Epilogue
Eight months later
One last run in boots and utes. One last open-ocean swim. Despite his chafed crotch, sweat-soaked skin and the blisters on his feet, Shane could hardly keep the grin off his face.
“Stand up, hook up, shuffle to the door. Jump right out and count to four.”
His new brothers of SEAL Team Three, Task Unit Rebel, Charlie Platoon, ran close to him, their voices lusty as they sang the cadence.
After six months of training alongside them, Shane could pick them out individually in the dark by just their silhouettes alone.
They’d been through so much together already—Ranger jump school in Georgia, cold-weather training in Alaska, desert survival training in California.
“If my main don’t open wide, I got my reserve here by my side.”
Not everyone was running in boots and utes.
Just ahead of Shane, Matt looked like he was floating on air, dressed as he was in running shorts, T-shirt and sneakers.
An older man ran alongside him, same height, same build, the only difference between them the craggy lines on his face and the tattoos that snaked around his biceps and down his forearms. One of his legs bore a huge raised scar, a permanent memento of the Battle of Mogadishu.
Matt had broken the news to Shane when they were lying in bed one night.
“Your uncle is coming to my fucking Trident Swim?”
Matt raised his eyebrows as Shane’s voice went all high and squeaky. Rolling to his side, he propped himself up on his elbow and put his hand on Shane’s chest. “Yeah,” he said matter-of-factly. “He’s gonna PT with us, too. He said if you’re gonna be with me, you’d better keep up.”
“Oh my fucking God.”
Laughing at Shane’s distress, Matt stretched out on top of him. “He’s gonna love you, don’t worry. Just, uh, you know, keep up.”
Now here they all were, the guys in boots and cammies just one ocean swim away from receiving their Tridents, and the ones who’d already earned theirs enjoying life in their shorts and T-shirts.
Shane had been in Alaska when Matt got his, but he’d seen the pictures, Matt standing at attention in his sodden utilities, lips pressed tightly together as his uncle pinned his Trident on.
“I was crying like a fucking baby, Shane.”
He’d been offered a billet on Team Five, meaning he and Shane would frequently be on opposite sides of the globe, but at least they were stationed on the same coast. In their world, that was as good as it was gonna get.
At the call to right face, the group, moving as one, veered off the asphalt to run on the sand toward the water.
Shane’s calves and thighs were screaming, the weight of the sledgehammer on his back not helping matters.
Still, he barely noticed the pain, as high as he was on adrenaline and happiness.
Down at the ocean’s edge, the men stripped off their boots and donned fins, the Trident holders following suit, Matt included. Uncle Rick stayed on the beach, offering his arm to Alexis, who took it gratefully. She was here alone. Derek had stayed home with Libby and their newborn son.
Shane smiled as she caught his eye and gave him a tiny wave. This had to be excruciating for her, reliving all this after having gone through it once with Jon. It was a testament to how far they’d come in the last several months that she was even here, and Shane was fiercely grateful for that.
“Into the water, gents!”
With one last wink at Lex, Shane turned and ran into the water with his guys, the sledgehammer still strapped to his back. He’d share the burden with one of his brothers, passing the sledge back and forth during the three-and-a-half mile swim.
“Lookin’ good.”
Shane turned his head to see Matt floating alongside him.
Before Shane could answer, a huge swell caught him and rolled him over, the weight of the sledge dragging him under.
As he flailed, a strong hand caught the back of his belt and pulled him to the surface, where it lingered on the curve of his ass before giving him a sharp pinch.
“Hey!” Shane sputtered, and Matt grinned at him as he stroked away.
“Hang in there, clown. Almost there.”
Almost there.
The water was cold, the sea rough. They were swimming against the wind, which made it even harder. All around him men shouted encouragement to each other, swim buddies to the core.
At last the finish line. Shane staggered from the water and stood at attention in the shallows as, one by one, his brothers joined him, their friends and families cheering loudly. They listened to a rousing speech from the base CO, and then—finally—came the moment almost two years in the making.
“You’re joining an exclusive brotherhood, son,” the CO said as he pinned Shane’s Trident over his pounding heart. “You’ve worked incredibly hard, sacrificed much, and you’ve earned this. Wear it with strength and honor. You’re a team guy now.”
Shane choked back tears as the man went down the line to each new guy before raising his voice. “Now the real work begins!” he shouted. “But I know each and every one of you is up to the task. You’ve made your family, your friends and your nation proud today, gents.”
He paused.
“You’re secured!”
With whoops and hollers, the newly christened SEALs broke rank and ran to join their families. Alexis flew to Shane and, heedless of his soaking wet clothes, threw herself into his arms. Shane hugged her tight, face buried in her fragrant hair.
