Page 11 of Hazard

“Stop,” she whispered. “It’s counterproductive. It’s madness and it’s impossible.”

He took a breath, then nodded. The elevator dinged and the doors opened on the bottom floor. She rubbed her temple, and without even thinking about it, he took her arm. She immediately shrugged him off. What else could he expect?

Stepping out, she turned right to head to the Mess Hall with him close behind her. Skull was standing just within sight of the elevator, and he raised his brows as if to say, she’s living up to form. Bones was sitting obediently beside him, his bright eyes taking in everything. The MWD was as alert as the rest of them.

Hazard sighed, nudging his chin toward her, and the silent speak was as loud as a shout. Skull’s keen, dark eyes followed her. He fell into step with her automatically, which meant he could see she was in rough shape. And if there was anything SEALs were in tune with, it was fatigue and how that affected the body and mind.

“Hey there, counselor,” Skull said. “You settling in?”

She stopped and looked at him, the sharp smile like a slash across her face. “Don’t you try to handle me, too, Petty Officer.” She glanced behind her to Hazard and frowned. “One watchdog is more than enough,” she murmured.

“How do you know I’m not just making small talk?”

“For one, you’re not that type; for two, you’re a SEAL, direct action guys; and three, I hate small talk, too.”

Bones gave out a sharp bark.

Leigh looked down at the dog and, with an acerbic quality, said, “Apparently, he agrees with me.”

Skull chuckled as she continued. His teammate went ahead of her and grabbed trays, one for each of them. Then they started through the buffet-like stations, Bones right next to him. At the beverages, she reached for a cup and before she could pour out a coffee, Hazard shook his head and dropped a green tea bag into the cup. She frowned and opened her mouth, but he said, “It will warm you up. Caffeine this late in the day will wire you, and you need to rest.”

She grabbed the hot water instead. When they moved onto the entrée section, he grabbed them each a plate with a generous portion of baked fish with sautéed greens and roasted sweet potato. “Your brain needs the glucose,” he said as she looked at him again.

When they got to the last station, he exchanged the cupcake for watermelon, then set three bottles of water on her tray. “Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate. You’ll sleep better and feel better when you wake up.”

“Yep,” Skull said. “Tired cells are thirsty cells. Drink water like it’s your side-hustle.” He grabbed some lemon slices. “You can add these girly lemons for taste.”

“Imagine my surprise. I didn’t know nutrition experts came with this mission,” she said sarcastically, then with a challenge in her eyes, she grabbed the cupcake anyway.

He took it off again, blocking the treat with his body. She huffed a hard breath, and to his chagrin, pressed into him, reached behind his back, and snagged it. “Go for it again at your own peril,” she growled.

Hazard couldn’t help it. He laughed.

“The behind-the-back maneuver, Haz. She’s got you beat.”

She turned and gave Skull a narrow-eyed gaze, then shot Hazard a victorious look. “Don’t get between a girl and her sugar,” she said decisively.

“I admit defeat,” Hazard said. When they got to the end of the line, Skull accepted a metal dog dish from one of the chefs. It was filled with some watery substance.

“What is that concoction?” Leigh asked.

“It’s ground chicken, dehydrated veggies, bacon grease, multivitamins, and raw carrots for Bones.”

She looked down at the very interested Malinois. His laser gaze was focused on the dog dish. He knew he was getting fed. Her face softened, and he could only hope she would look at him like that—no, scratch that…a look like that wouldn’t help at all.

“Bones…seriously?”

Skull grinned. “Bonesaw, actually, but we shortened it.”

“Clever,” she murmured wearily.

They made their way to a table, and after sliding their trays onto the surface, they settled into seats. He dug in and sighed. There was something about special ops food. It was damn good. The Navy never skimped on any of the fighting men, but Tier 1 operators always got the cream of the crop.

Skull set down the dog dish, but Bones only looked at it then at him, waiting. Skull murmured a command, and Bones dug in.

“He’s a Malinois?”

“Yeah, we use them exclusively because of their compact size, intelligence, and agility. He’s a part of the team, but he has his own jobs. He finds things, scares the bejeezus out of and mauls bad guys, catches squirters, and he always brings us all home.”

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