The women in the condo certainly made the deployment easier, and once more, Kenna kicked herself for not getting them all together before now. Next time, she’d be sure to suggest a sleepover sooner.
Next time…
Would there be a next time?
Yeah, Kenna was pretty sure there would be. Unless something drastic happened, she had a feeling she and Marshall would be together for the long haul.
“Please don’t let anything drastic happen,” she whispered, then closed her eyes. The room was spinning and she already had a headache, but Kenna wouldn’t change anything about the night.
Chapter Sixteen
“Fuck,” Aleck muttered as he and the rest of his teammates stumbled toward the plane in Germany that would take them back home. It had been six weeks since they’d left for Iran. Six long, hard, frustrating, and grueling weeks.
They’d been dropped miles away from where intel on the American they were sent in to rescue claimed he was located. They’d done a HALO parachute drop, high altitude, low opening, into the Iranian mountains. From there, they’d hiked through the wilderness for days, doing their best to stay off anyone’s radar, which meant moving a lot slower than they might have otherwise. They’d finally located their target and had extracted him without any issues—but at the last minute, they’d been spotted.
They’d had to flee with the civilian they’d rescued back into the mountains. It had been another couple of weeks before they were able to make their way across the border to Iraq. Which didn’t mean they were clear to head home. They’d had to lie low for a while, then there were video meetings with their superiors and intel they’d needed to pass on about Iran.
The entire team had been on guard for six weeks, their adrenaline on overload. By the time they’d finally been able to start preparations to head back to the States, everyone was more than ready to go home.
But they’d done what they’d set out to do, rescued a fellow American. Not that the man was very grateful. He’d bitched and moaned the entire time they were on the run, trying to get out of Iran so they wouldn’t all be tossed into a prison cell with the key thrown away. The man had slowed their escape considerably—not that they hadn’t expected that part—and hadn’t muttered even one thank you before he was taken away by medical personnel to be checked out.
Aleck and the rest of the team didn’t do what they did for thanks. They did it for their country, because it was the right thing to do…but a tiny bit of appreciation, or at the very least respect, would’ve been nice.
Now, they were simply too exhausted to be overly bitter that the man hadn’t been grateful for their efforts.
They’d been flown to Germany, where they were switching planes before heading to Hawaii. No one had wanted to stay overnight, even though it would mean a comfortable bed and a shower. They just wanted to get home.
Aleck couldn’t fucking wait to see Kenna. He’d worried about her more than he probably should’ve, considering the focus required for his job. He’d been gone much longer than he’d expected. Was she okay? Had she decided she couldn’t handle dating a SEAL?
Feeling so unsure about a relationship wasn’t something he’d really dealt with before, and Aleck didn’t like it.
He collapsed into a seat and Mustang grabbed the one next to him. The plane wasn’t crowded, which Aleck appreciated. Hell, the other military men and women headed home probably did too, considering his team had come straight from the field after not partaking in a proper shower for the last six weeks.
“You okay?” Mustang asked as he got settled and after the plane had taken off.
“Exhausted, dirty, impatient to get home and see Kenna, but yeah, otherwise good,” Aleck said honestly, no hint of the smart aleck in evidence.
“Same,” Mustang said with a nod. “Except I want to see my wife instead of your Kenna.”
Your Kenna. Damn, that sounded good.
“Though, you don’t look all that happy for a man who will get to see his girlfriend soon,” Mustang observed.
“Can I ask you something?” Aleck asked.
“Of course. You can always ask me whatever you want.”
“Things were pretty intense between me and Kenna when I left Hawaii. We went from one to a thousand really quickly. I mean, I was thrilled about it, and I think she was too. But we hadn’t slept together yet—damn Huttner and his bad timing.” Aleck paused to snort and shake his head. “But anyway, I haven’t talked to her in six weeks. The first week was the hardest, because I’d gotten used to texting and calling her every day. Hearing her laugh and listening to her talk about work somehow made my day better.” He paused for another moment.
But he didn’t have to even ask Mustang what he was worried about. He knew.
“And now you’re worried that because you’ve been gone so long, things won’t be the same when you get home,” Mustang finished.
“Exactly,” Aleck said with a relieved sigh that his team leader had pinpointed exactly what was bothering him.
“You want me to be honest, or do you need me to tell you what you want to hear?” Mustang asked.
“Honest. Always.”
“Right, so there’s a chance that both of you got caught up in the heat of the moment. That your hormones took over. You might get back and things won’t be the same. She’ll seem distant. You both got used to not talking, and it might be hard to pick up where you left off. Hell, she could’ve met someone else in the last six weeks, for all you know. Someone who isn’t in the military and won’t leave without being able to say where they’re going or how long they’ll be gone.”
“Damn,” Aleck breathed.
“You told me to be honest,” Mustang reminded him.
“I know. And I appreciate it. But that sucks.”
Mustang chuckled. “It does. But I wasn’t done. I was going to add that you might find you’re even closer because of the time you spent apart. They do say that absence makes the heart grow fonder.”
“Who the hell is ‘they’ anyway?” Aleck muttered.
Mustang laughed again. “Who the hell knows. Do you trust Kenna?”
That was easy. “Yes.”
“And how do you feel about her, now that you’ve been gone?” Mustang asked.
“I miss her. She has a way of making me see the positive aspects of life. And she’s made me really think about some of my beliefs. I grew up without having to worry about money in the least, and while I try really hard not to let that affect me now, it obviously still does. She calls me on my bullshit, in a nice way. I also like that we never run out of things to talk about.”
“Well, you did only know her a few weeks before we left,” Mustang said with a snort.
“You know what I mean,” Aleck told his friend.
“I do. Because I feel the same about Elodie. I don’t really have any great advice other than to see where things between you stand when you get home. Are things awkward? Is she thrilled to know you’re back? Does she make excuses as to why she can’t see you? Does she seem reticent? All the worrying in the world isn’t going to help. You’re just going to have to assess the situation when you see her again.”