“No.” She’d smiled as she kissed my cheek. “We’ll be fine, and I’ll see you tomorrow night.”
Back at the barracks, I’d had some work to finish, but still, I’d gotten to bed at a decent hour. Even so, when the alarm went off the next morning, I felt like I’d been hit by a large speeding truck.
Down on the field for formation, Jake smirked when he spotted me. “Dude, you look like you were ridden hard and put away wet. Rough weekend?”
I grinned and shook my head. “Actually, best weekend of my life so far. But I didn’t get a whole lot of sleep.”
“Ahhhhh ...” He nodded knowingly. “So that’s why Kade looks like shit, too. Because your best weekend was with his little sister.”
I glanced down the line to where our friend stood. “Could be.”
“You know, you might want to talk with him. I understand what’s going on with you and Jacey, but this isn’t easy on Kade. Throw him a bone. The guy’s suffering.”
I lifted my shoulder, non-committal. “I did the right thing. I came clean, I told him how I felt about Jacey, and I kept all my promises.” I leaned down, stretching my back. “What’s between us—Jacey and me—it’s not just a hook-up. It’s real.”
Jake cocked one eyebrow. “You found her, huh?”
“Found her?” I frowned.
He slapped my back. “The one. You found the one for you. Haven’t you noticed that all of us have gone from alone to attached in the last year or so? It’s not accidental. We’ve hit a certain age, and we’ve gotten lucky enough to fall in love with women who not only tolerate our pathetic asses but seem to love us, too. Crazy, but look around. You were the last hold-out, and now you’ve fallen, too.”
I nodded. “Yeah, I know.” I turned my head, taking in Max, who was talking with Shaw and Derek. Kade was the only one of us standing alone and silent.
The lieutenant leading our run this morning called out, and everyone fell in. For the next five miles, I concentrated only on moving my feet and staying upright between the column of men and women on either side of me, listening half-heartedly to the guy who was calling the cadences.
Afterward, as the battalion dispersed, I took a deep breath and wandered over to where Kade was bent over, hands on his knees as he caught his breath. He glanced up at me over his shoulder.
“Hey.”
“Hey.” I crossed my arms over my chest. “So. Good run?”
“Yeah. You?”
“Decent.” I cleared my throat. “Actually, I’m kind of hurting today. I guess I can’t handle traveling over the weekend, having fun and still getting up on time Monday morning.” I managed a rueful grin. “Think this is what getting old feels like?”
Kade snorted. “Dude, we’re not old. We’re just hitting our stride.” He paused. “Things change, and our priorities might not be the same now, but that doesn’t mean we forget what’s important. It was like when Emma was born, and all you guys helped me pick up the slack when she didn’t sleep at night for months. Or when Derek was hurt, and we all pitched in. Yeah, we’ve got women and families, but we’re still us.”
“I hope so.” I stared off toward the barracks. “What about us, Kade? I mean, I don’t want to get all sensitive and touchy-feely, but I feel bad about how everything’s gone down between you and me since I’ve been with Jacey.”
He huffed out a bark of laughter. “Yeah. I know.” He rubbed his forehead. “I spent the weekend with a wife who was so pissed about the way I acted Saturday that she barely spoke to me. Then my sister got home Sunday and told me that I was being an asshole. If that wasn’t bad enough, my mother called from California late last night and reamed me inside out, telling me that if I didn’t figure out my shit, I was going to drive my sister away. She told me that she hadn’t even blinked when I’d brought home a pregnant wife, so how dare I judge Jacey for falling in love with a wonderful man like Owen Hughes?”
“Ouch.” I winced. “That sucks, man. Sorry.”
“Not your fault.” Kade met my eyes. “This is on me. I know that. You didn’t do anything wrong, Owen. You’ve treated my sister like a queen. I’m the one who was a fucking jerk. I owe you and Jacey both an apology.”
I kicked at the ground. “Nah. I get it. She’s your little sister. She’s always going to be the one you protect, and no man’s ever going to be good enough for her. That’s the way it should be.”
“Maybe, but I know you, Hughes. You’ve always been a great guy. I should’ve trusted you.” He narrowed his eyes. “It’s tough. For so long, I felt like I had to be the one to take care of her. Even after I could see that you two were good together, I let that feeling get in the way of acting the right way. I promised you both I’d be all right with you seeing each other, but when it came down to it, I didn’t make good on that. I’m sorry.”
“You know what? Let’s agree that we both did what we had to do, we were both idiots, and let’s move on with life.”
“That works for me.” Kade held out his hand. “Welcome to the family, bro. The deal is that as long as you treat my sister like you have been and as long as she wants you around, you’re one of us.”
Relief washed over me. “I got that. And I appreciate it, Kade. Thanks.”
“Cool.” He expelled a long breath. “Now I gotta go home and grovel to my wife some more, so she’ll be nice to me again.”
“Good luck with that,” I called as he jogged away.
Kade paused, walking backwards. “Thanks. You know, part of me thinks,what a pain in the ass this is, and then I remember life before. And I know I’d do anything to keep things the way they are now. Leah didn’t just make my life better. Sheismy life. So yeah, groveling isn’t a big deal. I’d do that and more every day of my life if it kept my woman happy.”
For the first time, I knew exactly what he meant. “We’re some lucky guys.”
He grinned. “We are indeed. Catch you later.”
