A Spy and His SEAL Read online

  “Yeah. Dad's going to be pissed when he finds out Oliver came in,” Jonah said.

  “Nah, he knows you can't always control the dogs. Plus I won't tell him if you don't. Just keep him away until he dries.”

  “Have you met Oliver?” Jonah said rolling his eyes. “He would make a fuss if we tried to lock him anywhere.”

  “True,” I replied. “How ‘bout this, you go downstairs and see what your dad wants, I'll stay up here and keep Oliver entertained.

  “Okay,” the boys both said at once heading out.

  “Come on Oliver let’s see what we can do,” I said slumping onto the small twin bed.

  I laid down on the made bed, the semi-wet dog jumped up on my feet, spun twice before flopping with a sigh.

  I stared up at the ceiling for I don't know how long. Looking at Isiah's glow in the dark stars.

  “Hey,” a voice called from the doorway.

  I didn't have to look to know it was Liam, “Leaving your date so soon?” I asked without moving.

  No response, a sigh. I couldn't hear him, but I could feel him squirming. I was going to tell him to just let it go but he started talking again, “she's not my date. I brought her home because she--”

  I cut him off, I didn't want to know why he brought a girl home, “it's not for me to care anyway.”

  “I know,” he sighed again, this time I looked at him. Gawd he was gorgeous even more so than in high school.

  “Look what happened between us was years ago. We can just--”

  “Just what Danny? Pretend it didn't happen? I can't do that. Staying away doesn't help you know.”

  “I know.”

  I looked back at the ceiling and he stood there in the doorway in awkward silence for who knows how long.

  I closed my eyes and opened them several times, still, he didn't say anything and neither did I. I wasn't sure what to say.

  “I'm sorry,” Liam finally said. “I know you tried at the airport and I read all your letters. I even wrote back but couldn't get the nerve to mail them. I just... Ugh, none of them explained why. I need to know what happened that night Danny. I can't...” he paused but I knew what he was going to say.

  “I'm not ready,” I sighed. “I don't know if I ever will be.”

  Liam huffed and dropped his hands to his sides. He clenched them and unclenched them several times. “Fine, but at least you could have at least let me know there was something wrong,” he said through gritted teeth.

  Ugh I was screwing it up again. Standing up I walked over to him. I grabbed his hands without thought as I used to when he would be upset like this. “Liam,” I said with a sigh. “Believe me I tried to tell you a thousand times, but I chickened out. Even in my letters. But baby, you did nothing wrong, it was all on me. I wish things were different, I wish I could take what happened that night back. But please don't for one minute be sorry because you didn't contact me in the last 6 years.

  “I should have gone to you before the 2 minute warning. But I didn't. I waited and pulled a Hail Mary. I had no right to do that to you then but I won't apologize for finally coming to my senses even if it was too late.”

  Liam stood there just looking at me. His eyes moved back and forth like he was trying to read my mind and I was going to let him if he could. I wish I could tell him the horrors of prom night. And maybe I could have if I didn't push him away.

  “Do you trust me?”

  “I've always trusted you, Liam.”

  “No you haven't and you still don't,” pulling his arms away he reached the bed and dropped down. “If you did you would have let me in with whatever caused you to run at prom. Did you even tell your parents?”

  “No. They haven't gotten a clue.” I dropped down next to him.

  “You just ghosted me after that Danny. I thought I'd give you a couple of days...”

  “But I never came to you. I know. I should have. I should have--”

  “DINNER!” Uncle Darius called through the house.

  Liam looked at the door then at me. He gave me a little smile placed his hand on my knee and squeezed. “Can we finish this after dinner?”

  “Please,” I placed my head on his shoulder like I've done a thousand times and we just sat there for a few minutes in silence. It was nice like the calm before the storm.

  Chapter 4

  Liam

  D inner was loud as it always was on Thanksgiving. I missed it. It seemed that maybe even if Danny and I couldn't get passed the past we could at least be civil to each other. I think Uncle Trey is trying to push us together. He sat us next to each other like he used to. SMH. The dining room was full of our friends and family. It was nice to be at home. Throughout dinner, Danny and I bumped legs several times. He would sneak peeks at me when he thought I wasn't looking and I would smile back.

