“Thank you all,” she told the men standing around her. “I mean it. Thank you.”
They all nodded at her.
The last glimpse she had of Walker was him turning around and walking away with his six friends and teammates surrounding him.
Chapter Five
Three Weeks Later
“What is up with you, man?” Lucky asked impatiently. “You’ve been in a funk for weeks now.”
It was oh-six-hundred in the morning, and Trigger and his team were doing their customary five-mile warm-up run before starting the rest of their PT exercises.
“He’s been that way since Venezuela,” Grover added helpfully.
“Ever since he met her,” Lefty added not so helpfully.
“Fuck off,” Trigger muttered. He loved his friends, but they were a pain in the ass.
“Why don’t you just call her already?” Doc asked seriously.
“You know why,” Trigger said.
“No, I don’t,” Doc countered.
“Because of what we are,” Trigger told him.
“What? Men?”
Trigger stopped running and glared at his friends as they all stopped as well and stared at him in confusion. “We’re Delta,” he said simply.
“And?” Oz asked when no one else said anything.
Trigger blew out a breath in frustration. “You all know as well as I do what that means. Our lives aren’t our own. We could be called away this afternoon for who knows how long. We could be killed in action and no one would ever know how or where we died. We’ve all dated, and it never works out. Some women just want to screw a Delta. They love the idea of what we are and not really who we are as people. Not to mention, a lot of chicks get fed up with all the secrecy and eventually end it. I won’t do that to Gillian.”
“Ghost and his team have all made it work,” Brain said matter-of-factly.
Trigger tried to come up with an argument that would make sense, but he couldn’t. The fact of the matter was, he was jealous as hell of Ghost, Fletch, Coach, and the others. They had made relationships work. They had women who loved them, who they loved in return, and many of them even had kids now. Like Annie. The firecracker who had him and anyone she came into contact with wrapped around her little finger.
He sighed. “I’m afraid she’s too good for me,” Trigger said softly, hating to admit the truth. “I took a second look at the information we received from the FBI, and from what I can tell, she’s smart, extremely hardworking, and dedicated to her job.”
“And those are bad things?” Brain asked.
“Well, no, but you all know what military life is like. It’s hard. I’m afraid I’d somehow…contaminate her. She’s strong as fuck and independent to boot. She’s got a loving family and friends who would do anything for her. I don’t want to mess that up. You all know as well as I do that getting involved with us means the possibility of moving, and that means taking her away from her support network.”
“Seems to me,” Lefty drawled, “that’s exactly the kind of woman you should want. That we all want. We need a partner who won’t crumble when we’re deployed. Someone who can mow the grass and figure out how to call for a fucking plumber when the toilet overflows. It’s a good thing that she has a support system. And even if we do get moved out of Texas, she’d make a new support network, with other Delta wives. Besides, no one’s saying you have to marry this chick. You like her, she obviously likes you. So what’s really bothering you?”
Trigger hesitated. He knew what he was about to say would sound crazy, but these were his best friends. Men he’d die for, and they’d do the same for him.
“I think she’s it,” he said, putting a hand on his stomach, which was spinning and rolling.
“She’s what?” Grover asked in confusion.
“I don’t know how to explain how I know, but we clicked out there. It’s stupid, I realize that. Certifiable. We don’t even know each other. But something inside knows she could be it for me. And if I get to know her better, I’m not going to want to let her go. If she dumps me, it’ll kill me.”
No one said anything for a long moment, then Brain smiled. Huge. “Congratulations!”
The others chimed in with their own felicitations.
“Hang on, you guys,” Trigger complained. “Nothing’s happened. She’s probably totally forgotten all about me by now.”
“There’s only one way to find out,” Doc said reasonably. “Call her.”
“I don’t have her number,” Trigger backtracked.
“I’ll find it for you,” Brain volunteered. “And her address too.”
“Talk to her, man,” Lucky urged. “What can it hurt?”
“Why are you guys pushing this so hard?” Trigger asked. He couldn’t deny he was happy for their support, but was a bit confused by it.
“Because none of us are getting any younger,” Lefty said reasonably. “You especially.”
Trigger punched him in the arm and everyone laughed.
“But seriously, we all love the Army and what we do, but we won’t be Deltas forever. There’ll come a time when we’ll sit up and look around and be alone. And that sucks. I want to find someone smart, independent, and sassy as fuck. Someone who will kiss me and tell me to kick some bad-guy ass when I leave, and be thrilled to see me when I get back. Someone who won’t cheat on me and won’t decide that she’s sick of waiting for me to come home.
“I want her to understand what I do is important to me. In return, I’ll treat her like a queen. She’ll be the center of my world, and I’ll make sure she knows it. Relationships are hard as fuck, even more so for us. So if you feel as if this woman is the one who can be all that for you, I’ll do whatever I can to make that happen for you. And I’ll fucking kill anyone who tries to come between you and your woman.”
Trigger wasn’t sure what to say. He was deeply touched.
“What Lefty said,” Grover quipped.
Everyone laughed again.
“I’ll think about it,” Trigger said.
Brain rolled his eyes. “I’ll have her info to you this afternoon.”
Trigger nodded, then took off running. He turned around and said, “You guys comin’ or are you gonna let this old man kick your ass?”
That was all it took for the rest of the guys to dig in their heels and chase after him.
Later that afternoon, Trigger was sitting in his office when a knock sounded at the door. Looking up, he saw it was Brain.
“You know, you didn’t really have to rush and get Gillian’s info to me,” he joked.
But Brain didn’t crack a smile. “We need to talk,” he said instead.
Trigger immediately stiffened. He nodded to a chair in front of his desk.
Brain sat, and he didn’t make him wait. “You know how Gillian didn’t turn off the phone connection that last time in the hopes that we’d be able to get something from the hijackers when they talked to each other?”
“Yeah,” Trigger said.