Page 67 of Keeping London (Flawed Heart)

“Yep…that was the consensus.”

“Cool.” He reaches his hand toward my lap, plunges it into the bag of gummies, and pulls out a handful.

“How’s Maggie?”

“She’s great. She’s been picking up all sorts of overtime to help pay for the wedding, which is cool.”

“How are the wedding plans going?”

“Pretty good, I guess. I mean, she has a color-coded binder with information about everything from venue to cake to flowers and pictures as well. She seems pretty on top of things. I just sound excited when she tells me some new detail and agree with her when she asks my opinion. My job’s pretty easy in this whole planning deal.” He rests his head back into the couch, his eyes facing the TV.

“Well, aren’t you?” I scoff.

“What?” He rolls his head to the side to face me.

“Excited.”

“To marry Maggie? Of course. But the details don’t really matter to me. I just want her to be happy. I don’t care where we do it, who’s there, what types of flowers she carries, or what music’s playing as long as we’re married at the end of it.” He turns his head back toward the TV. “The wedding’s great and all, but the real gift is the marriage. It’s the lifetime. That’s what I’m excited for.”

“Yeah,” I answer absentmindedly. I think about a lifetime with London and realize it doesn’t freak me out in the least. In fact, the thought is kind of amazing.

Our brother Smith takes a seat on the couch next to Cooper. “Hey, Berk, Coops,” he greets us. “You know this is the third time we’re watching this one, right?”

“Yep,” I answer.

“Your girl sent, like, twenty discs, right?”

“Yep.” I grin. “It’s what the masses voted for, dude. You gotta get here in time for the vote.”

“I’m gonna have to.” He leans back. “At least it’s a good one.”

“True,” I agree.

I stare at the TV screen and find myself saying the lines from the movie in my head before Deadpool says them. “I think I’m going to hit the gym again,” I say to Cooper, realizing it’d be a better use of my time.

“Okay. I’ll come.” He stands and follows me out of the rec building.

“I have a weird feeling,” I mention as we exit the building.

“About?”

“I’m not sure exactly. It’s just been awfully quiet around here lately. I feel like something’s due to go down.”

The insurgents have been distant. Our recon missions into the local villages the past couple of weeks have been completely by the book, no surprises whatsoever. There haven’t been any rockets launched toward the base in a while, not even ones that hit outside the wire. It’s been eerily still, and that’s not normal. It feels like the calm before the storm. And life has taught me that storms aren’t just damaging; they’re devastating.

“Yeah, I know what you mean. One of the worst things about being here is waiting for the next attack. It puts us on alert, is all. I don’t think we’re any more likely to run into trouble just because it’s been quiet. The trouble will find us at some point, regardless.”

“Yeah, I know. It just makes me feel edgy.”

“What doesn’t make you feel edgy, dude?” Cooper’s deep laugh permeates the cold night air.

“Asshole,” I say with mock annoyance.

“So, Maggie tells me the Skype sex is going well with you and London.” Cooper changes the subject.

“You’ve got to be kidding me.” I shake my head.

“I have to say, I’m a little hurt that I have to hear it from my girlfriend who heard it from yours.”

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