Laura Kaye: Hard As You Can

“Uh-huh,” she said, trying to hold back a grin as Nick kissed her cheek.

Shane turned away and busied himself with filching a bottle of water from the box that held Marz’s supplies. The H 2O was warm but did the job.

“Okay, you two. Get a room,” Jeremy said.

“Aren’t you the one who supposedly walks around naked?” Becca asked, crossing her arms.

Jer reached for the button on his jeans and tugged it apart. “No, but your wish is my command, sweetheart.” He winked, stomping all over Nick’s most exposed nerve. Shane rather respected the younger Rixey’s ability to get under his brother’s skin. Nick was usually buttoned up pretty damn tight.

Nick’s glare slipped into an outright scowl as he pulled Becca in tight and buried her face in his chest. “Quick. Hide your eyes, or you’ll be scarred for life.”

Her laughter was free but muffled. “It’s not my wish, Jeremy, it’s not my wish,” she said. She pulled back, face all squinched up, and asked, “Is it safe yet?”

“Yeah, yeah,” Jeremy said. “Just know it’s a standing invitation.”

Nick darted around Becca and tackled Jer before he even knew what hit him. The tussle turned into a full-out wrestling match.

“They really are like twelve-year-olds when they’re together, aren’t they?” She shook her head, but the affection for both of the Rixeys was clear in her expression. “Whenever you guys are done, I was hoping someone would take me to the grocery store, so I can pick up everything I need for our special dinner.”

Before they’d gone out on the mission to rescue Charlie, Becca had promised they’d celebrate his safe return with a big meal of everyone’s favorites. It’d been a nice way of letting the team know she believed in them. Sitting down around a table and catching up with old friends, and some new ones, too, sounded like something they could all use.

“Gimme ten to shower, and I’ll be happy to take you,” Shane said.

Becca’s eyes widened in surprise, making it clear Shane had some fence-mending to do there. He hadn’t exactly given her the warmest reception when they’d first met because he’d let his feelings about her father color his reaction to her. Big mistake. She deserved better.

“Your truck’s gone, remember? I’ll take her,” Nick said. Right.

“Why don’t you both go?” Jeremy said. “Derek and I have this under control and, given everything, maybe you should both go with her.”

Shane shrugged and, after a moment, Nick nodded. “Go take care of your swass and swalls, then, McCallan,” Nick said.

Shane threw a punch as he passed the guy, but Nick dodged with a laugh.

“What the heck are swass and swalls?” Becca asked.

“Sweaty ass and sweaty balls,” Shane, Nick, and Derek said in unison.

“Oh. Ew,” Becca said amid the men’s chuckles. “Yes, do take care of that, Shane.”

He grinned over his shoulder and tossed off a salute. “Ma’am, yes, ma’am.” Leaving the joking and laughter behind him, Shane hightailed it inside and took the industrial staircase two steps at a time. In the quiet of the stairwell, the questions that had plagued his run returned, but this time they came with something of an answer.

He couldn’t do anything to save Molly. Sixteen years too late for that.

And he couldn’t control his subconscious.

But he could find out what had happened to Crystal after they left. The question was just when to go, how to approach her, and how to keep from getting caught. Oh, and how to get the guys on board with the plan.

Easy as sin.

Right? Probably not. But Shane was like an old dog with a new bone when he wanted to be. And this was one of those times.

I ’d like to propose a toast to Becca, for bringing us all together. And for this amazing meal,” Shane McCallan said, raising his glass and hoping it would help make amends with her.

Becca smiled and ducked her chin as Nick pulled her in snug against his side. All around the makeshift plywood-and-sawhorse table, glasses went up along with appreciative comments about the incredible dinner Becca had spent the day preparing. A mountainous platter of fried chicken, huge crock of homemade meatballs, overflowing bowls of mashed potatoes and roasted vegetables, and a plate of fresh corn bread stacked a mile high filled the table, not to mention an apple pie and a chocolate cake. It was all the favorites everyone had asked for to celebrate Charlie’s rescue.

And what they’d accomplished was worth a celebration because they’d been ass deep in alligators. Dumb luck had played far too great a role in everyone making it home safe and mostly sound. They only had a few scars to show for it, thanks to Becca’s skilled nursing.

“You’re more than welcome,” Becca said, raising her own glass. “But I have to make a toast of my own. To each of you—” She swept her gaze around the table, from Nick beside her, to Shane at the end, to Jeremy and Easy across from her, and to Beckett and Marz on her other side. “This dinner does not begin to be enough to thank you for everything you’ve done for me and Charlie, nor are my words. But know I’ll do everything I can to help you right the wrong that was done to you. And that you all have a place in my heart. So, to each of you.”

The toasts were more subdued this time, but the expression on every man’s face made clear the respect he felt for Becca.

“Now, let’s eat!” she said with a big smile.

“I hope there’s enough,” Jeremy said, setting off a raucous round of laughter.

“You think he’s kidding,” Nick said. “Boy might be skinny, but he can pack away some chow.”

As everyone filled their plates, Shane glanced around the table and took a long pull from his beer. The group of old friends—and a few new—ate and laughed and joked and shared stories. Hard to believe they’d only been reunited for a few days.

The food and the conversation were great, but the restless energy that had buzzed through Shane during his run, at the grocery store, and as they worked with Jer’s friend to install the barbed-wire fencing still flowed through Shane’s veins so fast and so thick he could barely sit still. Over this goat fuck of an operation. Over the cover-up that had changed everything for him. Over the woman he’d met last night and what might’ve happened to her after they bugged out of there.

Crystal.

“You okay, Shane?” Becca asked.

He smiled. “Happy as a pig in a poke. Food’s delicious.”

Becca laughed.

“Try to restrain your inner redneck, there, McCallan,” Easy said with the hint of a grin. You might’ve thought a big black guy from inner-city Philly and a good old boy from the South wouldn’t get along, but Shane and Easy had been fast friends from the beginning. In fact, Shane was responsible for crafting the guy’s nickname out of the initials of his full name, Edward Cantrell. And Easy, well, Easy was responsible for almost single-handedly holding off the tangos who’d ambushed their convoy, giving Shane, trained as their team’s backup medic, time to patch up the damage a grenade had inflicted on both Derek and Beckett.

Shane held out his hands. “Gotta be who I am.”

Easy chuckled. “Well, be who you are without hogging the mashed potatoes. Pass ’em on down here.”

Before long, everyone was clearing away their paper dinner plates in favor of clean plates for dessert. By the way they all attacked the cake, pie, and vanilla ice cream, you’d have never known they’d just demolished a veritable feast.

After inhaling his first piece of chocolate cake, Jeremy scooped another wedge onto his plate. “What?” he said as he dug in.