Chapter 18
Things have finally started to settle down since Riley has been back, so much so that Liz isn’t worried about leaving him to pick her gym sessions with Mikey back up.
Mikey woke her up, bright and early that morning, to practically drag her across the base to workout with only a promise of getting breakfast when they finish.
He didn’t tell her until they were gone that Alex and Tyler were stopping by to talk with Riley in an attempt to patch things up and, if all goes well, throw together some sort of a plan.
Liz stumbles through her exercises, still drained from the workout Riley gave her the night before, silently cheering when they finish, ready to get back and make sure the guys didn’t kill each other in her absence.
No more than three steps out the door, Liz complains of being too tired to move, coaxing Mikey into letting her climb onto his back so he can carry her to the mess hall.
Ignoring the stares from all the other soldiers moving around the base, they continue chatting and joking around, trying to enjoy the little friend time they get while they still have it.
Containers get filled to the brim with breakfast foods, more than enough to feed the four giant men that make up their team.
They were so close to being in the clear.
Walking back across the courtyard, heading to where their friends are waiting, a voice rings out from behind, the kind of voice that is worse than nails on a chalkboard.
Liz feels the energy shift the closer he gets: going from a fun, cheery morning, gossiping with her best friend, to having all that joy sucked out of the air.
“Hey honey. Haven’t seen you in a while,” Matt greets her.
“Yeah, because I have been a little busy nursing someone back to health,” she says, rolling her eyes so hard it hurts.
“I’m shocked you are still trying so hard. Janine said you two looked like you hated each other,” Matt says keeping pace with them.
“We’re fine,” she snaps, trying to walk faster, growing more frustrated with the sound of his footsteps quickening.
“That’s good. How is our benevolent leader doing, anyway? I’m sure he’s been saying some pretty crazy things about what he saw when he was held captive,” Matt blurts, obviously baiting them both.
Mikey and Liz share a confused glance before Mikey pulls out his phone and fires off a quick text, warning the team about their incoming intruder.
“Why would he be saying any crazy shit?” Mikey asks, trying to coax more out of the man. “No reason. I just assume being taken like that must have messed with his mind. Not all there anymore, ya know?” he says with a casual shrug of his shoulders.
“No, I don’t know. We are trained for situations like his. Both for being tortured and coming back from it. Riley has more training in that than the rest of us combined. You should have learned that before Scott ever added you to the team,” Mikey snaps.
“So since Reaper is doing so amazing, why has he not been in the gym? Or leading his team?” Matt pushes.
“Why do you keep asking questions about things you have no right to ask?” Liz finally snaps.
“Fine, sweet cheeks. How about this one? Did you and your lover finally have that talk?” he asks, trying to sound playful, but coming off too harsh for her liking.
“We did,” she says, trying to figure out how she can hide what is between them without blatantly lying.
“And…” he urges.
Mikey must sense her unease growing because his hand silently slips into hers, giving her the strength to keep moving forward.
“And, he made it abundantly clear how he feels about me and what our relationship will be moving forward,” she says, intentionally being vague.
Mikey drops her hand, instead bringing his arm around her shoulder and gently rubbing it, ever the comforting friend.
“Well, it’s his loss, but I’ll be honest, I’ve been waiting for this so you will finally give me a shot,” Matt says, grinning ear to ear like she had already agreed to go out with him.
“I’m still seeing someone. Besides, I don’t know if we will have time. Now that he is back, I’m sure we will be pretty busy hunting Dmitri down again,” Liz stammers.
“Is there a reason I have been left out of all this planning the team seems to be doing?” he snaps in Mikey’s direction.
“Yeah, because low level soldiers get briefed when we decide they do. You have no reason to be a part of the mission planning,” Mikey clips back, the sergeant in him once again breaking through his fun exterior.
They sit with that, silently walking to the apartment. Even with Mikey making it clear he is not welcome, Matt sticks with them, walking right to their apartment door with the pathetic excuse of needing to walk her home.
She peers over to her friend, picking up his hand when she sees the anger churning behind his eyes.
