Page 29 of Loving a Warrior

They grabbed their duffels full of starched, clean clothes, gratefully taking the fried-egg sandwiches Alexis held out to them as they rushed past her.

“Nice to meet you, Matt,” she called after them. “Keep my brother in line, will ya?”

“You got it.”

With a friendly wave, Alexis retreated back inside.

Matt drove them to the base as quickly as he dared, and as they trotted to their rooms to get ready for the day, Shane said, “Same thing tonight?”

With all his heart Matt wanted to refuse, to stay the fuck away, but he heard himself replying, “Hell yeah. Meet me at my truck after we’re secured.”

The memory of Shane’s answering smile kept him warm even as Bernson yelled a short time later, “Welcome to day two, people. Go get wet and sandy.”

Chapter Seven

“Hey, we’re all headed to the Gaslamp District tonight. Who’s in?”

Matt shook his head. “No thanks, Trey. But you all have fun.”

Shane decided to pass, too, and as they climbed the stairs to their rooms, he asked, “You don’t drink, do you? I’ve noticed how you always go for the sodas.” When Matt flicked him a glance, he added hastily, “You don’t have to answer if it’s too personal.”

“Nah, it’s not a deep dark secret. I just don’t like the way it makes me feel, that’s all. Plus I’m not much into the dudebro scene. How come you’re not going?”

“Too tired.” Shane let out a rueful chuckle. “Too old, I guess.”

“Oh, yeah, you’re ancient. What are you, twenty-six?”

“Almost twenty-eight.”

“Wow, that is old. Jesus Christ.”

Shane sighed. “You really like pushing my buttons, don’t you, Soup?”

“Only ’cause it’s so easy to do, man.”

Matt wasn’t wrong, and most days Shane couldn’t decide if he liked it or hated it. One good thing, Matt didn’t strike him as the game-playing type. With this dude, what you saw was what you got, and that Shane definitely liked.

“So how old are you?” Not wanting to say good night yet, Shane settled his butt against the railing outside Matt’s door, arms crossed over his chest. Matt mirrored his pose.

“Twenty-three.”

“Why’d you wait so long to come to BUD/S? From what you’ve said, you never wanted to do anything else.” There were a couple of guys in their class who were right out of high school. “Did you go to college?”

“Yeah, I did, but only ’cause my uncle made a deal with me: If I went to college before BUD/S, he’d come pin my Trident on. Otherwise, he’d come to my graduation but he wouldn’t pin my Trident.”

Shane winced as he thought how Matt must have taken that. “Yikes. Talk about a hard bargain.”

“I was so pissed, you don’t even know.” Matt’s voice throbbed with remembered anger. “That’s my ultimate dream, and he knew it. He had me over a fucking barrel, so I went off to UND kicking and screaming.”

“How’d it go?”

“Pissed me off even more that he was right, that cagey old bastard. College was—Let’s just say I learned a lot about myself, stuff I wouldn’t have wanted to learn while going through BUD/S; know what I mean?”

Shane flashed back to his own college days. Friendship and laughter. Pain, betrayal…

Shaking off the memories, he grunted, “Yeah, I know what you mean.”

“I needed to grow up a little first, I’ll admit it.”