Page 16 of Issued

Lucas Craiger unscrews the cap to his water bottle and takes a swig. He swallows and sets the plastic container down on the counter. “Dang. I thought you’d be able to put in a good word for me. I want a hottie with a body, too.”

My fists ball tight as I glare in his direction. If he thinks he can talk about Taya like that in front of me, he has another thing coming.

Craiger puts his hands up in defeat. “Hey, I’m just saying!”

Martinez grunts in agreement. “Jim’s just being selfish.”

“Shut up before I break your nose again.” I unclench my fists a little at a time, surprised by the lingering urge to plow them into my teammates’ faces. It isn’t that Martinez and Craiger are wrong. Taya’s assisamazing. And the beauty of her curled up in my kitchen nook didn’t evade me. The way strands of brown hair cascaded around her face from the loose bun was so relaxed and comfortable. So natural. But their comments irritate me. Even though I was forced into this marriage, Taya isn’t some swipe-right booty call and I’ll put them on the ground before I allow them to treat her as such.

I point a warning finger at Craiger and the younger man goes very still, a rabbit caught in the crosshairs of a rifle. “Say another word about her ass and I’m coming after you next.”

Footsteps thud down the steps. Taya grabs her keys and helmet. “Heading to the library.” She turns on her heels and heads toward the front door, her ass sashaying in tight blue denim.

My balls pull tight and my dick salutes her. Groaning, I take a moment to collect myself. “Hey, Taya. I, um... I’m making burgers for dinner.”

Christ on a cracker, I sound like a moron.

Taya turns, eyes darting around the room as she fidgets with her helmet, saying nothing for a handful of heartbeats. “I think I’ll grab something while I’m out.” She takes a couple of steps toward the door, then stops. “But thank you for offering to cook.”

Taya leaves, the loud growl of her bike zooming through the mostly quiet neighborhood. My head dips, shaking side to side. God, that girl rides too fast.

My attention turns back toward my friends, only to find white teeth appearing from behind Bear’s red beard, his lips turned upward into a wide smile. “How long before you two end up in bed?”

Great, now my best friend has to push my buttons. My molars grind together, my blood pressure rising. “Not happening.”

Bear kicks out a foot. “So, you’ve been standing in the same spot for the past twenty minutes why?”

The three bust out laughing.

I sigh and close my eyes, my head pounding. But the pain in my head distracts from the throbbing in my dick, and a moment later, I’m finally able to step away from the kitchen counter without causing myself any undue embarrassment.

Bear sits by the window. In her spot. I bite back the urge to tell him to get up. “Not many are lucky enough to have Redding pull a favor like that.”

“A favor?” I pace around my kitchen, my hands on the back of my head. Searing pain shoots through my temples and causes a wave of nausea to sweep through me.

“Why are you complaining? I wouldn’t mind someone prancing around my place in her underwear.” Martinez just won’t shut up.

My forearm shoots out and swipes across the counter, sending a slew of cooking utensils crashing to the ground. The metal clanking reverberates through the room. The noise matches the pounding that echoes inside my skull and for a second, I feel good.

But only for a second.

That’s how long it takes for me to realize I’ve done it again. I’ve lashed out without stopping to think first. I relax my hands and focus on the deep breathing the doctor suggested. Once I think I’ve regained control, I address Martinez. “It’s temporary, and once the required time has passed, I’ll file for the annulment and she’ll be gone and I’ll be back in the field.”

Martinez leans closer, perfectly composed except for the pulsing vein in his neck. “I ain’t Lux. Not gonna run and tattle. You take your shit out on me—direct it at me—one more time, and I’ll put you into the ground.”

“Don’t you ever mention his name in this house again.” The rage ignites for a second time. I inhale another deep breath, close to throwing a right hook at Martinez’s jaw. Lux can go fuck himself. He should have kept his mouth shut. We take care of one another, not snitch to brass. The team came home safe instead of being blown to bits by a bomb, and that’s all that matters.

“You two shitheads, knock it off.” Bear crosses his arms over his chest. “Don’t make me come over there.”

I pinch the bridge of my nose. I’m becoming more and more like my father. I shake my head and my shoulders slump. “Sorry.”

I turn to rinse out the mug in the sink. It doesn’t ease the pressure in my head, but it gives me something to do to combat the restless energy coursing through my body.

“You fill that prescription yet?” I must be in more pain than I thought if I missed Bear’s approach from the other side of the kitchen, though the big bastard can be eerily silent when he wants to be.

I tense, the muscles in my shoulders growing tight as I dry the glass and replace it in the cabinet. “I don’t need any damn pills.”

“Do you even know where the prescription is?”

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