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“Why are we going there?” Riel asked, sounding confused after being told that he was needed where Hayes was being debriefed.
“Yes, well I don’t quite know the answer to that, either. I was just told to pick you up and get you there.” Supposedly Riel’s superior in the Navy had said that he was needed. His name was Tim, and he’d told both Riel and me that Riel had eaten at his house. Played with his kids.
I studied Tim.
“We were going on vacation. Literally, we were walking out the door to drive there,” I said gesturing to our luggage. “Can I go, too? We could just hop right on over to Destin after we’re done in St. Petersburg.”
Tim shrugged. “I don’t see why not.”
He eyed Riel and me warily, as if he wasn’t sure what to think about us going on vacation together.
Well, that made two of us, buddy.
We were fumbling right along with everyone else.
We were attracted to each other, yet neither of us had acted on anything.
We knew that something huge—an elephant named Luca—sat in the room with us, making everything feel awkward.
And the damn DNA test was taking too long.
Granted, it’d only been a couple of hours at most since we’d dropped the samples off in the lab last night, but that was enough that I felt like I had time to overthink.
“Okay.” I nodded. “Do you want us to drive? Or do you want to follow us?”
Tim was already shaking his head.
“No driving,” he said. “We have a military plane at the airport.”
There was a long moment of silence before Riel said, “A plane.”
I started to get a sinking feeling in my stomach.
“We won’t have a car when we get there,” he said. “How will we get back? How will we get to Destin?”
Tim looked thoughtful for a second.
“We’ll figure that part out when we get there,” he finally said.
My eyes locked with Riel’s, and his answering ‘are you okay with this’ lift of his brow had me smiling despite the butterflies that were racing through my stomach.
In truth, those butterflies had been there for a while now.
The first time that Riel did something that reminded me of… no. I wouldn’t go there. Not right now.
“We’re ready when you are, then.” Riel swept his hand out, indicating for Tim to take the lead.
Tim did take the lead.
Then Tim took most of my baggage while Riel got all of his.
I looked longingly at the vehicle that Riel had packed to the gills with our things.
“How’s your dog doing, Riel?” Tim asked, trying to make small talk.
Riel shrugged as he stopped next to the vehicle he’d arrived in.
It was a military Humvee.
I didn’t even realize that they drove these in the states.
“The dog doesn’t know who I am,” Riel said. “I saw him yesterday for the first time because my so-called parents decided to give him up for adoption the moment that Malachi’s foot stepped out of the country.”
There was a long pause, then Tim said. “Malachi’s parents were always dick heads.”
That was when I realized that he’d referred to Malachi in the ‘third’ person just as Riel had.
What the fuck?
Did he know something?
“Do you know any of what’s going on?” I asked curiously.
Tim had his game face on, though, and not a single guess slipped out as he said, “I’m not allowed to talk about it.”
I looked over at Riel to see what he thought about Tim’s words but was awarded with a just as blank of an expression on his face, too.
I sighed, thinking that this vacation wasn’t going to be at all what I expected it to be.
In fact, I was guessing that there was going to be a lot of ‘oh my Gods’ coming out of my mouth here shortly.
We planned on arriving in Destin, Florida two days ahead of my entire group of classmates.
That was all because Cromwell wanted to take three-quarters of a month vacation in Costa Rica.
A vacation that took his brother out of the country while there was yet another shooting that he was involved in.
Though, they didn’t realize that he was involved in it until after he’d already boarded the plane and was halfway there.
Not that I really could complain.
I mean, Cromwell leaving meant that we could leave, too.
Because technically we weren’t allowed to practice without a doctor there to make sure we didn’t fuck anything up.
Meaning he signed off on us early, then kicked us to the curb until next year.
It was a much-needed break for sure, and I was ecstatic that I got to spend a little time with my family and… Riel.
Talking was limited after Tim said he couldn’t say anything more.
In fact, it was so quiet that I could hear myself breathe, and then I started being aware of my breathing.
Have you ever thought about your breathing before? Thought, how cool is it that I breathe for myself?
