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“That’s Arato. He and I served together. In some very bad places, too.” His gaze went distant for a moment. “He’s also a good friend. I’ve asked him to gather some intel. I’ll need to have everything possible before I can make an informed decision on what to do next.”
It was amazing, how much he was giving me. Unlike the others, Briggs was being open. Honest. He hid absolutely nothing.
It was almost a little disconcerting.
“Won’t the Army deal with Markus?” I asked. “If you went to them?”
He nodded. “If I went to them.”
“But you’re not…”
“No,” he agreed. “I’m not.”
We spent the rest of the afternoon making sure everything went smoothly. By the time everything broken had been fixed, and all the messes cleaned up, we were left alone just as darkness fell. The only sound in the house was the constant whine of the big dehumidifiers, which needed to run for the next day or two.
“Let me take you out,” Briggs said. “Might be good to get out of here for a little while. We can get something to eat.”
My stomach rumbled. It sounded amazing.
A quick cleanup and a shower later (not that I could ever take a shower again without thinking of last night!) we were heading into the city. On the way out of the driveway I didn’t notice anyone watching the house. I mentioned as much to Briggs.
“You’re not supposed to notice them,” he said. “And if you did notice them I’d be cataclysmically disappointed.”
“You’d fire them?” I joked.
“Shit, they’d probably fire themselves.”
I let him drive, let him pick out the restaurant. I didn’t want to think after last night, really. I just wanted to be close to him. Physically and emotionally.
We ended up seated in the far end of a beautiful Thai Fusion grill. Briggs started ordering the moment we sat down, and they never stopped bringing small, almost sample-sized plates of sizzling meats and sauced noodle. Everything set before us was as delicious as it was spicy. It was starting to look like my new boyfriend had spent significant time in Thailand. It could’ve also been that I was just ravenously hungry.
“So how’ve you been getting along with the guys so far?” h
e asked.
It was an odd question, considering the circumstances. Sort of like a first date asking about your ex boyfriends… who you happened to still be dating.
“Swimmingly,” I said around a mouthful of coconut rice.
“Oh you’re definitely swimming in something,” he chuckled.
I opened my mouth in mock indignation. Pretended I was going to hit him with the back of my hand.
“It’s no big deal,” Briggs said, seeing my face flush. “We knew this going in — that it would be like this. That we’d have to share you, every aspect of you, both home and away.”
It was crazy how casual they could all make it sound. Like co-dating a woman was something that happened every single day.
“Who’s your favorite?” he asked nonchalantly. “Besides me, of course.”
“Think I’m really gonna answer that?”
“You’d be crazy to,” he agreed. “Although I guess you don’t really have to pick a favorite. Not when you can have all your cake… and eat it too.”
His eyes met mine at the double-entendre, causing my breath to catch in my throat. God, he was so fucking good-looking! So dark and yummy and delicious — just like cake.
And he fucks like a beast…
Of course the devil on my shoulder couldn’t help but mention that part. Up until last night I’d gone nearly a month without sex. I was horny. Beyond horny, really. Shit, I was now used to getting laid whenever and wherever I wanted, and usually by two or more people at the same time…
