Page 2 of The Arrangement

“Hey man, what’s up?”

To my mortification (really, how much could one person stand before they keeled over?) I yelped and jumped in surprise.

The owner of the voice laughed. “From soldier to civilian, just like that? I’m a little disappointed in you, Weathers.”Finally, my brain finished climbing out of the metaphorical foxhole we’d fallen into, and I narrowed my eyes.

“What the fuck, Jones?” I snapped irritably.

“Ease up, Weathers. I didn’t mean to spook you, and you can’t really blame me for teasing. We both know you’d do the same if the roles were reversed.” He grinned, flashing perfectly straight, brilliantly white teeth in his dark face. I forced my shoulders to relax and took a breath. This was fine. Jones didn’t know what I’d seen, and no one ever would. I didn’t even need to worry about running into Gallagher since I wasn’t re-upping. Jones clapped a dark brown hand on my shoulder. “So what’s got you in such a state?”

Nothing at all. I just spent an undefinable amount of time watching my personal hero get a blow job, during which I forgot the woman was there, kept eye contact, oh yeah, and I got hard.

“Me? Where the hell have you been? Would it kill you to check your messages?” I asked in rapid fire, hoping he wouldn’t pick up on my weirdness.

“You messaged?” He pulled out his cell, and I realized he was still wearing probably what he had on last night. “Well, that explains a lot.” Jones pocketed the device and gave me an apologetic smile. “Looks like my phone died while I was out with the unit. Sorry about that. Did you need something?”

“Please tell me you’re joking. You agreed to help me move to Fairhope and get my great aunt’s shop in order?” I added when he stared blankly at me.

“Right! The flower shop. Still can’t believe you’re going to be a florist.” He shook his head. “I meant to tell you, I had something come up, so I’ll have to meet you down there. Text me the address?”

I wasn’t sure how much I bought him “remembering”, but he also gave me the out I desperately needed. “Sure thing. Just give me a heads-up so I can get things ready.”

He gave me a thumbs-up to confirm his receipt of the address (which he should have already had), then he ambled into thebarracks with a carefree whistle and I headed for the parking lot, pointedly not thinking about how relieved I was that I’d never have to face JD Gallagher after what I’d witnessed.

Chapter 2

James

Ifinished bidding Amber goodbye far sooner than I’d planned. She was a good sport about it, though I wasn’t sure how much she bought my excuse of a prior commitment that had slipped my mind. Regardless of whether she believed me, I couldn’t keep going. Even if she was a tag chaser who remembered my rank, if not my name, she didn’t deserve to be used. Which is exactly what I’d done the second I caught sight of those hazel eyes through the gap in the door.

Suddenly my half-hearted hookup became a hell of a lot more interesting as I imagined their owner in Amber’s place. The way he’d watched me… I gave myself a good shake and adjusted myself before stepping into the hallway. What I needed was a distraction, and apparently hooking up wasn’t it.

Taking an extended leave was supposed to give me a chance to decide what I wanted to do going forward. Did I want to be a lifer? The Army was definitely something I was good at, which was a welcome change. Being part of a family of literal fuckinggeniuses was no picnic, and being constantly compared to my younger siblings was, in a word, shitty.

I was smart. So what if I wasn’t politically astute like Savannah or a freaking genius like Anderson? I knew for a fact that Andy would commit murder before running the obstacle course I’d completed in record time… twice. And Sav? She was more ruthless than a combat drone. But did I need to stay enlisted because the Army was the only thing I was good at? Because I was fuckingtired.

I was tired of bullets flying at my head, having orders barked at me, running endless drills, and worst of all, watching my friends and teammates die. And if I was being honest–if only with myself–I hated not having anyone to come home to. Hookups were great short-term, and I’d taken advantage of the freedom that came with not being tied down. But I was over it. I wanted a relationship, and I wasn’t about to have one when I didn’t stay in one place long enough to make a handful of casual friends. Not to mention the rampant homophobia. Plenty of people knew me, liked me even, but no oneknewme. They definitely didn’t know I was bi. Hell, I'd only recently told my family. It really sucked always feeling like I was on the outside.

“Yo, Gallagher!”

I turned from shutting the door and waved in greeting to the guy with a fuzz of dark hair and shadows under his eyes, making his already pale face look sallow. “Sup, Davies?”

“Eh, nothing much.” He shrugged and immediately winced.

“You mean aside from the hangover?” I teased with a loud laugh that made him cringe even more.

“Ugh, shut your fucking face. I didn’t see you complaining when Richards was buying everyone rounds. Or while every miniskirt in the joint was hellbent on giving you a lap dance.”

I hid my cringe. That I didn’t need a reminder of. My reputation as the life of the party had been fine in my twenties,but I couldn’t be that forever. Didn’t want to be. “Why don’t you head down to the mess and get something to soak up all that extra alcohol in your system?”

He nodded. “Great idea, Sarge.” He shuffled a few feet down the hall, then paused and swung his head around to peer at me through squinted eyes. “I heard you’re taking leave. You gonna be hanging around here for the next few months?”

“Probably,” I said with a shrug.

“Cool, cool. We’ll have to get together and hang out.”

“Sure thing.” Hopefully Davies was too out of it to pick up on my noticeable lack of enthusiasm. I watched him trudge down the hallway, bypassing the stairs and heading for the elevator. Once the metal doors shut behind him, I sagged against the wall.

Maybe taking leave had been a mistake. Most guys loved the chance to spend time with their family, WAGs, and friends. Except my family still didn’t know what to make of my enlisting in the army. I could still hear my father saying “We spend a fortune providing you a top tier education at Ulwich, but instead of using it to go to college, have a career, you would rather get shot,” while my mother scowled her disapproval in the background.