Chapter 8 #2
Nina’s always considered herself one of the guys.
One hell of an MP, we all respected the shit out of her.
One night, before I caught Sloan with Hailey, he and I got a little rowdy in a bar off-base, in uniform, like total asshats.
Nina got the call and drove us around for two hours, force-feeding us water and French fries from Sonic until we sobered up.
When we got back on base, she covered for us and said she’d been with us all night and the call must’ve been about someone else.
She squeezes Sloan again and pats him on the back as his murderous gaze slides to me.
“I’m surprised you’d show your face here.” The ice in his tone could make a penguin shiver.
“You’d probably be surprised by a lot of things,” I bite back, mentally kicking myself for letting him get under my skin so fucking easily. Not helping.
“I’m sure I would. Like how small your dick is,” he fires back, hiding behind his usual mask of humor. I always hated when he tried to hide from me.
“Is that all you think about?” I snap.
“Nope. I also think about balls, tight holes, cum filling my mouth…” he trails off, knowing I’ve gotten the picture.
“Now is hardly the time or place,” I reprimand.
“You’re going to tell me how to deal with my grief, too? Excellent. I don’t know how I’ve managed to bathe, brush my teeth, or wipe my ass without you telling me what to do the past few years.”
“Gentlemen, that’s enough,” Nina says, placing a hand on each of our forearms. Sloan chooses to sit behind me and Nina, and I find it excruciatingly hard to concentrate with him back there burning a hole into my head.
I almost make it through the entire ceremony without crying, but when they lower the casket into the ground, all bets are off.
Although she wasn’t military herself, I throw one of my oak leaf pendants into the hole with her. I just don’t want her to think she’s alone. Behind me, I feel Sloan lean in, his breath hot on my neck.
“Are you fucking kidding me with that right now?”
I stay silent and wipe a falling tear.
“I should kick your fucking ass for making it look like you give a shit,” he whispers, using the lethal tone I remember so well. His soldier voice we all called it. It makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up.
Most people talk faster the angrier they get, rushing their words to make their point.
Sloan slows down, making sure you read everything on the lines and in between them.
Once the closing prayer has been said, Hailey’s friends console each other as they begin to walk back to their cars, sharing their grief. I kneel next to her final resting place and make a promise I hope like hell I can keep. “I’ll fix this.”
I should’ve brought the items she left for Sloan with me. I knew he’d be here. But if I did that, this chapter would come to a close today and I’d never see him again. I can’t let that happen until I’ve made things right.
Grant may have been wrong in his assumptions, but the fact remains that his dying wish, and now Hailey’s too, was for me to look out for Sloan and the soldier in me can’t let that go unanswered.
So, despite everything, I survey the mourners for Sloan.
Perhaps we can have a civil conversation where I can begin to explain.
It doesn’t take long for me to come up empty and sigh.
At least I have a reason to reach out one more time.
Lost in my thoughts, I’m making my way back to my 4Runner when I get tackled to the ground, my assailant flying out from behind a tree.
My defensive training kicks into gear and I’m throwing as many punches as I’m taking.
It’s not doing much good though. I knew his added bulk was going to bite me in the ass at some point.
I’m thankful when we roll down a hill, farther away from the funeral attendees.
When we come to a stop, Sloan is beneath me, my thighs pinning one of his arms to his side, his other fist clasped in my hands, mostly to prevent him from striking me again, but also to use as leverage so he can’t wiggle free.
“Are you done?” I growl, astonished that I somehow managed to get the upper hand, blood running down my chin from another split lip dealt by his fist.
Sloan’s eyes darken with rage.
“Not even close.” He bucks his hips to throw me off of him and we grapple for position, each landing one more punch amidst the headstones before Nina’s voice rings in the air.
“Stop this. You two have got to work this shit out. You were best friends at one point. Brothers. You had each other’s backs … and then you didn’t. I don’t understand it, but for fuck’s sake, move on. You aren’t boys anymore. You’re grown ass men stuck in the past.”
“I’d moved on until he showed up on my doorstep and dragged me back,” Sloan answers, standing with a grunt, wiping blood from his eyebrow on the sleeve of his suit jacket, shaking his arms out and squaring up for more.
