Page 33 of Keel

Frankie couldn’t help but laugh. “Yes. The idiot did it twice. Honestly, I was surprised Keel didn’t kill him. He just took the gun and did something so it didn’t have bullets in it and tossed it away. He’s kind of impressive.”

Ansley nodded. “They are intense.”

Garnet started making the drinks, not adding alcohol to any of them. “When I met Brady—” Garnet glanced up and met her gaze. “I call him Brady because Bean seems weird to me, but everyone else calls him Bean. But when I met him, I was so impressed with how strong he was. Most of the guys in tech aren’t like him.”

“Not many guys, even in the military, are like them,” Ansley said.

Garnet poured their drinks and handed them over. Frankie took a sip and smiled. “Wow, not too sweet. I like it.”

Garnet nodded, a smile wide on her lips. “It’s a delicate balance of making the drink taste good, but not so sweet you can’t drink two.”

“I’ll put the pizzas in the oven,” Ansley said. “How about we start the movie?”

“Sounds good.”

Frankie couldn’t believe how nice these two women were. It had been years since she’d had any kind of relationship with other women.

Keel was so different from Forest, and maybe with his help, she could move past the problems from her past. She needed to find a therapist and keep working on journaling. And maybe, she needed these two women as friends.

Chapter 18

Keel worried about Frankie, but both Ansley and Garnet were good people. He took a beer from Link and dropped to the couch next to Bean.

“You look worried,” Bean said.

He took a sip of the beer, then groaned. “You know, I shouldn’t be, but I am. I know Garnet and Ansley are good people.”

Link tipped his beer at him. “They are.”

“She’s had some real shit hit her. Her ex is a real piece of work.”

“How so?” Mick asked.

“You can see her fading bruises if you look close enough. They were worse the first day I met her. He had her on a calorie-restricted diet. She is probably ten, maybe fifteen pounds underweight. She wears baggy clothes to cover, but she’s skin and bones.”

Chase shook his head. “Man, that sucks. She could have long-term health problems.”

Keel nodded. “Yeah. The first time I bought snacks for us, she almost cried. It’s like some of the people we run into in war zones.” He glanced around the room, meeting his friends’ gazes. “Don’t say anything.”

“Hey, it’s cool. We won’t,” Chase said.

“Any way for her ex to figure out where she is?” Bean asked.

Keel shrugged. “I don’t think so. I’ll make sure the alarm is on and the cameras are recording. If you see anyone weird around, tell me.”

The guys laughed. “You mean weirder than normal,” Mick said.

Keel nodded. “Yeah, weirder than normal.”

They’d ordered pizza and planned to play poker. None of them wanted to take advantage of the others, so they played for pretzels. Sticks were worth five, and twists were twenty. Chase had started them in on playing for pretzels after seeing too many guys desperate after a night of poker.

Keel had played plenty of poker games during his time in the Army, and it was fun to win money, but not at the expense of a brother. Going from being regular Army to being a Delta had changed more than just his skills. He had grown as a person. Life seemed more serious now. But it was nice to just kick back and have fun.

Maybe he could be successful in a relationship with Frankie. He would have to work at it, and for Frankie, he would.

Four hours into their gameplay, Ansley texted Link, telling him they were done with the movies. The guys who didn’t live close were spending the night. Scott and Stanley were staying at his place.

They all went over to get Garnet and Frankie from Ansley’s place. The stars were out, and a fresh breeze blew the trees. It was a nice night, a little cool if they had to stay out for hours, but not bad.