Page 38 of Finding Kenna
“Was that a threat?” Slate asked, stepping toward him menacingly.
Proving that he wasn’t completely stupid, Braun took a step backward. “No,” he said, but he didn’t sound nearly as cocky as he had a second ago. “Just a fact. You aren’t bulletproof, Smart Aleck, and one of these days your true colors are gonna show through, and I’m gonna be there to see it…and rejoice.”
Then, as if knowing he was two seconds away from being laid out on the ground by a bunch of SEALs, Braun turned and walked away as if he hadn’t just threatened one of their own.
Aleck’s hands curled into fists. “What an asshole,” he muttered.
“Please let me go after him and teach him a lesson,” Slate said to Mustang.
But their team leader shook his head. “No. The last thing I need is you getting into trouble over him. He’s not worth it.”
“Oh, it would totally be worth it to smash his face in,” Slate said.
Aleck took a deep breath. He didn’t like the not-so-veiled threat Braun had lobbed his way, but he wasn’t about to stoop to his level and didn’t want any of his friends to get in trouble.
“Ignore him,” Aleck told Slate and the others. “He’s hated me since his cowardice was revealed to the entire company. It’s fine.”
“Can you imagine if he’d somehow slipped through the cracks and become a SEAL?” Pid asked with a shudder. “What a fucking disaster.”
Aleck had to agree. Being on a SEAL team was rewarding, but one of the hardest things he’d ever done. He relied on the five men around him to have his back and had no doubt they would, no matter what the situation. But if Braun was on his team, he wouldn’t trust the man as far as he could throw him, which wasn’t a good situation when you were balls deep behind enemy territory.
“You need to watch your back,” Mustang warned. “I don’t trust that guy.”
“I will,” Aleck said.
“I mean it. We all read the report Baker sent you, and he’s unstable. There’s no telling what he might do to try to bring you down,” Mustang said.
It wasn’t Aleck’s proudest moment when he’d shared the info Baker had sent with his team. But they shared everything. And Aleck knew without a doubt that none of them would ever admit how they’d gotten Braun’s service record. That was the kind of bond SEALs had.
“I’ll be careful,” Aleck said.
“Good. All right, let’s get back inside and see if we can find out more about this Iran situation. I really don’t wanna cross the mountains to get into the country to get this guy out. Let’s hope negotiations are successful and we don’t have to,” Mustang said.
“Oh, come on, you know a thirty-mile pleasure hike over a ten-thousand-foot-high peak into hostile territory is just what you want to do next week,” Aleck joked.
Mustang just shook his head and headed back inside the conference room so they could continue going over maps and intel.
The rest of the team followed. Aleck grabbed the door and held it open for his friends. Slate was the last one to approach, and he stopped, giving the others time to get far enough ahead so they wouldn’t hear him.
“You want me to fuck him up, just say the word,” Slate told Aleck.
“I appreciate that,” Aleck said, and he did. “But the day I can’t handle that pencil-necked douchebag, is the day my Budweiser pin should be taken away.”
Slate eyed him for a long moment before nodding once. Then they both headed inside after the rest of the team.
Chapter Eight
Kenna opened her apartment door and beamed at Marshall over a week later. Their plans the Sunday before had been canceled when Marshall had to participate in a training exercise. But now it was the following Sunday, her day off, and they were going to attempt to sneak onto the private beach at the Coral Springs condo complex she’d been drooling over for quite a while.
“Hi!” she said happily. He looked good. Really good. She enjoyed gawking at him in his uniform, but Kenna thought she liked this laid-back Marshall even more. He had on what looked like a pair of swim trunks with a white T-shirt emblazoned with a large pineapple. It was whimsical and seemed out of character. Which made her like it even more.
“Hi, back,” he said before stepping into her personal space and reaching for her. Even though this was only their second in-person date, Kenna was more than comfortable with him initiating a kiss. Probably because of the hours and hours they’d spent talking on the phone and via text.
When he leaned down, she didn’t hesitate in the least. She wanted this man.
His lips landed on hers, and Kenna mentally let out a girly squeal.
This kiss was more confident, hungrier, than their first had been. On both their parts.
