Chapter 1 #2
The more Brain thought about why she’d had to walk up to a complete stranger and beg for a kiss, the angrier he got.
No woman should have to resort to that sort of thing just to get a guy off her back.
No meant no, and this Derek was a grade-A asshole to keep harassing her after she’d said she just wanted to be friends.
Brain tuned back into the conversation around him when Aspen said, “And he was the kind of guy who always had to be right.”
“Oh my God!” Gillian exclaimed. “I know exactly what you mean!”
Brain sat back listening to the women chat, trying to rein in his anger. It was surprising; he’d never really had much of a temper before, but the thought of someone being a dick to Aspen ticked him off. She could very obviously take care of herself, but the feeling was still there.
“Like, if you say it’ll take two hours to get somewhere, he has to disagree and say it’ll take two hours and fifteen minutes,” Gillian went on.
“Or if I suggested he cook something for twenty minutes, he’d tell me I was wrong and it’s actually seventeen and a half minutes, otherwise it’s overdone,” Aspen agreed.
“Or a show’s on at eight-thirty, not eight,” Kinley chimed in.
“Or when I say a twenty-milligram slow IV push of ketamine over one minute is the proper protocol, he has to contradict me and say that fifty milligrams is correct, when I know for a fact that’s only if it’s being given intranasally,” Aspen said with a laugh.
When everyone simply looked at her in confusion, she blushed, but laughed even harder.
“Sorry, sorry, sorry. I forget that not everyone is as into narcotics as I am. I mean, not into them as in doing them recreationally, but as interested in them…uh… Shit. Um…or when I say that Mayor Larry Kline in the show Stranger Things was the Dread Pirate Roberts in The Princess Bride, and he tells me I’m wrong. ”
At that, everyone laughed.
Brain thought Aspen was fucking adorable.
He made a mental note to try not to contradict her under any circumstances.
He watched as she, Gillian, and Kinley laughed and joked together, and it made him feel good that they were getting along.
Despite just meeting Aspen a few hours ago, he felt more comfortable with her than he had with any woman in a long time.
He still held her hand in his, and every now and then rubbed his thumb over the back of it, just to let her know he was still there. And every time, a small smile formed on her face, even if she didn’t acknowledge him in any other way.
Looking up, Brain caught Trigger’s eye. The other man gave him a small chin lift and lifted his glass in a subtle salute. Brain rolled his eyes and shook his head, but Trigger simply smiled.
It was hard to believe a few hours ago, Brain was trying to think of reasonable excuses to leave early, and now he dreaded every tick of the minute hand on the clock because it meant he was another minute closer to having to say goodbye to Aspen.
He was enjoying getting to know her and watching her interact with the people who were closest to him.
After another hour or so, Lefty and Kinley were the first ones to call it a night. Trigger and Gillian weren’t too far behind. Then Oz and Lucky headed out. And Doc. Until it was just Grover, Brain, and Aspen left.
“So…” Aspen said. “Grover? Brain?”
“My last name is Groves,” Grover explained.
“So it has nothing to do with the little blue Muppet?” Aspen teased.
“No,” Grover said with a shake of his head. “Do I really look like a Muppet? Or sound like one?”
She giggled. “No, but I know there’s always a story behind nicknames. Besides, Grover is the coolest Muppet there is. He doesn’t get enough press time or enough toys and shit made in his likeness. And you could be named Elmo, now that would be embarrassing.”
They all chuckled.
“And you, Kane? Brain?”
He shrugged, not sure he wanted to tell her the reason behind his nickname. He wasn’t exactly embarrassed about it, but for once in his life, he wanted to not be the nerd. Wanted to be a badass Delta Force soldier.
But of course, Grover was more than happy to explain.
“He’s a fucking genius,” Grover said, oblivious to the frown Brain was shooting his way.
“He knows over two dozen languages. He’s some kind of language savant.
And I swear to God, he can hear someone say something once and he understands it.
Comes in very handy in our line of work, I can tell you that. ”
Brain took another sip of water and refused to meet Aspen’s gaze.
Inevitably, when he met people and they learned what he could do, they either wanted a demonstration—meaning, they wanted him to rattle off all sorts of things in different languages—or they mentally backed off, thinking he was out of their league.
He tried to loosen his fingers from hers, but she tightened her grip, not letting go. In surprise, he finally looked over at her.
“That’s cool,” she said quietly.
Grover kept talking, oblivious to Brain’s discomfort with the topic.
