21. Ian
21
IAN
It’s pathetic how happy I am even while getting my ass kicked.
We never should have let the kids get ahold of Nerf guns. Losing to them four rounds in a row is embarrassing. And I can’t even put the blame on anyone but the members of our team.
We also never should have let the women team up with them.
First, Dom thinks it is a genius idea to climb a fuckin’ tree and try to surprise them that way. But he doesn’t take into consideration that both Remy and Linc have been teaching Nox everything they know.
Nox spots Dom in less than ten seconds, nodding to Bee, who launches a foam bullet with precision into the trees and gets Dom in the cheek.
“What the absolute shit?” He falls out of the tree more out of surprise than by the force of the Nerf gun, barely managing not to land on his face as he catches himself. “Who taught you how to shoot like that, Bee?” He rubs his face where there is already a welt starting to pop up.
Bee pushes her ponytail behind her shoulder and cocks her hip, resting the gun on it for a moment to smile impishly at him. “You did.”
“Way to go, Bee.” Nox high-fives her, and they run off to take their next position, leaving us there to pick up our jaws.
“How in the shit is she better at this than we are?”
“Emma’s giving her lessons, too,” Bria announces like it’s some great secret that she’s revealing. “From what Bee tells me, it started before her parents died, too.”
Now that makes perfect sense.
I turn around to see all the women with the same type of Nerf rifle that Bee has, and I groan. “Has Emma been training everyone?”
“No.” Parker purses her lips together and blows a raspberry. “I happen to be a great shot on my own.”
“Samesies,” Kennedy pipes up. “I grew up with a brother who made sure I knew exactly what I was doing with a gun. You can thank Remy for being a great big brother.”
Chloe smiles at me, pulling her gun up to her shoulder. “Don’t take it easy on me, okay?”
I don’t even need to ask about her, since the reason she is an excellent shot has to do with both Kevin and me making sure that she has every skill she needs to not only hunt during hunting season, but also survive if she has to during the apocalypse.
“We’re screwed, you know that, right?” Linc mock whispers as we practically run for the woods. “Remy’s not gonna shoot his wife, and we’ve all been idiots, training them for years so they’re gonna kick our asses because we’re too afraid to hurt them.”
I shrug. “At least it’ll lead to great sex later. But I’m not afraid of getting Chloe. It’s only a Nerf gun.”
He laughs, right as a blue foam bullet flies past his head. “Shit. Let’s go.”
An hour later we are covered in sweat and dirt, with leaves hanging out of places leaves shouldn’t be, but we manage to eliminate some of the other team. The other team who is unashamedly kicking our asses and making it hard to hold on to our pride with sheer determination and manipulating the game.
“This is bullshit,” I whisper hoarsely from my post in the treehouse we’re using as a hideout. “Someone needs to eliminate Bee and Emma. If we do that, Chloe and Parker will be easy to take out.”
“Good luck with that,” Dom hisses. “Nox won’t let that happen. He’s ridiculous. Like a sniper and a scout all in one. Kid shoots with both eyes open. I can’t sneak up on him to save my life and I don’t know how he does it.”
We are the last two left of our team, and neither of us is willing to give up. Logan takes a shot from Dom meant for Poppy, and then Poppy retaliates by pegging Ben in the face when Dom sneaks behind the nearest tree. Remy gets shot by Parker as he tries to take her out, surprising all of us when she lifts the gun over her shoulder without looking and pegs him in the chest.
“Truce!” Chloe calls loudly. “All the food is getting cold, and Nox and Bee have to go to bed soon.”
“Not until you admit defeat,” Dom counters, putting both hands around his mouth.
Two shots ring out from behind us, and I know without looking that Dom gets shot in the back just like I do.
Slowly, I turn around to see Bee and Nox have army crawled about twenty feet away and covered themselves in leaves, working with only hand signals to take us out.
“Holy shit,” I mutter.
