Ex-SEAL Bad Boy

1. ETHAN

1

ETHAN

A shrill shriek pierces the lazy afternoon calm.

It’s not that uncommon; a lot of kids and teens horse around on this beach. The second time it’s more insistent, filled with terror.

Squinting my eyes against the glare, I scan the water and quickly spot the source. About 50 yards from the shoreline is a young girl struggling in the surf. The pattern of the waves paired with the appearance of the outflowing current tell me she’s caught in a rip current. Not that uncommon on this stretch of the coast.

As a former Navy SEAL, my instincts immediately kick in, and I plunge into the water. It’s colder than I anticipate, but invigorating as I swim out toward where the girl is struggling to stay afloat.

As I get nearer, I see that she isn’t as young as I first thought, maybe early to mid-20s. Something looks familiar about her, but in a small college town, all these girls tend to look the same.

“It’s OK, I’ve got you,” I reassure her as I grasp her in the rescue position, passing my right arm beneath her armpit and wrapping it across her lower chest while using my left to paddle perpendicular to the shore to get out of the rip current.

The powerful muscles in my shoulders and upper arms ripple with the effort.

This is always the risky part. Sometimes, even the most capable lifeguards drown when the person they’re saving panics and fights back.

Fortunately, she’s not struggling, and I manage to pull her into shallow water. By this point, the gaggle of young women who were apparently her friends come running out into the surf in an attempt to help.

I order them to make a path and drag her to a spot where I can examine her.

She’s alert but obviously exhausted. Her pupils are responsive, and she seems to be breathing OK. When I’m in rescue mode, I rarely look for anything other than consciousness and vital signs, but I can’t help but notice her long, toned legs and slender physique, clad in a revealing salmon-colored bikini.

Confident that she’s going to be OK, I help her into a sitting position.

She coughs before speaking. “Oh my God, thank you so much, I … I don’t know what happened, I was just swimming and didn’t think I was too far out, and then, just … I don’t know.”

That voice! It hit me like an avalanche.

“Sophia?”

She looks at me for a few seconds before recognition dawns in her eyes.

“Ethan,” she spits, her emerald eyes flashing with barely concealed disdain.

Yes, we have a history.

“How’s your brother?” I ask.

“Better since you left,” she says, struggling to her feet.

Liam Delgado has been my best friend since childhood, and his sister Sophia, the girl who I had just saved from drowning, is his little sister.

Four years Liam’s junior, Sophia was what some people refer to as an “oops baby.” Even though she was unplanned, Liam loved her. It gave him a chance to be the big brother he had always wanted to be. I didn’t understand that at all. I had been an only child, and I liked it that way. I always got all of the attention. It also meant that when my parents died, I would inherit the family business, and quite a profitable business it was.

I can’t say I blame Sophia for being angry. She never liked me and thought I was a bad influence on her brother. It’s probably true, at least in part.

My family’s business interests, which are considerable, are not always completely on the legal side. As a matter of fact, we keep a sizable retinue of attorneys on retainer to ensure that everything appears to be above board.

Even as a child, Sophia learned from her friends at school that the Blackwoods were a “bad” family and she should never trust them.

The funny thing was that my own family considers me something of a “black sheep.” I joined the Navy just out of high school with the intention of becoming a member of the elite Sea, Air, and Land (SEAL) team.

I was already physically fit, having played football and wrestled in high school. I was also a certified scuba diver, so entry into the program was a cinch.

For me, it was never about serving my country, it was all about being the best of the best, both physically and mentally. Of course, being the son of a very socially prominent and wealthy East Coast family, my decision to enlist in the Navy – as an enlisted man no less – was something of an embarrassment to them.

Even in the super-elite and highly select U.S. Navy unit, my general attitude meant I was always this close to losing my spot on the team. In fact, that’s very likely what would have happened, but for a freak training accident that wrecked my back.

A closed compression fracture of the L-3 vertebrae, according to the doctor that treated me. He assured me I’d be back to normal eventually, at least mostly. Only not enough to allow me to remain with the SEALs.

When I went off to training, I’m sure Sophia was overjoyed. I would be away from her brother for a while, and while she knew that I’d eventually return, hopefully the time I spent in the military would change me for the better. It didn’t.

For the time being, I’m staying at the family compound in Lighthouse Point, along the Virginia coast. It’s a small town, and I guess my folks are what would be considered big fish in a small pond, but their influence extends far from our little slice of paradise. Their hands are in quite a few pies, some of which extend right up to the president of the United States.

By now all of Sophia’s friends had crowded around her, making sure she was OK. At least she had thanked me for saving her life. Given her attitude, I begin to wonder whether she would have preferred that I let her drown.

I must admit my views regarding the value of human life are somewhat colored based on my past military experience and maybe were formed even before that. The taking of lives doesn’t affect me in the slightest, particularly if they wouldn’t hesitate to do the same to me given the chance. My moral compass might be slightly wonky, but I wasn’t about to let some innocent young woman die needlessly, even if said woman is an annoyance.

Thinking back to how I had admired the long, lean young body laid out on the sand, it’s hard to imagine that this was the same awkward teenager I remembered her being just a few years ago.

I won’t say there had never been a spark that passed between us, however briefly.

The year before I left, Liam and I were at a Christmas party at a friend’s house down on the beach. He and I had both had a few drinks, and I was feeling pretty good. We had stepped outside to smoke a joint on the back deck when I noticed this girl in a form-fitting green velvet dress chatting with a friend down on the beach.

She was partially obscured by a stand of sea oats, and it was hard to make out her features. Sure, she was a little young, but who cared? From what I could see, she was smoking hot.

As she started walking back toward the house, I thought it was going to be my shot to talk to her.

“Hey, Liam, you’d better save some of that for me,” she called out, appearing from around the corner of the dune.

“Holy shit! Had I really been checking out the sister of my best friend?” It had been several months since I had last seen her. Liam had his own apartment, so she wasn’t around anymore.

Man, she had really grown up.

Embarrassed, I cleared my throat and stood up straight.

“Oh, it’s you,” she said, turning up her nose at me. “Shoulda known.”

Liam handed her the joint, and she took a long drag, looking at me as she exhaled.

My face must have betrayed what I was thinking about, despite my efforts.

“What are you looking at?” she sneered sassily before walking off.

Liam broke out laughing. “Man, I’ve never seen any girl talk to you like that.”

“What am I supposed to do?” I huffed. “She’s your little sister. Besides, she’s always hated me. What’s new.”

I took one last hit before tossing the remains of the joint onto the sand.

I glanced back into the room as Liam wandered off, only to see Sophia grabbing her purse as if preparing to leave.

I had never seen her in that light before, looking all mature with her hair pinned up and curves in all the right places.

I pull myself out of my reverie. Well, I’m glad she’s alright, and it’s pretty clear nothing has changed between us. Just as well.

I notice a few of her friends looking over at me admiringly as I get back to my run, a thin sheen of sweat already beginning to form on my well-toned body. I don’t have to work too hard to get female attention.

“See you around,” I say as I walk off, trying to at least keep it civil.

“I hope not,” she replies coldly, staring daggers at me.