Chapter 7
As it turned out, there was no big reveal that night.
When Lucky finally walked into his townhouse with Devyn, it was clear Angel had experienced a very upset tummy while he was gone.
He’d put the crate in the bathroom, and they’d found diarrhea all over the floor of the bathroom and inside the crate. Both dog and cat were covered in feces.
So a major cleanup had to be done and both animals had to be bathed and comforted.
It was obvious Angel knew she’d done something wrong, and she’d shivered and cowered for an hour after her bath.
Lucky finally got her to relax by lying on the floor of his bedroom with her, Whiskers curled up in the crook of his body.
Devyn had changed into a pair of sweatpants and a tank top and had fallen asleep on his bed, and Lucky didn’t have the heart to wake her up.
It was obvious she was exhausted, and he loved simply having her there with him.
So he’d put the animals back into the now clean and sterilized bathroom and climbed under the covers behind Devyn.
He gathered her close, and had never felt more content than when Devyn sighed in her sleep and snuggled farther back into him.
He’d fallen asleep within minutes.
His alarm went off early the next morning, and even though Lucky turned it off quickly, Devyn stirred.
“You going to PT?” she asked.
“Yeah,” Lucky told her quietly. “I’ll be back in two hours. Sleep.”
“’Kay. I’ll get up in a bit and let the animals out.”
“I’ll let them out now so they’ll be good for a while. I’ve got bagels, protein shakes, and oatmeal if you get hungry,” Lucky told her.
She scrunched her nose. “No doughnuts?” she asked.
Lucky didn’t know if she was kidding or not, but he made a mental note to pick some up the next time he went to the store. “No, sorry.”
“It’s okay,” she said, her voice slurring.
Lucky could wake up like this every day for the rest of his life and be content. A sleepy Devyn was cute as hell and climbing out of bed was extremely difficult.
He took Angel and Whiskers outside and was glad to see that whatever had bothered Angel’s digestive system seemed to have worked itself out. Both animals peed and he put food in their bowls as he headed back upstairs to get changed.
By the time he came back downstairs, both animals had finished their breakfasts.
Angel was curled up in one of the four dog beds he’d bought recently, Whiskers contentedly by her side.
Not wanting to traumatize the dog any more than she already was, Lucky had done the best he could to very gently get the mats out of her hair during last night’s bath, and while she still looked pretty pathetic, at least her hair was shiny and clean.
Whiskers didn’t take to grooming as well as Angel, but he’d cut out the mats in her coat as well. Since both animals had light brown fur with white patches, when they were curled up together, it was hard to tell where one stopped and the other started.
Deciding to take the chance and leave them out of the bathroom, Lucky gave them both one last pet, pleased when neither flinched.
At the last minute, he turned back and grabbed a piece of paper and scrawled out a short note for Devyn…
just in case she came downstairs before he got back. Then he left in an extremely good mood.
He and Dev still needed to talk, and she needed to get whatever big secret she was keeping off her chest for her own mental well-being, but it had been pretty damn amazing to wake up with her in his arms. He could do that for the rest of his life and be perfectly happy.
That thought should’ve stopped Lucky in his tracks, but instead, it just made him smile. Somewhere in the last several months, he’d fallen in love with Devyn. Maybe even upon first sight. And it had to be love. He’d never felt this way about another woman before. Ever.
When he arrived on post and joined up with the team in front of the motor pool, he was still smiling.
“Oh, shit, what’s that grin for?” Doc asked.
“Nothing. I’m just in a good mood this morning,” Lucky told him.
“We’re about to run ten miles and you’re in a good mood?” Oz asked.
“Well, yeah. We aren’t running with our packs, so this’ll be a piece of cake,” Lucky said.
“I’ll never understand people who like to run,” Brain muttered under his breath.
While his teammates stretched and argued good-naturedly about working out in general, Lucky managed to pull Grover and Trigger aside.
“I need some time off today. We don’t have any planning meetings, do we?” Lucky asked.
“No…unless something comes up this afternoon, which could be possible. It looks like we’re going to get to do Olympic duty this year, so soon we’ll have to start coordinating that with the other teams around the country who were picked,” Trigger said.
“Really? Cool. It’s one of the very few missions I look forward to,” Lucky said.