  Rebecca looked carefree and happy for the first time since her mother died. I was happy for her. Everyone was talking with everyone else, no one paid Danny and I any attention unless we added to the conversations. The 2 of us talked like we used to about anything and everything except for the deep stuff that would be later. But I could feel us getting back on familiar ground. I told him what I could about my time in the military. Some of it was classified so I couldn't tell him a lot. He told me about finishing college and buying the coffee shop from Jenny.

  After both of our plates were cleared I leaned over and whispered, “Do you want to go outside and talk?”

  Instead of answering me he shook his head and got up. We walked over to the coat rack and grabbed our coats before heading outside. I could feel Rebecca's eyes on me so I turned and gave her a wink letting her know I was alright.

  Once we were outside I couldn't take it anymore. I spun Danny around and pushed him against the wall. I gave him a moment to stop me if he wanted before I crashed my mouth to his. God, he tasted like he always did strawberries with a hint of what he ate at dinner.

  “Liam,” he moaned, I could feel his cock filling and rubbing against mine. It was different but it felt good.

  I pulled away before I did something I would regret like dropping to my knees and pulling him out. “Sorry,” I said pulling away from him. “I just needed that.”

  “It's okay, I...” BANG! I immediately jumped on Danny knocking us both to the ground. “What the fuck, Liam?”

  I lifted my weight off of him, “I'm sorry, that was a gunshot, baby. Are you okay?” I asked.

  “I think so, can you get off of me now?” I lifted my head and looked towards the source of the shot.

  The sliding door to the patio opened and Rebecca stuck her head out, “you guys okay?” she asked as I helped Danny to his feet but I didn't let go of his hand.

  “Yeah, but let's get inside. Has someone called the cops?”

  “Andre called for backup. He and Darius are checking it out now,” she said.

  “Okay, let's go...”

  Danny let out a loud gasp. “Liam, your arm.”

  His face turned ashen white so I looked down to see what he was talking about and saw blood running down my arm. AND that's when the pain hit. “Fuck.” I checked my sleeve and sure enough, there was a round hole in it. “Danny, can you get Uncle Trey's first aid kit?”

  “WHAT?!? You need to go to the hospital or something,” he said.

  I turned to him and pulled him into my arms, using my good arm to lift his chin, “baby, calm down. I'm fine for now. Let's get it cleaned up and see what your dad and Uncle Darius have found and once all is clear I'll go to the hospital. Okay.”

  “Oh my god! How can you be so calm you were just shot?”

  I chuckled but stopped when his eyes narrowed on me, “Danny it's a flesh wound, trust me I've had worse. Now can you get the first aid kit?”

  Danny left to go find the kit, I looked at Rebecca. “Do you think this has anything to do with us?”

  “I don't know, it could be something against Danny's dad or Darius, or it could be random,” she said as I pulled off my top.
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br />   “You know I don't believe in random.”

  “True.”

  Danny returned with the first aid kit at the same time Andre and Darius came back from outside. “Come sit. Let me look at it.”

  I sat down while Danny started cleaning the wound. It felt nice. I was glad we were on speaking terms. Hopefully, Rebecca was right and it was random, but my gut told me otherwise.

  “Liam, what the hell?” Andre said. “You got shot?”

  “Yeah, I heard the gunshot and threw Danny and me to the ground, so I don't know who the shooter was aiming at.”

  “Well the patrols are here, I'll go out and talk to them in a minute so they can start sweeping the area. Darius and I didn't see anything by the time we got out there.”

  I sighed, “You guys got anything going on around here right now?”

  “No, it's been relatively quiet. The last break-in was a couple of months ago and it was a bunch of kids,” Andre said.

  “Figures.” I was about to say something but Rebecca shook her head behind them.

  But Andre caught my look, “Liam do you have something to add.”

