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Cale gave her a confused look.
“What?” she demanded, giving them a dirty look.
“A board game?” Cale drawled, rolling his eyes. “On an op where you could get your ass shot off?”
Nate giggled and put his hand over his mouth, giving Sierra an apologetic look. “Seriously?” he choked.
Sierra felt heat rising in her neck, groaning because she was blushing. “Yes, seriously. What’s wrong with a game like that? It sure beats the horrible boredom we go through. As long as my spotter is on watch, I can play against myself.” And then she added defiantly, squaring her shoulders, giving them an imperious look, “I like expanding my word vocabulary.”
Nate and Cale just about fell off the log, laughing hysterically.
Sierra scowled, settling her elbows on her thighs. She happened to glance over at Mace. He had a thoughtful look on his face. At least he wasn’t laughing at her like these two dudes were.
Nate finally stopped giggling, both his arms around his belly. “I suppose… I suppose you’re a writer. Is that why you like Scrabble?”
Snorting, Sierra said, “No, I’m not a writer. But I do like crossword puzzles.”
Cale wiped the tears out of his eyes and kept chuckling. “A sniper who plays scrabble out on an op. Oh, Gawd, I am NOT EVER gonna forget this one!” He cut Sierra an amused glance. “I’m so glad you’re here. You have entertained me more in the last hour than the last three years I’ve been out in this hellish place.” He reached out, gripping her shoulder, trying not to laugh. “Thank you…”
Sierra didn’t know whether he was being sincere or not. Or just ragging on her, which military men and women tended to do mercilessly with one another.
“Give her some breathing room,” Mace ordered in a growl, giving his men a look of warning. “Nothing wrong with Scrabble.”
Instantly, Cale’s eyebrows flew upward. “Not you, too?” He looked around Sierra and grinned at Nate. “You think Kilmer plays Scrabble?” and he started giggling again.
Nate’s mouth dropped open as he considered Cale’s accusation. “No… you don’t, Kilmer. You have NEVER brought up Scrabble and we’ve been out here for three years with your sorry ass.”
Shrugging casually, Mace growled darkly, “Like you know everything about me?”
“Yeah,” Merrill answered with a huge grin, “even down to how many pieces of toilet paper you use when you shit.”
Sierra clapped her hand over her mouth, trying to stifle a huge laugh.
Nate laughed uproariously, tipped his head back, lost his balance and fell off the log.
All Sierra saw was a tangle of long legs and arms up in the air like a dead bug as she turned and failed to try and stop his fall. Nate was on the ground, rolling around, laughing himself silly. She turned and gazed across the fire pit at Kilmer. He had that dark look in his eyes, watching Nate rolling around on the damp ground.
“Really? You play Scrabble?” she asked him, hope in her voice.
Cale shook his head. “Oh, this should be good. Okay, Kilmer, tell us the truth. In your deep, dark little box of treasured secrets you hide from everyone, do you honestly play Scrabble?”
He shrugged, his face remaining unreadable. “Unlike you two assholes, I have one helluva word vocabulary, even if I don’t waste it on the likes of you two birds.”
Nate went into more spasms of laughter, rolling and holding his belly, tears running out of his shut eyes. “Oh, sure, Sarge. Let’s see,” he giggled, “your vocabulary consists of about ten words and we hear ’em all the time. All swear words!” and he went into another paroxysm. “That’s a helluva BIG vocabulary!”
Sierra couldn’t help but smile as she watched Nate with his legs up in the air, reminding her of a little boy playing and having fun. It struck her that, because of the nature of their mission here in Peru, it was dangerous all the time. There was no safe place to really let down. Even here in this meadow, it wasn’t a hundred-percent safe. And a warm bubble of happiness burbled up through her chest as she realized she was helping these men to let down and truly relax. Laughter, she knew, was always healing.
“My heart be still,” Cale said, dramatically clapping his hands dramatically to his chest as he looked over at Kilmer. “You really DO play Scrabble?”
“Yeah. What of it?”
Nate kept giggling, helpless to stop.
Sierra grinned at Mace. “Better watch it, or you’re going to be put in the same box with me,” she teased. She watched his gray eyes thaw, a slight hitch of one corner of his mouth flex upward for a faint moment.
“I’ve been in worse places,” he said, holding her gaze.
Cale tried to take several deep breaths and calm himself.