“Damn kid,” Dom groans.
Then he does exactly the opposite of what I think he’ll do.
He smiles and goes to both kids, offering high fives.
“Great job, Bee. Never take a prisoner if you can help it, right?”
Bee smiles brightly, wiping her face and leaving a streak of mud across her nose. “Right. And never take it easy on anyone. Because real life will kick you in the nuts if you let it.”
“And Nox, your aunt is gonna be so proud.”
Watching him so easily slip into the role of an uncle and guardian warms my heart just a bit. Chloe was right at the lake house. We really are getting older and more mature.
“Let’s go eat.” I offer to carry their guns, but both kids look at me like I’ve lost my marbles. “Or not.”
“Don’t forget to pick up those bullets.” Nox nods toward the shots that we’ve taken.
I go ahead and pick up both of them, sliding them into the pocket on my jeans that hold the rest of my ammunition.
Chloe meets us on the edge of the woods with a beer in her hand and a kiss for my dirt-streaked cheek. “Hey. You lost.”
“Yeah.” I shrug with a smile. “It was worth it, though. The kids are getting way better than I thought they would be at this point, and it’s good that they’re better than we are. It means we’re training them right.”
“Watch Bee break tradition and be the first female sniper,” Dom whispers as we break into the food a few minutes later. “I don’t even know how I’d sleep at night worrying about her serving if she goes that route.”
“Don’t worry,” Nox interrupts solemnly. “Bee doesn’t want to join the military. She’s gonna be a cop, just like Emma.” While he speaks, his eyes never leave Bee, who is eating tacos at Emma’s side.
Then, like he hasn’t just dropped a bomb like that, he turns away from the little girl with a bright smile and pierces me with eyes that look just like his father’s.
“Uh-oh.” Linc shifts away from me, muttering under his breath. “Kid’s gonna do some scary-ass prophecy shit again. Everyone get out of his way.”
I think about running away like the other men are but decide against it. Nox has an old soul, and when he decides to use it, his words are powerful and meaningful. Plus, I have nothing to hide. I have the woman I love, and everything is going to be okay because I’m not going anywhere.
“Is it true that Chloe’s brother died overseas? Like my dad did?”
A chorus of groans fill the air around me, and every single man there starts to get choked up.
“Fuck.” Linc steps in to interfere, but I stop him with a hand.
Instead, I drop to a knee, surprised to see that Nox is taller than me in that position.
“Yeah,” I tell him quietly, nodding while I speak. “About a month ago, during a mission he’d been assigned to.”
“What happened?” Nox shoves his hands into his pockets and rocks back and forth. “Mom and Remy won’t tell me anything about it.” He leans forward, dropping his voice to what he thinks is a whisper. “But I heard them talking about it when I was sneaking out to go to the cemetery one night to visit.”
I raise an eyebrow at that, shooting a look over his head to Remy, who just shrugs. “We can’t stop him, so I just put a tracker in all of his shoes. He goes to talk to Danny sometimes.”
“And he’s not afraid of zombies,” Dom offers.
Chloe looks at me from about twenty feet away with a concerned look on her face, but I shake my head. “I got this.”
She nods and goes back to her pizza, and I have just a moment of doubt about telling Nox what happened. Then I shake it off.
The kid knows what it’s like to not have a family member to hold or talk to because of the military. He deserves to know.
“Chloe’s brother’s name is Kevin. Kevin Young.” I sit down, crossing my legs, and Nox follows suit, ready for my story. “Before he joined the military, he actually got certified as a firefighter. Did you know that?” Nox shakes his head. “Yeah. Kevin worked for Birch Harbor Fire when he was eighteen, the youngest guy on the crew. Then we were all joining the Marine Corps, and he joined too.”
I look up to see that Chloe has actually abandoned the table with the food, bringing a plate of pizza over, and she sits down right next to me, putting one hand over mine in silent support. When her eyes catch mine, I ask her silently if she wants to say anything. She shakes her head and then takes a large bite of her pizza.