“So proud of you, big brother. So proud.”
Shane’s throat was too full to speak, but he kissed her cheek before letting her go, and arm in arm they walked toward Matt and his uncle, who were waiting for them a short distance away. Matt’s eyes were alight with love and pride, too, but all he did was bump Shane with his shoulder.
“Nice job, I guess.”
Matt’s uncle gripped Shane’s hand and clapped him hard on the shoulder. “Welcome to the family, son.”
“Thank you, sir.”
“Aww, hell, call me Uncle Rick, would ya? Now let’s go celebrate!”
“Only if you’re buying,” Matt teased him, dodging out of reach as Rick tried to slap him on the back of the head. They trotted on ahead, still bickering.
“You know,” Alexis said as they trudged through the sand after them, “when you look at Rick, you’re seeing what Matt’s gonna look like at, what, fifty years old?”
Shane choked. “I am so gonna bust his balls with that later. ‘I know what you’re gonna look like as an old man!’ Hahahaha.”
“Fifty’s not old—” Alexis started to say indignantly, but Shane cut her off.
“I know, but it’s still gonna piss him off.”
His whole body tingled in anticipation. A pissed-off Matt was a tiger in bed, and Shane would count them both lucky if either one of them could walk tomorrow.
When they reached the parking lot, Rick turned to Alexis. “C’mon, my dear. Why don’t you ride with me, give the boys a little time alone? We can chat, get better acquainted.”
They agreed on a meeting place, and then Rick and Alexis set off to secure them a table while Shane climbed into Matt’s truck and struggled out of his wet clothes before pulling on a pair of track pants and a hoodie.
Matt did the same and they sat for a moment, catching their breath. Finally Matt wrinkled his nose. “It smells like wet dog in here.”
Chuckling, Shane reclined his seat a little as Matt started the engine. “Eau de SEAL,” he agreed. “It’s a smell that’ll always remind me of you.”
“What? Fuck you!” Matt’s voice rose indignantly, and Shane reached over to pat his thigh.
“If only I could bottle it.” He closed his eyes and breathed deeply. “That smell of the ocean on your skin.”
Lacing their fingers together, Matt gave him a squeeze, and Shane stroked his wrist with his thumb. “When do you leave?”
“Day after tomorrow. How about you?”
“Sometime next week.” Shane cleared his throat. “I’ll, uh, try to get that carpet ripped out of the spare bedroom before I go and—”
Matt squeezed his hand again, this time in admonishment. “No, don’t tell me. I want it to be a surprise.”
They’d officially moved in together a few months ago.
Shane had come home from a training trip only a day after Matt had left for one, but when he walked into the house, he’d let out a gasp.
While Shane had been gone, Matt had managed to knock down that useless wall separating the kitchen from the living room, opening the space up beautifully.
“So we can throw a big housewarming party someday, invite all the guys,” Matt had said when Shane called him. “Or a coming-out party, whatever.”
He’d also had the debris hauled away, so everything was immaculate, except for one two-by-four somehow randomly left on the floor. When Shane had bent to pick it up, he saw that Matt had scratched M+S into it, the letters surrounded by a crude heart, just like on a tree.
Smiling, Shane had run his fingers over the carving. “I think someone was feeling a little mushy while I was gone,” he said aloud to the empty room. “Love you, too, babe.”
After that, there’d been no more carvings, but Shane would frequently come home to evidence that Matt had been there—some wallpaper stripped here, a new outlet wired there. The work became their version of leaving a love note, and slowly Shane’s house was becoming their home.
In front of the restaurant, Matt whipped into a parking space just as his cellphone went off. He checked the screen, then turned to Shane, his voice rueful. “Departure’s just been moved up to 0500 tomorrow. I’m sorry.”
Shane dropped his head to the back of the seat and blew out a breath. There went his plan to see how long he could keep Matt naked before he’d insist on getting up to go work out…
Aww, suck it up, buttercup. This is what it’s like loving a warrior.
Hooking Matt around the back of the neck, Shane yanked him into a scorching kiss, which left them both panting for breath.
“Well, let’s go spend time with our family,” he murmured against his lips.
“But just so you know, you’ll be getting on that plane tomorrow with zero sleep and some hickeys in some very awkward places. ”
Matt brushed his thumb over Shane’s cheek, letting it linger for a moment on the corner of his mouth. “Wouldn’t have it any other way.” Then he gave Shane a push. “Ugh, you still smell like a wet dog.”
Rolling his eyes, Shane got out of the truck. “And there’s the Soup I know and love.”
Matt’s door slammed, too, but not before Shane heard the two words that would always make him smile.
“Fuckin’ clown.”
* * * * *