She knows that with how close Matt is to the general, it won’t matter what Mikey says.
If he wants to join them, he is going to, whether they like it or not.
Luckily, the rest of the team realized that before she did.
Mikey pulls the door across the hall open and steers her in. Stepping into the room, Liz nearly freezes in shock.
Not only did they move across the hall, but the team managed to get the entire room set up to look as if they had been going over mission details in there for hours.
Alex and Tyler are gathered around a map that spans the entire table, papers and folders scattered around it. The moment her eyes land on Riley, her breath catches. Everything else fades away. All she can focus on is the man in front of her.
Now in sweatpants and a loose muscle shirt, Riley leans back in his chair, arms crossed, seeming indifferent to the small crowd of people in the room.
It’s not the way his biceps bulge just right, or the expanse of tattoos and fresh scars fully on display, or even the way he twists his hips just right when he adjusts in his seat that has her heart rate quickening.
No, it’s the deep black skull mask with the small, spiraling horns that threatens to turn her feral.
Something about the way it hides just enough to obscure his face while keeping his strong, chiseled jaw and very bottom of his lips showing in the most sensual way sends a wave of heat coursing through her.
When they lock eyes, she thinks it’s all over.
He looks at her with the passion and intensity that has her ready to drag him back across the hall and do everything she knows they are both thinking.
That feeling is sucked away when Matt steps between them, trying to play the part of loyal soldier, ready to introduce himself to his new leader.
She could kill him, right there in the room.
The guys would help her to dispose of his body, and she wouldn’t have to watch the man she loves play nice with a man who is hiding his true intentions.
Alex and Tyler can’t be bothered to so much as glance up while Mikey gets to work handing out food to everyone but Matt.
“Nice to meet you, sir,” Matt says, standing at attention.
“Why are you here?” Riley snaps.
“I was just walking Liz back, to make sure she got here safely, sir.” he says smoothly, glancing over his shoulder to wink at Liz.
“Is she incapable of doing that on her own?” Riley retorts.
“She is, sir,” he responds, the slight shake in his voice has her holding back laughter, knowing Riley is really a big softy.
“Then I will ask again. Why are you here?”
“General Scott has made it clear he wants me included in any and all planning because of what I have learned in my time overseas. They made it seem like there was talk of an upcoming mission, so I took it upon myself to join.” He sounds like a child trying to sound confident with each word he says.
“Sit,” Riley orders.
Liz glances at the open seat next to him, taking a step in his direction before remembering what he had said. They need to make it seem like they aren’t together.
Heat works its way low into her abdomen when he winks at her, his devilish smile barely hidden behind his mask.
The man knows exactly what he is doing. Mikey takes the empty seat next to him.
Matt jumps at the chance to separate them, sliding into the old wooden chair before she gets the chance to move.
With an exasperated groan, Liz fills in the seat between Matt and Alex, the last one left.
If she can’t sit next to Riley, directly across is the next best thing, even if their stolen glances aren’t as oblivious as they would like to believe.
Lucky for them, Matt is far more interested in catching Liz looking at Riley than he is catching Riley looking at her.
“I knew you liked me. Out of all the seats you pick the one by my side,” he whispers, leaning in too close for her liking, Riley’s too if she had to guess by the way he is now tensed up.
“Sure, or I took the only one left because you decided to sit next to my best friend,” she retorts, pushing her food away, too irritated to eat.
“Mikey would have moved for you, but you still sat with me. Does this mean you are finally going to let me take you to dinner?” he teases.
“Something on your mind?” Riley barks, watching the way Matt is speaking to Liz with a scary intensity.
“No, sir, just a private moment,” he mumbles, unable to look him in the eyes.
“This is a tactical meeting, not a date. You do not get private moments. What is so important you need to whisper in her ear instead of focusing on mission planning that you insisted on being present for?” Riley challenges, sitting forward to place his crossed arms on the table.
Matt’s eyes snap to Liz. She can see the fear in them, but says nothing, simply shrugs ever so slightly, just enough that he knows he fucked up and needs to repeat what was said.