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He took a sip of his beer. “Both, I think.” He met Rand’s gaze. “You talk to Morgan since the news broke?”
“No. Figured it would be best if I stay out of it. The brass knows I’m friends with both Morgan and Freya, but I never met Diana until that night. They call you yet?”
“No. Pretty sure no one knows we met Thursday—and I told the Pentagon everything I know last week.”
“If they talk to me, I have to tell them you met her.”
He nodded. “I wouldn’t want you to lie.”
“You liked her.”
“We back in middle school now, Fallon?”
“You know what I mean.”
He nodded. “Yeah. I liked her. I fucked up, and…” He didn’t know how he could finish that sentence. For the act he was putting on, or in truth.
He could be crass and say she was an amazing lay. Anything other than that and he feared he’d reveal too much.
He was saved by Bryce’s return. Which was quickly followed by the three women who’d been eyeing their table from the start. They were single, young, hot, and looking to score. Chris was rusty in this department, but he remembered it from the days before Pam.
He smiled and flirted and tried not to gag at the overwhelming scent of their collective perfume. The booths were a bit long, so with scrunching in tight, they made room for the women. A Latina woman settled in between Rand and Bryce, while Chris found himself next to the pretty Black woman who’d been eyeing him all night and her friend, who was also Black.
Geneva was twenty-four and worked for the Justice Department, which he assumed meant she worked for the FBI but couldn’t be that specific. Annabella was clearly interested in Rand. She worked for the Library of Congress, while Iris, who sat directly across from Bryce, claimed to be with the NSA, which he figured meant she worked retail or in the service industry and didn’t want to admit that when her friends had more exciting-sounding careers, so she made a joke about it.
He’d tell her about his hours working fast food before he joined the Navy, but instead, he just felt old.
He met Rand’s gaze and saw the tired look in his eyes too. Rand was a year younger than Chris, but he’d been in the Navy and SEALs longer. A SEAL year was like dog years.
These women were way too young for the likes of either of them.
Geneva was cute and persistent, though, and Chris felt like he needed to play along. It wouldn’t do if word got out that he and Diana had hooked up and then he appeared to be pining for her days later.
He toyed with the idea of getting Geneva alone in the corner, making it look like he was interested, then saying something rotten to make her storm off, but that could backfire in a thousand different ways. So instead, he resorted to talking about Pam.
He embodied the guy everyone hated at the bar. The bitter ex.
Thankfully, the women called a bathroom break, and he was alone with Bryce and Rand.
“Dude, what the fuck?” Bryce said. “You really suck at this.”
“Sorry, man. I guess I was looking for a night out with the team. Not a hookup.”
Rand gave him an assessing look. He was dangerously close to blowing it.
“I’m just too old for this shit. She’s a nice girl, but that’s the problem. I know she’s a legal adult, but all I can think of is when I was a senior in high school, she was eight years old.”
“Dude, channel your inner Leo DiCaprio. She’s fucking hot.”
Chris grimaced. “Sorry, man. I’m just in a different place.” This was a perfect time to make his escape, so he waved his credit card at the passing server. “This is on me, but I’m gonna bail. Tell Geneva I’m sorry, but I don’t do hookups.”
He caught Rand’s look at the blatant lie, but ignored it.
He managed to pay the bill and get out of the bar before the women left the restroom. Thank god.
He took a deep breath of the cool night air that was perfume-free. He glanced at his watch, surprised to see it was nearing midnight.
His phone buzzed as he settled in the driver’s seat. He pulled it out and checked the screen.
