Page 116 of Rescuing Mary

“Ready,” Mary said firmly.

Then the two friends walked toward their men just like they’d always planned…together.

Trigger and the rest of his Delta team, the morning after the weddings.

* * *

“Holy shit,” Lefty groaned. “My head hurts.”

“Maybe if you didn’t drink a keg of beer all by yourself, it wouldn’t,” Doc quipped.

Grover laughed and Lefty smacked him. “Shut up, Grover. Too loud.”

“Come on,” Trigger said. “We’ve got five miles to run before we hit the gym.”

The others all groaned, but fell in beside Trigger as they set off.

“What time did you guys get home?” Brain asked his friends.

“About three,” Oz answered. “Me and Doc made sure everyone had rides before they left.”

“Luckily, most people were staying at the hotel next door, so it wasn’t a big deal,” Doc added.

“Did you guys see the commander leave with Truck’s sister?” Lefty asked. “It’s a good thing Truck didn’t see that.”

“Right?” Doc asked. “He would’ve lost his shit. But then again, I think he would’ve lost his shit no matter who it was that left with her.”

“Shut it,” Brain ordered. “The commander is a good guy. Truck trusts and respects him. Besides, Macie didn’t look so good.”

“Was she sick?” Trigger asked, concerned now.

Brain shrugged. “Not in the way you think. She just looked…anxious. Like, really anxious. Almost freaked out. If the commander hadn’t gone up to her, I would’ve.”

“Think she’s all right?” Doc asked. “Do we need to tell Truck?”

Brain shook his head. “I’m sure the commander has it under control. If he thinks Truck needs to be informed, he’ll tell him. Even if it is his honeymoon. Or second honeymoon, as the case may be.”

Everyone nodded in agreement.

“It was one hell of a party, wasn’t it?” Lucky asked no one in particular. “I mean, if I was going to get married, that’s how I’d want to do it.”

“What do you mean, if you’re going to get married?” Trigger asked. “You don’t want that?”

Lucky shrugged. “It’s not that I don’t want it, I just don’t see it happening. We’re not at home much, we’re always sent off to do the dirty shit that the regular units in the Army won’t touch. I just don’t see it happening.”

“It happened for Ghost and the others,” Trigger noted.

“Yeah, they all got lucky,” Brain chimed in.

The seven men continued their run in silence. Partly because they were all a bit hungover from the reception the night before. But also because seeing four of their fellow Delta Force soldiers get married at once had struck a chord within all of them.

They’d talked about it in the past. How the chances of them living long enough to have families were slim. How the missions they went on were slowly sucking the life right out of them. How no women would likely take a chance on them. They were the baddest of the bad the US Army had, and lived life moment by moment.

But seeing Ghost, Truck, Beatle, and Blade pledge their lives and love to their women had made them start to rethink things. Seeing Fletch and Hollywood with their children had made them yearn, deep down, to have the same.

They might be badass soldiers who weren’t scared of anything, but they were also human.

“Maybe all hope for us isn’t lost,” Trigger said out loud. “If they found love, maybe we can too.”