  “Maybe, but it's classified. Let's see what they find and if needed I'll call my CO.”

  Danny slapped me then. “Really, you just got frickin shot and you tell my dad you can't say anything because it's classified? You got some nerve.”

  Before I could stop him he stormed off. “Well, I let you deal with that one. I love him dearly but when he gets like this...,” Andre said then turned around. Darius followed I presumed to go outside and talk with the officers.

  “Stay here, I'm going to go talk to Danny,” I said.

  ~~

  I found Danny in the library where I knew he would be. He loved Uncle Trey's library it was one of his favorite rooms in the house. “Hey,” I said sitting down next to him. I reached for his hand and threaded my fingers through it. “I remember when we would sit here for hours. You would read your books out loud to me.”

  Danny turned and gave me a half-smile, “if only we could go back to those easy days huh?”

  I didn't care what terms we were on. I could have lost him tonight. So I pulled him in my lap. I rested my forehead against his. “I'm sorry, baby.” I knew I needed to tell him something. “I can't tell you a lot, at least not right now, and you can't tell anyone else.”

  “I won't, I miss this, I miss us.” He said as he rubbed his thumb across my fingers where they were locked together.

  “Me too, me too.” I sighed. “For now all I can say is we have been chasing this really bad dude for about a year now. Up until now, he didn't know who we were. Maybe this isn't him and it's about your dad or Darius.”

  “But your gut tells you it's him,” he finished.

  “Yeah.”

  We sat in silence for several minutes, “it was Lydia.”

  “Huh?” I asked.

  “Prom it was Lydia, I saw her with you.”

  “Oh god, Danny. I didn't know you saw her. And even if you did, why wouldn't you trust me that I didn't want that?”

  “If that was the only thing that happened. Then yeah, but that happened after the bathroom incident.”

  “What bathroom incident?” I asked.

  Danny didn't speak for a long, long time. He just stared at our hands and kept rubbing circles across my fingers. I pulled his hand up to my mouth and gently kissed it. I pulled his chin up. “It's okay, babe you don't need to tell me now. Just that you told me a little is enough.” I could see tears in his eyes so I swept my finger underneath and cleared them away.

  I then kissed him softly. He parted his lips when I ran my tongue across letting me in. We slowly kissed for what seemed like forever before pulling apart.

  “What are we doing, Liam?”

  “Babe, you were in the line of fire tonight, I didn't think I just reacted. I protected you because I need you, not because of my training. These past 8 years have been absolute hell not seeing or talking to you. I mean Rebecca one of my best friends. But you are my everything.”

  “Good.”

  “What do you mean good?” Huh?

  “What I said, you didn't even tell me where you were going when you left. Your dad told me a MONTH later,” he said poking me in the chest. “When he did tell me, god, I worried about you all the time. I kept saying what if he never comes home to me.”

  Danny looked away from me but kept talking, “that day at the airport, you said that you might not ever come home, but I didn't believe it then. When your dad told me where you went I cried for days. I thought, what if he's reckless because he thinks I don't care,” he sobbed and buried his head into my chest. I squeezed my arms around him and held him.

  I rested my head on top of his. “Baby, I knew you cared. I'm too stubborn to die.”

  Chapter 5

  Danny

  I don't know how long Liam held me for but I cried and I cried. “Ssh baby, I'm sorry,” he said over and over again. And now when he's home he's being shot at! Hell. After my tears dried out we sat there not moving.

  “Don't ever leave me again, promise me,” I whispered into his shirt. God, he smelled like a man. Musky with a hint of citrus that came from his soap. It was addictive. I breathed it in over and over letting it calm my nerves. Reminding me he was really here. I may not have been able to tell him what happened in the bathroom, but I gave him a little bit.

  He chuckled and then pulled my chin up to look at him, even sitting on his lap I was shorter. I was so close I could see the green flecks in his eyes that were reserved for only me. Well, at least I hope they still were. “I can't promise that, not yet anyway. But I can promise I'm yours. I've always been yours, baby,” he smiled at me.

