Our Chance – Kennedy L. Mitchell
OUR CHANCE
A SHORT MFM STORY
KENNEDY L. MITCHELL
brANDON
Every joint ached and stiff muscles pulled as I trudged through the snow.
All those years serving my country as a SEAL, with the injuries and stress I put on my body, left me feeling older than my actual age.
Tugging at the thin material covering my nose and mouth, I tried to focus on the issue at hand instead of my confusing-as-hell life.
It was a good life here in Montana. I loved my job, even though my employer wasn’t ideal.
After leaving the Navy, I wasn’t sure how well I’d assimilate into civilian life, but then I found this place, and everything fell into place.
I got to work outside, lead the occasional rescue mission, and found two people who made me realize there was more to life, a potential future that I never thought I was worthy of.
But considering the two people I was drawn to were in an intimate relationship made it not only confusing but challenging, too, since we all worked together.
Unsure of how to make sense of how I could want both at the same time, my thoughts often drifted, which was dangerous and not like me at all. I was focused, my mind and actions always locked on the mission or task at hand.
Pointedly ignoring the man steps behind me who was partially responsible for my confusing thoughts, I blew hot air into my gloved hands, desperate for a moment of warmth as I trudged toward the main bunkhouse.
Smoke swirled from the stone chimney, calling me like a damn siren, my nearly frozen body ready for the promised heat that waited within the small log structure.
“Fuck, I’m hungry,” Carl grumbled, his deep voice carrying on the wind that whipped flecks of snow against the bit of exposed skin on my face. “What a shit show the last two days have been.”
I grunted my agreement as I reached the well-worn wood door handle and pulled with what little energy I had left.
We’d spent two days out in the mountains in one hell of a winter storm, searching for a kid who had gone missing from the slopes.
Thankfully, he’d been smart, and after realizing he was lost, with a sprained ankle to make it all worse, he’d hunkered down in one of the emergency shelters along the mountain range for that exact purpose.
He might be down a few toes by the time he makes it back home to California, but he was alive, and that was what mattered. The shit show part that Carl referred to was our shitty company resources and dumbass owner.
Twelve hours after the kid was found by another team, Carl and I were notified that the search was over. Those twelve hours were the coldest and, worse, all for nothing, because the kid had already been found. We trudged through feet of snow and froze our balls off for nothing.
This wasn’t the first time, either.
Our equipment didn’t work half the time, making our jobs more dangerous and cumbersome.
Communication … what was that? Fuck, it made me miss the Navy so damn much.
If we all weren’t on the same page, then people died.
I thought transitioning from being a SEAL to this Montana-based search and rescue company would be easier than a corporate-type job.
In some ways, it was, but the inconsistencies, lack of communication, equipment, and constant employee turnover made me consider quitting.
The one thing I had never done in my life.
But I couldn’t, not yet. That would leave them behind, exposed to danger with me not around to protect them. Nothing life-threatening had happened yet, but I knew it was only a matter of time. The owner of the company didn’t care about us, just the jobs he got paid for.
Thick layers of snow fell from my boots onto the rubber mat as I knocked them against the wall where we kept our wet boots. Shaking out my thick coat, I hung it on my designated hook and immediately moved to stand in front of the dimming fire.
I narrowed my eyes at the glowing embers, wishing they were a hell of a lot warmer than they were. Grabbing two thick logs from the stack, I tossed both into the flickering flames and turned to survey the room, finding Carl already stripping out of his wet snow gear.
“I need a fucking drink,” I grumbled and rubbed at the bridge of my nose, squeezing my lids shut.
Maybe a bottle of whiskey would help me figure out my life.
It wasn’t that I was attracted to a man that surprised me, that wasn’t anything new for me, it was that I wanted both him and Amy, another rescue and adventure guide who worked with us, at the same time. That was new.
“What? I’m just changing.” The smile in his tone had me curious about what he found funny after the last two days we had. Lids slowly opening, I found him gripping the top of the door frame that led to the bathroom.
Butt. Ass. Naked.
I froze, locking my muscles in place to keep me right where I was.
The man was infuriating at times, knowing he was damn hot and well aware that I was attracted to him.
