Page 130 of Forged By Sacrifice

“I can tell you’re back in the Navy. All the swearing.” Eli chuckled.

It was true. Being around SOCOM had made it even worse. The Special Forces teams swore so much it was like they’d challenged themselves to find a way to say whole sentences without anything but swear words.

“Did Georgie say anything about me?” I asked.

“I win,” Eli said, and Truck groaned.

“What the hell?” I glared at them both.

“I bet you’d say her name at least two times within the first five minutes.” Eli’s grin was contagious. I needed this. After the heartache and the gloom that had settled over SOCOM since the incident, it was good to be surrounded by smiles and harassment.

I’d told them both snippets of the Georgie debacle over the last month as they’d tried to keep me from derailing after the screw-up that had caused Darren to lose his life. To cause Tristan to lose her husband, and Hannah to lose her dad. My smile disappeared.

“Will it help if I tell you I think she’s purposely not saying your name?” Eli asked.

“Yes. Yes. It would,” I told him back.

“I have a new bet,” Truck said.

“Oh yeah, what?” Eli asked.

“I bet the douchebag won’t make it through the wedding without kissing her.”

“You think he’ll make it all the way to the wedding without kissing her? You really have never been in love, Travis,” Eli teased.

“First, I’m not sure I want you two betting on the outcome of my love life, and two, what’s with the Travis?” I asked.

“Travis here thinks it’s way more ‘professional’ for him to be known by his real name in New London,” Eli informed me.

“Shit, man, Truck is a fucking kid nickname,” Truck griped.

I understood what he meant. It was why I’d gotten rid of Robbie and balked at being stuck in a bro-ship name with him when I’d seen Georgie this summer, but I wasn’t going to let him know any of that.

“Doesn’t matter what you go by, the cadets will just come up with their own nickname for you,” I said.

Eli smirked. “This is very true.”

Truck glowered, and I smiled, but as we got closer to Rockport, my brain slid back to Georgie. I wanted to make Eli drive straight to the Lighthouse Hotel, storm the ladies’ bachelorette gathering, and demand that Georgie see me. Because no matter the glass wall she’d surrounded herself with, no matter her family or my career choices, I knew I could convince her we belonged together. I knew that if I could just touch her, she’d feel the truth in her soul, just like I did.

Georgie

LIKE I’M GONNA LOSE YOU

“So, I'll kiss you longer baby

Any chance that I get

I'll make the most of the minutes

And love with no regrets.”

Performed by Meghan Trainor & John Legend

Written by Smith / Weaver / Trainor

I’d flown to Texas with flutters in my stomach. Flutters at thoughts of seeing Mac. Flutters at thoughts of telling him that the only thing I was afraid of anymore was losing him, and that I hoped I hadn’t.

When I got to the beach house early Thursday morning, Mac wasn’t there. Ava told me he wasn’t getting there until later that day, and I could tell she was nervous about it. Nervous about part of her wedding party not being there. Or maybe nervous for Eli not having one of his “brothers” there.

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