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Liam and I looked at each other, silently deciding how much longer we should give Miles shit before we agreed to help. Liam shrugged and I rolled my eyes. “Fine. What do you need that has nothing to do with flowers or decorations?” That wasn’t my area of expertise, and I had no desire to become a flower expert.
“Booze,” he said with a relieved smile. “I need you to drive to the liquor depot in Tulip and pick up the order.”
That was easy. “No problem.”
“And put the deposit down for the lawn furniture. That’s it. I swear.”
“For now,” Liam mumbled under his breath. “I’m not doing this again for your damn baby shower or whatever.”
Baby shower? I jumped from my seat. “Oh, look at the time. First class starts soon. Gotta go. See you later.” Baby talk was worse than wedding talk in terms of topics I had no desire to talk about.
“Oh look at Grant, running away,” Miles laughed. “I can’t wait until he falls. It’s gonna be so satisfying.”
Liam let out a loud bark of laughter. “He’ll fight it so hard, thinking he can stop it from happening. I tried that. Didn’t work.”
“I can still hear you guys.”
Liam looked back with a fake look of surprise. “You’re still here? Weird. I thought the baby talk might have scared you off.”
“I don’t scare easily.” They were screwing with me and I knew it, but still I couldn’t let the ribbing go silently.
“I don’t know,” Miles added with a teasing smile. “You sure shot out of that chair like someone lit your ass on fire. It’s okay, we’re all scared of love and babies…until it happens to us.”
“I’m not scared, I just don’t do that.” I had no problem with other people falling in love and succumbing to the trap of marriage and parenthood, but it wasn’t my jam.
“When you find the right woman, you won’t see it that way.” Liam shook his head. “You think I planned on being a father? Hell no, but fate took it out of my hands and put the woman I was supposed to be with right in front of me, in a way that was impossible to ignore.”
Hearing Liam talk so openly about his feeling and his relationship with Olive took me back. I didn’t doubt his love for her, but fate? That was unexpected. “You really believe in fate?”
“I didn’t at first. But falling for the woman I’d gotten pregnant during a one night stand, can’t ignore signs like that. None of us can.”
“Luckily I don’t have to worry about that because I wrap it up. Always.” It was a point of pride with me, that I never let myself get so wrapped up in the moment that I accidentally attach myself to a woman for the rest of my life.
“Yeah, because accidents don’t happen.” Miles shook his head and pointed between himself and Liam. “Look at us as perfect examples, Grant. Ninety-nine point nine ain’t one hundred. That’s all I’m saying.”
“All right, fine. Then let’s just say my luck hasn’t run out.”
“Yet,” my so called best friends said at the exact same time, with entirely too much amusement.
“You never know,” Miles said with a shrug. “Maybe Brenna is that woman for you. I was there for your first meeting, remember?”
How could I forget? The woman was such a spitfire, I wanted to take her home right then and there. But she shot me down. Hard. “I remember. It’s just chemistry.”
“That’s how it starts. Fucking chemistry,” Liam grumbled with a smile on his face. “Next thing you know, you’re married and painting a second nursery. It’s exhausting and amazing, but maybe you don’t want all that.”
He was taunting me, I knew that, but a small part of me could admit to a certain amount of envy that Miles and Liam seemed so damn happy. They were settling down and having enough babies to populate our own Navy someday, but I couldn’t deny they seemed happy. Really, really happy.
“You guys in the matchmaking business now?”
“Nope,” Liam said as he stood and clapped his hands together. “Just trying to help you avoid the same mistakes that almost cost us our women. Do what you want.” With those parting words, Liam ambled out of Miles’ office, but I was pretty sure I heard a muttered, “Idiot,” before he disappeared down the hall.
“He’s got no tact, but Liam’s not wrong. Don’t run because you’re used to running, Grant. That’s all. Oh, and don’t forget the booze. I’ll email you the address and order form. Thanks.”
“Right.” After all this talk of love and family, I was ready to burn off the nervous energy and I had just the way to do it. Our newest class of security trainees had arrived this morning and I was the first to get my hands on them. I found the group of elite retired military officers from all branches, and I had a brand new course designed to push them to their limits.
