Aleck suspected Braun was embarrassed he hadn’t tried to do anything, even though he was closest to the girl. It probably didn’t help that he’d most likely gotten a rash of shit from the other guys in his platoon. From that moment on, Braun had taken it upon himself to be a thorn in Aleck’s side.
“Thanks,” Aleck said, even though he knew that wasn’t what Braun wanted to hear. He’d done his best to stay away from the man, especially after reading his service record. He wasn’t supposed to have it, but an envelope had appeared at his condo one day and Aleck hadn’t been able to resist reading it.
Somehow, Baker Rawlins had gotten wind of Braun’s antagonistic attitude toward Aleck and had taken it upon himself to get a hold of his records. Baker wasn’t someone Aleck ever wanted to cross. The man was spooky as hell, and could get just about any information he wanted on anyone, as evidenced by the packet on Braun that had appeared on his doorstep.
Apparently, Braun had tried out to be a SEAL but hadn’t made it. He’d been cut fairly early in the process, hadn’t even made it to BUD/S. He’d failed the psychological assessment, which wasn’t exactly a surprise. The man was a bully who hated not being the center of attention.
The fact that the SEAL teams on base definitely got preferential treatment probably didn’t sit well with him. Regardless, Braun went out of his way to cause trouble for the teams whenever he could, and for some reason, he’d singled out Aleck for his own special brand of attention.
“Give it up,” Mustang told him.
“Give what up?” Braun said not so innocently. “I’m just congratulating a fellow sailor on a job well done.”
“You’re pissed that once again, Aleck is out there doing good for the community, while you sit around with your thumb up your ass, wishing it was you getting the attention,” Jag said in a low, deadly tone.
Jag wasn’t usually the first one to jump into a verbal confrontation. Not when they were on a mission and not here at home, on base. But he was the first one to act if one of his teammates was threatened. Aleck wasn’t sure why he was suddenly worked up over this asshole, but he had a feeling if something wasn’t done, the situation could get out of control.
“I appreciate the kudos,” Aleck said, stepping between Jag and Braun. The last thing they needed was a physical altercation, even if the other man was doing his best to provoke one of them into it.
“You’re an asshole,” Braun hissed, his true feelings finally coming out. “You think you’re all badass and better than anyone else just because you’re a SEAL.”
“No,” Aleck retorted. “I’m not better than anyone else because I’m a SEAL, but I’m definitely more observant than the average sailor. I’ve been trained to be that way. And if that means I’m in a position to help a little girl, or a grown woman who’s being harassed, you better believe I’m gonna step in. When’s the last time you stood up for someone else, Braun? You should try championing other people rather than tearing them down. I think you’d find it makes you a hell of a lot happier.”
“Fuck you,” Braun said, his eyes narrowed. “I would’ve saved that girl, but you pushed me out of the way so you could get the glory.”
“See? That’s where your thinking is fucked up,” Mustang said. “Aleck didn’t put himself in danger because he wanted a pat on the back. He did it because it was the right thing to do.”
“Whatever,” Braun said with a roll of his eyes. “You better watch your back. One of these days someone’s gonna expose the fact that you’re not a superhero, and you’ll come crashing down to Earth.”
“Was that a threat?” Slate asked, stepping toward him menacingly.
Proving that he wasn’t completely stupid, Braun took a step backward. “No,” he said, but he didn’t sound nearly as cocky as he had a second ago. “Just a fact. You aren’t bulletproof, Smart Aleck, and one of these days your true colors are gonna show through, and I’m gonna be there to see it…and rejoice.”
Then, as if knowing he was two seconds away from being laid out on the ground by a bunch of SEALs, Braun turned and walked away as if he hadn’t just threatened one of their own.
Aleck’s hands curled into fists. “What an asshole,” he muttered.
“Please let me go after him and teach him a lesson,” Slate said to Mustang.
But their team leader shook his head. “No. The last thing I need is you getting into trouble over him. He’s not worth it.”
“Oh, it would totally be worth it to smash his face in,” Slate said.
Aleck took a deep breath. He didn’t like the not-so-veiled threat Braun had lobbed his way, but he wasn’t about to stoop to his level and didn’t want any of his friends to get in trouble.
“Ignore him,” Aleck told Slate and the others. “He’s hated me since his cowardice was revealed to the entire company. It’s fine.”
“Can you imagine if he’d somehow slipped through the cracks and become a SEAL?” Pid asked with a shudder. “What a fucking disaster.”
Aleck had to agree. Being on a SEAL team was rewarding, but one of the hardest things he’d ever done. He relied on the five men around him to have his back and had no doubt they would, no matter what the situation. But if Braun was on his team, he wouldn’t trust the man as far as he could throw him, which wasn’t a good situation when you were balls deep behind enemy territory.
“You need to watch your back,” Mustang warned. “I don’t trust that guy.”
“I will,” Aleck said.
“I mean it. We all read the report Baker sent you, and he’s unstable. There’s no telling what he might do to try to bring you down,” Mustang said.
It wasn’t Aleck’s proudest moment when he’d shared the info Baker had sent with his team. But they shared everything. And Aleck knew without a doubt that none of them would ever admit how they’d gotten Braun’s service record. That was the kind of bond SEALs had.
“I’ll be careful,” Aleck said.
“Good. All right, let’s get back inside and see if we can find out more about this Iran situation. I really don’t wanna cross the mountains to get into the country to get this guy out. Let’s hope negotiations are successful and we don’t have to,” Mustang said.
“Oh, come on, you know a thirty-mile pleasure hike over a ten-thousand-foot-high peak into hostile territory is just what you want to do next week,” Aleck joked.
Mustang just shook his head and headed back inside the conference room so they could continue going over maps and intel.
The rest of the team followed. Aleck grabbed the door and held it open for his friends. Slate was the last one to approach, and he stopped, giving the others time to get far enough ahead so they wouldn’t hear him.
“You want me to fuck him up, just say the word,” Slate told Aleck.
“I appreciate that,” Aleck said, and he did. “But the day I can’t handle that pencil-necked douchebag, is the day my Budweiser pin should be taken away.”
Slate eyed him for a long moment before nodding once. Then they both headed inside after the rest of the team.