemed to be close friends at his engagement party. In fact, Matt had leapt to Shane’s defense during the cop fight and had almost gotten arrested himself.

What happened?

He snagged Aaron’s sleeve as he walked by. “What’s up with those two?” he asked, jerking his head toward Matt and Shane. “I thought they were friends. They got beef now?”

Aaron grimaced. “I have my suspicions, man. But what those are, are not for me to say. Ain’t my place.”

With one last knuckle bump, Aaron disappeared into the depths of the C-130 and started unloading his gear. Shane jogged over to join him, leaving Matt visibly shaken. Devon was patting his back soothingly.

What’s going on?

“All right, people!” Lieutenant Bradley raised his voice to get their attention, and Rhys dismissed Matt and Shane from his mind. “We’re doing free falls today with a full combat load. You have one hour to get jocked up and squared away.”

Rhys looked over at Devon. She’d done fine the day before with the “dopes on a rope,” the static line jumps. A little shaky on the exits, though, and Rhys wondered if anyone had bothered to correct her. He hadn’t because he didn’t want to step on any toes. Navy guys wouldn’t look kindly on the “Chair Force” guy horning in on their turf.

Still, parachute jumps were Rhys’s bread and butter—the “para” in pararescue, after all. And it was Devon’s life on the line. A bad exit could mean a very bad day. He winced, suspecting that’d been what happened with the DEVGRU guy. Rhys had seen laziness and carelessness before in this community, the overconfidence that came with being considered “special.”

When the lead jump instructor walked by, Rhys moved to intercept him. “Hey, Senior Chief. Did you happen to notice Lowe having trouble with her exits yesterday?”