He thought it was hilarious to tempt me, to show off what I, for some unknown reason, denied myself.
Nothing had happened between us, but fuck if I didn’t fantasize about it, which always ended up with me in the shower, jacking off to images of me putting him in his place with my cock buried in his mouth or ass.
My dick, which I swore would never see the light of day again after being nearly frozen off, twitched beneath my thick pants. It was confusing as hell.
I wanted Amy. She was the type of woman that men went to war for, and so fucking beautiful. She was sweet, kind, and spunky as hell. She made me laugh and want more for myself. She made me believe I deserved a future despite everything I’d done in the past.
Amy and I weren’t exclusive. She was too wild and free for that.
I was very much aware that she and Carl had a thing going on, too.
Amy was very secure in herself going after who and what she wanted, not caring what others thought, which some of the other guys we worked with made very clear what they thought of her for sleeping with multiple guys at one time.
Nothing had been said to me or Carl, or even when we were in the room. Not since I broke that asshole’s jaw last month for talking shit about her with me around.
“I’m taking a shower.” Carl pushed off the door frame. “I need to get the last two days off me, maybe stay in long enough for my balls to descend from where they hid in my gut to stay warm.”
A harsh snort escaped as I nodded. Once he disappeared and the sound of the running water filled the main living area, I fell into one of the worn leather chairs positioned in front of the fireplace.
Staring into the flickering flames, I debated joining him, but the door behind me swung open, letting in a gust of snow and bitter cold.
Two other teams filed into the cabin, talking and laughing.
Everyone but one.
Standing abruptly, I turned, putting my back to the fire. I waited two seconds, hoping she was just a few steps behind before saying something.
“Where’s Amy? Wasn’t she assigned with you on the last mission, Brad?
” The entire room went silent. The three men froze in place at the command in my tone.
Good. Dumbass fuckers. I hated that Amy was paired with that idiot last time.
She needed to be with me so I could monitor her and keep her safe.
Brad avoided my hard stare and shifted on his feet. That was when I knew whatever was about to come out of his mouth I wouldn’t like.
“Go ask the boss. She took some side assignment he needed help with.”
I worked my jaw back and forth. “What side assignment, and why didn’t you go, too?”
The fucker had the audacity to chuff with a noncommittal shrug.
“Didn’t want to go, still tired from the shit we just got back from.
She wanted to accept, but I didn’t.” His brows furrowed.
“I don’t follow her around all pussy whipped like you.
She can handle herself. Now if she wants to add me to her long fuck list, maybe then I’d give more of a damn. ”
Wrong fucking move when it came to anything involving her.
In three steps, I cleared the space between us. Hand wrapped around his throat, I pinned the asshole pinned to the wall.
“What assignment,” I gritted out, “did you let her go out on fucking alone in this shit weather?”
“Ask. Boss,” he gasped out. “I don’t know the details, asshole.”
Forcing my fingers to release, I released my hold.
Immediately, the fucker crumbled to the floor at my feet.
Ignoring his desperate gasps for air, I strode to my boots, slipping my feet inside, not bothering with tying up the laces before ripping open the door and stepping out into the whipping wind.
Instantly, the bitter cold seeped through my thick shirt and base layer without my coat to protect me from the wind and snow.
Not that it mattered. I needed answers, and I needed them now.
My boots stomped through the fresh layer of snow with every long stride toward the main office where I knew, without a doubt, the owner of the shit company would be stationed in front of the TV, either watching Lost reruns or porn.
I tipped my freezing face up to the gray clouds, sending up a brief prayer to anyone listening that today was a Lost binge day.
The last thing I needed was to catch him jerking off to add to this shit day.
Despite the urgency thrumming through me, the need for answers and action riding me hard, I slammed my fist against the office door and gave it a few seconds before yanking the door open.
Once inside, I released a relieved breath at finding the TV off and the company’s owner sitting across the small conference table from a man I didn’t recognize.
The door slammed shut behind me. “Where is Amy?” I asked before either could speak up about me barging into their meeting.
Worry filled my gut when the two exchanged a look I couldn’t read.