That was somewhat of an understatement. While the chance that some crazed terrorists would target the Olympians who gathered to compete for their country was always a possibility, guarding the athletes was considered a perk in special forces circles.
Deciding to get to the matter at hand, Lucky turned to Grover. “Dev spent the night at my place last night,” he said without preamble.
To Grover’s credit, his facial expression didn’t change. “And?” he asked. “I know you aren’t telling me you’re sleeping with my sister to try to get a rise out of me.”
“I did sleep with her, but that’s all we did,” Lucky said quickly.
“I went over to her place last night because she’d been avoiding me.
Avoiding all of us, as you know. She looked rough, man.
Like the weight of the world is on her shoulders.
I fed her—something better than the crap she admitted she’s been eating—and brought her home with me.
Angel had some digestive issues, and by the time I dealt with that, Dev was out like a light.
I’m telling you this because I need the time off so I can talk to her.
And I promised what she told me would stay between the two of us. ”
Grover frowned.
Lucky went on. “She swore that it wasn’t that she was sick again or that her life was in danger. As I told you before, I’d never keep either of those things from you.”
Grover’s shoulders relaxed. “I appreciate that. And I trust you. As much as I worry about Devyn, she’s an adult. I wouldn’t want to stand in the way of you forming a tight bond with her.”
“I love her,” Lucky blurted.
He must’ve said it loud enough for everyone to hear, because the other teammates around them got quiet.
“Shit,” Lucky muttered.
“Please tell me you’ve told her that before you just blurted it out to all of us,” Lefty said.
“Because if you’re telling us you love Devyn before you tell her, that’s fucked up,” Brain added.
“You’re going to talk about fucked up?” Oz said, smacking the back of Brain’s head.
“Fuck off,” Brain told his friend.
Lucky couldn’t help but smile. God, he loved these guys. They were uncouth at times, but their hearts were always in the right place. “I’m not sure it’s that big of a surprise to you guys that I love Devyn.”
“True,” Trigger mused. “You’ve been giving her moony eyes for a long time now.”
“Moony eyes?” Doc asked. “What the hell is that?”
“You’ll know when you meet the woman who’s perfect for you,” Lefty told him.
“It’s when no matter what she does, you think it’s damn adorable,” Brain said. “Even when other people think she’s being ridiculous or menstrual, you can’t get enough of it.”
“I haven’t looked at any woman like that, and I doubt I ever will,” Doc admitted.
“Oh, yeah, famous last words,” Lefty teased.
“Anyway, we all know that you’re head over heels for her,” Trigger said. “And if you can figure out what’s bothering her, we’d all appreciate it. I know Gillian has been worried for weeks about her, and I hate seeing her so worked up about one of her friends.”
“Same with Kinley,” Lefty said.
“Aspen too. She and Riley talked for at least twenty minutes the other night about what they could do to try to make Devyn comfortable enough to confide in them,” Brain added.
“If it’s okay with Trigger and the commander, I’m gonna take some time off today and see if I can figure out what’s been on her mind,” Lucky admitted.
“Good,” Doc said.
“You’ll let us know if we can do anything?” Trigger asked.
“We’re here if you need us,” Oz said.
Lucky appreciated his friends more than he could say. Their unwavering support was something he would never take for granted. “You know I will,” he told them.
“And you might consider telling her that you love her,” Brain said. “Women like to hear that kind of thing.”
“And if she finds out you told us before you told her, you might be sleeping on the couch instead of in your nice comfy bed next to her,” Trigger said with a chuckle.
It was way too early to be telling Devyn that he loved her, but Lucky knew his friends had a point. He nodded noncommittally.
“I hear Logan’s been kicking butt in his baseball league,” Lefty said to Oz, effectively changing the topic.
As the team started out on their long run that morning, Lucky listened as Oz talked about his nephew and how well he was doing.
He bragged that he was one of the best players on his team, even though he’d just started playing.
His niece, Bria, was also blossoming. She was about to finish the first grade and was going to take classes in the summer to make sure she was caught up with her peers before she started second grade in the fall.
The past year had been rough on her, and her psychologist suggested that keeping her on a schedule would be best.
Brain and Oz talked about their upcoming babies, which would be born only a few months apart. Aspen should be giving birth within two months, and Riley wouldn’t be too far behind.