“So…” I go on. “We all served together, but Kevin and I were part of a different fire squad. And then Logan was the first to decide to come home. Then your stepdad and uncle decided to get out.” I leave out the reasons why they did. “After that, I came home, and then Dom decided to switch to the Reserves. But Kevin didn’t. He joined a new team and stayed. He told me he found his passion and was going to see it through for one more hitch.”
Instead of interrupting me like I think he might, Nox sits there, patiently waiting for the details. In fact, pretty much everyone is watching as I tell Kevin’s story, or as much of it as I know.
“Kevin was the funniest. I know you didn’t get to meet him too often, but he was. He used to play pranks on everyone, but mostly Chloe.” I wink at her and squeeze her hand when I see the tears in her eyes.
“But when you’re overseas on deployment, there’s a danger that you can never get rid of. You go on missions, you go on patrol, you pretty much go wherever you’re needed. And that’s what happened. Kevin went on a mission, and he never came home.”
Chloe hiccups, and it hurts me to keep going, but I won’t stop. Not until I’ve finished. So I ignore the aching pain in my chest and push through.
“So we had his funeral, which I know you were at. And the flag, just like the one you and your mom have for your dad, I gave that to Chloe.”
“And everyone cried,” Nox adds. “It was really sad.”
Chloe sniffles next to me, and I squeeze her fingers, offering my support the only way I can. Then I ignore the fear that I may drive her away by telling Nox everything, and I finish my story.
“Kevin died overseas, as a hero. Just like your dad, Nox. That’s what happened to him. And we’ll always remember him.”
“Just like my dad.” Nox echoes my earlier words with a solemn nod. Then he stands up and leans over to Chloe’s ear. “Sometimes I sneak out to the cemetery to talk to my dad at night. You can go with me next time. We can visit them both. I’ll have Mom call you next time to give you a heads-up since I know she watches me until I get home.”
When he walks away and takes Bee’s hand, guiding her back to the food table, there isn’t a dry eye left among the adults.
“How in the hell did that kid become the smartest one out of all of us?” Linc has to clear his throat twice to get through his question. “I don’t get it.”
“I do.” Chloe surprises me by speaking up. “He’s got all of you. All of us ,” she corrects herself. “And he watches how we treat each other. How we interact. He’s all the best parts of all of us, rolled into one package.”
“We really gotta do something about him sneaking out at night,” Parker mutters. “One night he’s gonna come across a bear or something.”
“Nah,” Remy says with a shrug. “Kid’s got better instincts than all of us put together. I doubt we’d be able to stop him for long, anyway. He’s smarter than most adults. I guarantee he’d find a way to do exactly what he wants to, no matter what we do to stop him.”
“Thank you,” Chloe whispers into my neck when she hugs me a minute later. “That was really sweet and you didn’t have to do it.”
“I’d go to the ends of the earth for you, Chloe.” I brace my hands around her face, cupping her cheeks and shutting everyone else out of our private conversation. “You gotta know that. Telling Kevin’s story is the least I would do. The absolute least.”
“I love you, Ian.” She bites her lip and lowers her voice. “I definitely owe you when everyone leaves.”
“That’s it.” I let go of her and turn to the people who are trying oh-so-subtly to eavesdrop. “Pack it up and scram. I’m taking her to bed. Have a good night.”
Then I get up and pick up Chloe, carrying her into the house and ignoring the peals of laughter and wolf whistles that follow. I don’t even care if everyone stays and hangs out. I have exactly what I need.
Chloe’s laugh is the only thing that matters. And when I set her down in the bedroom, she walks toward the bathroom.
“Time to take a shower.” She looks over her shoulder and the seductive gleam in her eyes about sends me over the edge. “You coming?”
I’ve been called many things in my life.
Stupid isn’t one of them.
I follow her and give her everything she needs.