  I was about to ask him something else when we heard someone clearing their throat. We both looked towards the door to see my dad and Darius. “Well, I'm glad to see you two finally made up,” my dad started. Then he looked at Liam. “But if you ever hurt my boy again, there will be hell to pay.”

  Liam smiled, he actually smiled. “Sir, I'm never letting him go again.”

  “Good, now there are a couple of officers that want to take your statements, I suggest you keep your military thoughts out of your statement until we know for sure,” my dad said.

  When Liam saw my look of confusion he leaned over and whispered, “We don't want the locals knowing there may be a terrorist stateside unless we have too. Your dad and Darius won't spill the beans but the officers might.”

  “Come on you 2 let’s give the officers your statements and then get you to the hospital, Liam,” Darius said.

  OMG, I can't believe in everything that happened in the last 30 minutes I forgot Liam was bleeding. Some boy-- nope not that. Some whatever I was. I sighed and followed Liam out to where the officers were sitting on the couch. Liam never let go of my hand. When we got there he sat down and pulled me into his lap in front of just about everyone.

  Damn my cheeks flushed when I saw my mom looking like the cat that ate the canary. Out of the corner of my eye I saw several people passing money around. Every bit of it made its way to my mom. I raised my eyebrow at her but she just shrugged her shoulders.

  Liam saw the exchange then looked back at me, in a not so subtle whisper he said, “I think she won the bet of how long we would hold out.”

  “MOM!!”

  “Sorry dear, we've been talking about it for weeks,” she said with a wink. I sighed I couldn't be mad with her not really. I probably would have gotten in on it myself if I knew about it.

  One of the officers cleared his throat, “Sorry to interrupt but can we get your statements?”

  After giving the officer our statements, my dad drove Liam and me to the hospital after a huge argument of course. Apparently, Liam's gut told him this wasn't a random thing and he didn't want me to leave the house and I wasn't about to part from him when I just got him back, no sirree. So my dad offered to take us in his unmarked police car he drove all the time, it had bulletproof windows.<
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  Darius and Rebecca were staying back to protect everyone at the house. Until we knew further everyone was going to stay at Trey and Darius' house. They drew all the curtains and gave everyone rooms for the night.

  When the triage nurse called Liam back he pulled me with him. The old nurse looked at our hands almost in disgust then looked back at Liam, “I'm sorry only one family member is allowed back with you.”

  I'm sure that Liam saw her hateful look so when he looked right in her eyes and said, “That’s fine, this is my fiancé.”

  Hopefully, my eyes didn't bug out of my head. She eyed me questioningly but didn't say anything before pulling us back into the little triage room. After getting all of Liam's information and then leading us to a private hospital room she left us alone saying the doctor would be in shortly.

  “What the hell, Liam?” I said pulling my hand free from his and sitting in the chair.

  Liam sighed and sat down on the bed, “I'm sorry but I wasn't about to let you out of my sight and that was the first thing that popped into my head. Plus she's a homophobe so I wanted to make her squirm a little.” He smiled when he said that but it didn't reach his eyes. I could see the worry lines he was trying to hide.

  “Babe, what's really going on? You're worried about something.”

  “C'mere.” I got up with a smile and stood between his legs. I was then engulfed into his arms as he burrowed his head into my neck.

  “Stop trying to distract me and tell me what's going on.”

  He sighed and pulled his head back. He looked at me and then entwined our hands together. “If this is who I think it is, then that bullet was meant for you, not me.”

  I visibly shuddered at the thought. “Who would want to kill me,” I asked. “I'm a small-town coffee shop owner, a nobody.”

  “But you're my nobody. Well, you're not nobody... Ugh! I mean. You're mine and if he saw that kiss.” Liam stopped and ran his hand through his hair. “Just until we know what's going on I'm not letting you out of my sight. Okay?”

  “K.” I leaned my head on his good shoulder and we stayed like that for a while until the doctor came in. When I looked up I saw one of my favorite people, “Brian! I'm so glad you're on duty tonight.” I smiled at my friend and I felt Liam tense.