“He graduated from high school at age fifteen. Went to college right after that and got his first degree in two years. His parents were pissed that he joined the Army; they wanted him to be a rocket scientist or something.”
“Grover?” Aspen said without looking away from Brain.
“Yeah?”
“Shut up.”
Brain couldn’t help it. He laughed.
Grover was silent for about twenty seconds, then he clued into the fact that his going on and on had made Brain uncomfortable. “I mean, Brain’s smart, but he’s also cool. And he’s quite the ladies’ man. He’s loyal and down-to-earth too.”
“I think it’s about time for you to go, Grover,” Brain said, shaking his head. “You’re not helping.”
“Right. Sorry. I’m leaving. I need to go over to my sister’s place tomorrow. She’s been avoiding me for some reason, and that shit needs to stop. So…I’ll just go then. See you at PT tomorrow, Brain.”
“Later,” Brain told his teammate. Grover was clueless sometimes, but because he never meant anything maliciously, Brain and the rest of the team put up with his chatter.
After he left, Brain took a breath and looked at Aspen. “So,” he said.
“So,” she echoed.
“Grover’s not exactly subtle,” Brain told her.
Aspen chuckled. “No, he’s not. But he means well.”
“He does.” Brain mentally smacked himself in the forehead.
This wasn’t exactly how he’d wanted their first one-on-one conversation to go.
No matter what Grover had said, Brain wasn’t a “ladies’ man.
” He wasn’t “cool.” He was the brain. The smart guy.
The one everyone turned to when they had a mystery that needed solving.
He was thirty years old, and he hadn’t even lost his virginity until he was twenty-four.
He’d been out of his depth, socially; going to college so young meant most of the women avoided him like the plague.
It wasn’t until he’d joined the Army and had gotten some independence that he’d managed to figure out how to fit in with men his own age a little better.
“I’m embarrassed that I didn’t ask earlier, but you and your friends…you aren’t Rangers, are you? Because if you are, I totally put my foot in my mouth earlier.”
Brain quickly shook his head. “No, we aren’t Rangers.”
“Thank God,” she breathed.
Brain continued before thinking. “We’re Delta.”
Aspen went completely still and stared at him with wide eyes. “Please tell me you’re kidding.”
“Nope. And I know you know this, but please don’t share that with anyone.”
“Oh, I wouldn’t. No way. And…oh, shit, I’m such a dork.”
“No, you aren’t,” Brain told her immediately. She was anything but a dork.
“I am! You were going on and on about how hard Ranger training is, and I know you guys have been through much worse.”
“It’s not a competition,” Brain told her.
She tilted her head as she studied him.
“What?” Brain asked.
“You aren’t like most men in special forces I’ve met. Neither are your friends, for that matter.”
“In what way?”
Aspen shrugged. “It’s just that…you’re so down-to-earth.”
“You’ve been hanging around those asshole Rangers too long,” Brain retorted.
She grinned. “They’re not all assholes.”
“Derek is,” Brain told her.
Her grin widened. “True. Thank you for helping me earlier. I’m usually not so forward, but—”
“But he was being a dick, and you were desperate,” Brain finished for her.
“Maybe not desperate,” Aspen countered. Then she dipped her head and raised her eyes shyly. “Maybe I took one look at you and liked what I saw, and figured I could kill two birds with one stone.”
It took a minute for her words to sink in, and when they did, Brain was shocked.
Women weren’t attracted to him. Not like she was insinuating.
He knew he wasn’t hideous or anything. He had nice eyes…
at least that’s what others had told him.
But he frequently forgot to comb his hair so it was usually in disarray.
And he had a beard because he was too lazy to shave every day.
It worked well when they were on a mission, but when they came home, he kept it simply because it was easier.
But to have this amazing, smart woman tag him from the moment he’d walked in the door was a heady feeling…and confusing at the same time.
“You’re not used to compliments, are you?” she asked, uncannily accurately.
“I’m the brain,” he said with a shrug, as if that explained everything.
Aspen actually rolled her eyes. But then she turned in her chair and looked him right in the eyes.
“Yes, I wanted Derek off my back. I fucked up when I went out with him and now I’m paying for it.
I have to see him all the time because he’s very close with my platoon sergeant, our teams train together, and we actually participate in quite a few joint missions, but hopefully after tonight, he’ll realize that we’re just not compatible and things will go back to normal.
But more importantly, I picked you to help me because I was attracted to you the second I saw you. ”