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“The fact that you’d say that is my fucking point. The Corps isn’t like other services. We deploy more often into worse situations. We move every couple of years. I’m more likely to die than if I were in some other service. That’s the reality. You have no idea what you’re asking.”
“Yeah, actually, I do. You think I don’t know what you do is dangerous? I do. Is it somehow worse if you die and we’re together than if you die and we’re apart? What kind of sense does that make?”
Hunter shook his head. “You don’t know how hard it would be. I couldn’t be public about an arrangement like you’re talking about. The Corps would flip its shit over that. I’d be royally screwed.”
“Amazingly, I figured that out.”
Why did Liam’s sarcasm make his dick twitch? Hunter ignored it and plowed ahead. “I’d have to keep it totally separate from the Marine stuff, and that’s a huge chunk of my life. How would that work when I get transferred to North Carolina or California or wherever?”
“We’d move, obviously.”
Hunter stared at him. “Just like that?”
“Of course just like that. It’s a house. It’s a place. What does it matter which house or which place?”
Was it that easy for him? Maybe it was. But it might not be that easy for Kat. Not to mention Kat was pissed as hell.
“Fine. Let’s say you are okay with everything. What about Kat? You have to fix shit with her before you can even talk about adding me to the mix. And I’m not convinced she’d be into it.”
“You’re wrong about that. It’s what she’s always wanted, she just didn’t think she could have it. That’s why I pushed. I damn well want her to have it. I want to have it.”
“You still need to deal with the other crap.”
“Yeah, we do.”
“There’s no ‘we’ on that. You fucked up, you get to fix it.”
“Don’t think so. She needs to know you and I have made peace. Nothing will fix this with her if she thinks you’re still pissed at me.”
“I am still pissed at you. Fucking isn’t the same thing as making peace.”
He didn’t tell Liam that a solid half of his anger was with himself. He should have done better than a sticky note. And he damned sure shouldn’t have left it where Liam could get it.
The other half... Hunter looked Liam square in the eyes. “I thought you were an honorable man. I trusted you to hold your word. If you didn’t want me interfering with you and Kat, you should have told me to my face.”
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For the first time that night, genuine regret flashed across Liam’s features. “It wasn’t about you, Hunter. I had to protect her. You decided to enlist and there was no talking you out of it. I’m sorry I ended up standing between you. That wasn’t my intention.”
Hunter studied the other man for a moment. He’d known Liam for a long time, but this was the first time, the only time, he could remember hearing Liam apologize to him for anything.
“I believe you,” Hunter said.
“You do?” Undisguised surprise rang in Liam’s question.
“Yeah.” At Liam’s relieved huff of breath, Hunter shook his head. “But believing and forgiving aren’t the same thing. This is a temporary peace at best, and I’m not the only one who deserves an apology.”
“I guess that’s good enough. At least we can tell Kat you’re not going to kick my ass. I’ll text her, see if I can get her to come home.” Liam gave Hunter a rueful smile.
“Good luck with that.” Hunter definitely remembered Kat in a temper. It took a lot to get her riled, but when she blew, you weren’t likely to budge her.
Liam waved dismissively, brushing around him to grab his phone from the coffee table. “Hell, for all I know, she’s on her way up the walk right now and she’s the one who’s going to kick my ass.”
“Your ass deserves to be kicked.”
“Yeah, yeah,” he muttered, walking to the window. He thumbed the phone on, glancing out the window.
Hunter shook his head. If any of his Marines had copped the kind of attitude he got from Liam, he would have kicked their ass. But Liam wasn’t one of his Marines, and Hunter had some better ideas for that tight ass.
