I bit my lip to keep from asking why they needed a chief medical officer. I didn’t like to think about Kyle being in harm’s way, even though, after what I’d witnessed the previous night, it was obvious he knew how to handle himself in dangerous situations.
“And Wheeler?” I asked about the final teammate.
“Flyboy,” Mai said.
“Former Air Force,” Savannah interpreted. “There’s a little bit of sibling rivalry between the different militarybranches, so he takes a lot of shit on this majority-former-Army team.”
“Enough about work,” Mai said. “Come on, let’s get you a drink. We need to have some of the good stuff before Pasco gets behind the bar.”
“Ugh, that makes me glad I’m not drinking right now,” Savannah said. “There’s a HEAT...tradition, I guess you could call it, that the IT guys make signature drinks for the team when they’re all together.”
“And I take it that’s a bad thing.”
“The worst fucking drinks you’ve ever tasted,” Mai said. “On my first team in HEAT, Jason Jensen was our IT lead, and he started it. Now that he’s head of IT for the agency, it seems to have become a job requirement that all our IT people make shitty drinks for their teams. I’m suspicious that he’s holding secret training sessions to teach them how to be so terrible.”
“And all the teammates love the tradition, no matter how much they complain about it,” Savannah said. “But you’re the one who said we’re done talking about work, Mai, so get behind the bar.” She bumped against my shoulder. “So, you and Kyle. As the wife of one of his best friends, he would want me to know.”
Mai quirked an eyebrow as she pulled out three rocks glasses. “Bullshit. If he wanted you to know, he would tell you.” She smiled at me. “That doesn’t mean hedoesn’twant us to know.”
“I think he’d be okay with me saying we’re very good friends,” I answered as diplomatically as I could, since it was Kyle’s place to share his relationship status with them. They seemed awfully nosy for people who were used to secret-keeping. But I couldn’t help liking them, probably because they seemed so genuinely happy for Kyle and me.
“Judging from the ultimatum he gave X, I’d say he thinks you’re more than friends,” Savannah said.
Mai slammed the bottle down on the bar and cleared her throat.
“What ultimatum?” I asked.
Mai and Savannah stared at each other. Mai shook her head. Savanna pursed her lips, then frowned. They were having a wordless conversation. I recognized it because after ten years as besties, Gina and I had the ability to do the same thing.
“Please tell me,” I said.
Savannah gave Mai one more sharp look. “She deserves to know.” She looked at me. “He threatened to quit.”
“Quit? For me?” My heart leapt into my throat.
“Yes,” Mai said. “He’s lucky X finds him amusing or she would have handed him his ass and his walking papers.” She poured generous splashes of whisky in two of the glasses, then filled a third with clear soda and a splash of grenadine, and topped off with a handful of maraschino cherries. She handed that glass to Savannah.
Savannah frowned down at the drink Mai had made for her. “Just because I can’t have a real drink doesn’t mean I want a Shirley Temple. This makes me not blame X for having favorite agents, like one who is named Kyle and not Mai.” She looked at me. “He would never act like such a smartass.”
“Are we talking about KyleRogers?” Mai asked. She handed me a glass of whiskey. “Sorry, Cami, I’m joking.”
“He is a smartass.” I lifted my glass in toast, and the three of us laughed as we clinked glasses and sipped our drinks. I really did like Kyle’s friends, at least the ones who didn’t burst into his house wielding weapons. “I didn’t get the feeling he’s one of X’s favorites,” I continued. “She didmention something about the two years she’s invested in him.”
“Don’t let her fool you,” Savannah said. “She a big... Well, she has a big... She has a soft spot. I think. Maybe a small one.”
“I can neither confirm, nor deny, nor discuss,” Mai said.
They stood on each side of me and continued their conversation over my head, literally, since they towered over me. I barely heard a word because part of my brain had stopped working when I’d learned Kyle had threatened to quit the job he loved, to leave the team he loved more, for me. He was an idiot, but he was a sweet idiot, and I was beginning to suspect he was mine.
20
KYLE
By the time we returned home, it was nearly 0100 hours. Bella made her pit stop in the front yard, kicked up some grass, and trotted up onto the porch. She sat and waited by the door to be let into her house, as it was clear she now thought of my place as ours. Once inside, she led me to the stairs. She was ready to be tucked in for the night.
Cami followed us up the stairs. “I need to brush my teeth to get the taste out of my mouth of whatever that drink was that Pasco made.”
“You were a good sport to even drink it,” I said. “And I’ll be right behind you after I take care of Bella.”