“I wish I’d never met him.” Sloan’s talking to Nina but he’s sneering at me when he says that, and damn if it doesn’t cut deeper than any hit I’ve taken so far.
Hurt, frustrated, and angry at the universe, I let out a yell and crash back into Sloan taking him to the ground, pummeling any part of his body I can connect with.
“Fuck you, Sloan!” I roar. My body slides across his as we continue to fight on the ground.
The stubble on his face scratches my skin, and he wraps his thighs around my torso, vying for power.
His shirt comes untucked and mine follows suit shortly after.
He grips the roots of my hair trying to gain purchase to land another punch.
I try to pull my knee up to sink it into his balls, but his thighs clamp down, forcing my hips flush against his so I can’t make the move.
Every muscle between us is hard thanks to the surge of blood and adrenaline.
When I realize that includes my dick, I immediately go still before I fight to get off of him instead of continuing to fight to win.
“That’s it,” Nina says as I push to my feet, yanking my jacket off and using it to hide my erection before anyone notices. Her tone of sadness and sympathy is replaced by anger. “You two are under arrest for disorderly conduct and if you don’t come quietly, I’ll up it to assault. Now let’s go.”
Sloan stands quietly, brushing the grass off his pants, staring wide-eyed at Nina. “You’re joking right?”
“Do I look like I’m joking, Alexander? You’ve got an audience up on that hill.
You,” she says to me, “are in your military dress uniform, moron.” She swings her pointer finger to Sloan.
“And you have one of the most recognizable faces on the fucking planet. So, unless you want to do interviews with the media, deal with your record label,” she points to Sloan, “and your superiors,” her finger swings back to me, making me dizzy with the motion and accusations, “then I suggest you get your asses in my car, now.”
Nina takes Sloan and I to some holding cell after badging in through a thousand doors.
I don’t come to the Pentagon often, but I’ve been here enough to know she could probably do whatever she wanted to us down here and no one would say a word.
Hell, no one would even know we were here unless she told them.
“Neen, is all this necessary?” I ask as the three of us walk down an empty, dimly lit hallway, my dress shoes clacking on the tile floor. “You’re not actually going to do the paperwork on this, are you? I could get in serious trouble.”
“Oh, it’s necessary. I don’t know all the details of what the hell happened between you two, but I know enough, and you’re being given an opportunity to work it out.
For some reason, the universe thought it was wise to bring you two idiots back together again.
” She holds the door to the cell open and I glance at Sloan, wondering if I could convince him to help me tackle her, but he won’t meet my eyes.
“Now get in there. You have all night to figure this out. When I come back in the morning, you two better have kissed and made up because if you haven’t, then yes, I’m doing the paperwork. ”
“Looks like it might finally be my turn to cost you a promotion, Major,” Sloan says.
His cocky half smile fades as soon as Nina slams the cell door shut and locks it.
“Nina!” Sloan cries, finally pissed at the situation.
“The band hits the road the day after tomorrow! Do you even know how much shit I have to get done?” Sloan yells, smacking his palm against the metal bars.
“Should’ve thought about that before you made a scene at the funeral.”
Sloan turns to me, his hair hanging across his wild eyes. “This is all your fucking fault. Everything is your goddamn fault,” he seethes, reaching up and loosening his tie, popping the top two buttons of his dress shirt soon after.
We both stand with our mouths agape as Nina walks away from our cell, the key to the door spinning around her finger like she’s the sheriff in an old western. We still have our phones, but the concrete walls are so thick down here, we both know even checking for a signal is useless.
Figuring I might as well settle in, I take a seat on the metal bench.
There isn’t much air flow down here so I remove my own tie and start rolling up the sleeves of my shirt, thankful my traitorous body has finally calmed the hell down.
Replaying Nina’s words in my head, I address the elephant in the room.
The gigantic, gray, unmovable elephant that has been between Sloan and I for a long time.
“How did it start?” I ask, quietly folding my discarded clothes out of habit and laying them next to me. Curiosity has eaten away at some of the disgust over the years and wanting to make this right, I’m finally ready to hear his side of the story. Unfortunately, he doesn’t give a shit.
“You expect me to share the most intimate story of my life with you? The man who made me lose it all?”