Page 46 of Keeping a Warrior

Devon felt a wave of sympathy go through her at what he didn’t say, and she cast a glare at the sleeping Matt. These two idiots needed to figure their shit out, and fast.

“I think she wants to tell Libby—my niece—that it’s possible for her to follow in the family footsteps someday,” Shane said. “I had to tell her that you weren’t actually a SEAL, but I did say you can do a lot of cool stuff.”

“How old is Libby?”

“Four.”

Devon chuckled. “Well, by the time she’s grown up, I’m sure there will be women SEALs. Just not me. I’ll leave that trailblazing up to women a lot braver and a lot tougher than I am.”

“Huh? What do you mean, tougher than you are? You’re plenty tough. The way you drive, the way you jump out of airplanes...” He shuddered. “Super tough. Practically a SEAL.”

“No.” Devon’s emphatic tone made Shane glance at her. “I haven’t gone through BUD/S, and unless I do, I have no business even comparing what I do to what you do. Someday a woman will crush BUD/S, and no, they won’t have to lower their standards, and no, they won’t have to ‘dumb it down.’ She’ll have earned that Trident.”

Shane quirked his lips, and his voice was amused as he said, “I think I need to introduce you to Lex. I have a feeling you two would get along just fine.”

“I’d love to meet her.” Devon hesitated before asking, “You said Libby’s dad was a SEAL. Is he—”

“KIA,” Shane said briefly. “Right before she was born.”

So around four years ago. Devon flinched. The same time as...

She firmly shoved that thought away.

“I’m sorry for your loss,” was all she said, and Shane shook his head.

“It was the SEAL community’s loss. Not Lex’s. Not mine. But thank you.” He made an effort to smile. “Okay, so tell me more about the CST program. I have my orders.”

She’d just launched into a brief overview of her job when she noticed Matt sitting up in his hammock and rubbing his eyes. Next to her, Shane stiffened, his attention clearly diverted.

Matt swung his legs over the side and sauntered toward the back of the plane where the urinal was, completely ignoring Shane, who muttered something. He turned determinedly back to Devon.

“You were saying?”

“Forget it,” she said, amused. “I’ll tell you later.”

Shane didn’t stop her as she got to her feet and wandered toward the poker game, trying to ignore the sudden pressure in her own bladder. Besides the reeking urinal, there was also a crude toilet mounted onto the bulkhead, but using it would mean dropping her pants in full view of everyone on the plane if they should choose to look.

Not gonna happen.

The more she tried to ignore it, though, the more the urge built. Rhys glanced over at her, then got up and approached her, concern on his face.

“What is it?” he asked quietly.

Devon bit her lip and squeezed her legs together. “Just remembering the time I was stuck on a troop transport and the driver said we would not stop for anyone to take a piss, that we should all just go in a bottle. Fine for the guys, not gonna work for the girls. Eight hours of holding it later, this chick a few rows behind me finally yelled ‘Fuck it’ and peed all over herself, her seat and her seatmate.” She glared at him. “You all have these convenient little hoses and...”

“Whoa. Little?” Rhys raised an eyebrow. “Hold on there.”

Words failed her, and Rhys laughed. “Sorry, couldn’t resist. C’mon, I’ll act as your privacy screen.”

By then Devon was too desperate to protest. She did her business as quickly as possible while Rhys stood facing away from her, his big body blocking everyone’s view. When she was finished and back at his side, he offered her a squirt of hand sanitizer from the tiny bottle in his pocket.

“Thanks,” she said.

“You’re welcome. Anytime.” He elbowed her gently. “Just be careful with the ‘little’ remarks from here on out, though, would ya? Fragile egos ’round here.”

Rhys grinned to show he was joking, and Devon’s heart gave an inconvenient thump. “Noted. And my apologies.”

He went back to his game. Devon lay down on her woobie, thankfully managing to doze off until the stomach-dropping sensation of the plane descending jolted her awake.