Page 70 of Protecting Josie
“Um, you do know that’s not what abombardieris, right?” Blink asked Josie with a smile.
She waved her hand in the air as if swatting away his words. “Close enough.”
“Should we tell her what it really means?” Preacher asked.
“No.”
“Yes!”
Josie and Blink spoke at the same time. She leaned toward Preacher. “Tell me!”
“Well, it’s kind of hard to explain. It’s been used as a kind of alert from one guy to another. To let him know that something’s happening that caused him to get a spontaneous woody. Kind of an early warning system.”
Josie threw her head back and laughed. Blink could only stare at her in awe. She was so beautiful when her inhibitions were down. Though, if he was being honest with himself, she was beautiful anytime.
“Are you serious? You’re kidding, right?”
“Nope,” Preacher said with a smirk. “Right, guys?”
“No clue. I’ve never heard of that word, and I would never use it to talk about my cock,” Dude said, completely straight-faced.
“Must be a youngster’s word,” Wolf agreed.
That set Josie off again. She laughed as if Wolf and Dude had said the funniest thing she’d ever heard. She waved her hand again, this time sort of indicating the men around her asshe looked up at Blink. “Ilovethem. They’re awesome! I mean, not as much as I love you, but close!”
Blink stilled. She was drunk, didn’t know what she was saying, but damn…hearing those words on her lips felt amazing.
“You ready to go home?” he blurted, needing to get her alone.
“Yup!” she said without hesitation. “I just need to say bye to Caroline and Cheyenne. They’re great. Told me all sorts of stuff tonight about being with a SEAL. The Navy kind and not the animal.” Josie giggled at her own joke.
“Oh! And I want to thank Bert…he made me the best drink tonight. Oh! And I see Smiley, Flash, and MacGyver are still here. I want to say bye to them too…” Josie got up and hugged Dude from behind, her arms barely going all the way around his shoulders. “Bye, Dude!” Then she did the same to Wolf. “Bye, Wolf. It was so nice meeting you!”
She approached Preacher’s chair, but he turned, giving her a proper hug. She was so small, their heads were on the same level, even with him sitting. Then she skipped off to say her goodbyes to everyone else.
“I like her,” Dude said with a smile.
“You did good,” Wolf agreed with a nod.
He had. Blink was relieved his friends liked Josie, but honestly, it wouldn’t have mattered if they hadn’t clicked right off the bat. He had no doubt that eventually, she would’ve won them over.
The men all stood, and Wolf and Dude went over to collect their women before heading out the door.
Josie was talking with the rest of Blink’s teammates when Preacher stood and said, “She needed this.”
Blink glanced at his friend. “What do you mean?”
“This. Relaxing. Making friends. She told us she’s never had anyone do something like this before. Throw her a surprise party. Got all teared up about it too. It’s hard to believe a woman like her doesn’t already have a dozen best friends who would bend over backward for her. To know she was in that cell, and notoneperson wondered where she was…no one alerted the authorities that she was missing… It’s a goddamn crime. Because she’s the sweetest, most generous, and kindest woman I’ve met.”
Even though the words were complimenting Josie, Blink felt them down to his toes. His friend wasn’t wrong.
He was honored to be the one to throw her a party. It wasn’t about the cake Jessyka had brought out from the kitchen, making her blow out thirty candles. It wasn’t about the presents her new friends had given her, trinkets and fun little items that weren’t terribly expensive, but Blink could tell meant the world to Josie.
It was about feeling seen. Being a part of a group. Feeling as if, should anything ever happen again, she wouldn’t be forgotten.
“Before Kevlar left, he told me to tell you not to come to PT in the morning. That he’d see you at our first meeting at ten. Josie’s probably gonna be a little hungover, he thought you might want to be there to take care of her.”
Kevlar wasn’t wrong, and Blink was grateful for his team leader’s generosity.
