Page 102 of Love at First Rep

“I’ve been meaning to ask, did you ever get your record cleared with the Navy after they repealed DADT?”

Garrett took a deep breath and a spoonful of his Frosty before he answered, “I appealed to the Naval Discharge Review Board and my less than honorable discharge was eventually upgraded to an honorable discharge.”

“Why does that sound like bad news?”

“Because I shouldn’t have had to,” Garrett snapped, then winced. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to talk to you like that.”

Rafe reached out for Garrett’s hand and gave it a squeeze. “I understand. It’s not me you’re mad at.”

Garrett shook his head. “It’s not. I guess I’m just pissed that there was a process at all. It should have been automatic. It just makes me think about some of the people that died before they got the chance to fix their record, or the people that aren’t aware they can change it.”

The armed forces had a tainted history when it came to supporting marginalized groups. Rafe would never understand how a person could be treated as less than just because of something they had no control over.

“I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you,” Rafe said. “Although, if I was, I probably would have been thrown out right along with you.”

Garrett laughed bitterly. “Yeah, you would have made quite the scene.”

“You know I’d love the dramatics of a good walkout.”

Rafe leaned against Garrett’s side, resting his head on Garrett’s shoulder, supporting him the only way he knew how.

“No more regrets, remember?” Garrett said. “We only have the future to worry about now.”

Rafe lifted his head to kiss Garrett’s cheek, lighting up at the opportunity to move to a lighter topic.

“Speaking of the future, we still need to come up with your code name.”

Garrett groaned. “Do we have to?”

“Well, you do need one before you go in the field with us.”

A grunt came from Garrett’s side of the car as Rafe took another bite of his burger.

“What are the requirements?”

Rafe bobbed his head as he finished chewing. “If you want to be like the rest of us, you can choose a typically female name. Something that says who you are or what you bring to the team.”

“Hmm. What do you think I bring to the team?” Garrett asked, a trace of worry in his voice.

Rafe’s hand fell on Garrett’s thigh and he gave it a squeeze.

“You bring so much to the team. Intelligence, morality, innovative ideas. You can be our voice of reason when we need it. Help us solve puzzles made for a detective. You’re going to be such an asset.”

If there was more light in the empty parking lot, Rafe had a feeling he’d see pink filling Garrett’s cheeks. His smile turned sheepish and he grabbed a fry as he began to brainstorm.

“So I should go with a character or person that follows the law? That sounds boring.”

“No, no, no. A hot blonde that follows the law, or has good values. That’s way better.”

Garrett snorted and continued eating as they came up with ideas.

“How about Elle, like Elle Woods from Legally Blonde?” Rafe suggested. “She’s all about the law and she stands up for herself.”

“Not bad, although I’m not a huge fan of lawyers. What about Leslie for Leslie Knope? She’s as by-the-book as they come, and she’s funny.”

“You’re more like Lisa Simpson. By-the-book, but kind of annoying about it.”

“Hey!” Garrett shouted, laughing as he threw one of his fries at Rafe’s head.