Page 1 of Strangers in Love

One

Eoin

“Baby Shark”blared from my phone, and half a dozen men turned to look at me, all of them laughing. The rest didn’t even react. They’d heard that ringtone at least two or three times a week since we’d left the States. I hated that song, but when a girl asked for a specific ringtone, and a gentleman gave his word, what was a guy to do? Especially when it wasthisgirl.

“Evanne sending you pictures again?” My best friend, Leo McCormick, leaned across the mess hall table so he could see my phone.

I ignored him because he already knew who that obnoxious ringtone belonged to. We’d been friends since first grade and had spent the last nineteen years serving together. In a lot of ways, he was like another brother to me, and if asked, my many siblings would’ve agreed.

“Who’s Evanne?” A scrawny new kid plopped down next to Leo, grinning at both of us. “Girlfriend? She sending you pictures? Anything good?”

I looked at Leo, and his obsidian-black eyes flashed with humor. Not surprising. As much as I could be a sullen bastard, Leo was optimistic and funny. Maybe it was strange we were friends when we were so different, but we’d always figured we balanced each other out. Probably the main reason my parents had never forbidden us from hanging out, even when I’d been at my worst. Sometimes, I wondered why Leo’s dad and grandma hadn’t tried to keep me away from him. I hadn’t gotten him in trouble much, but it’d happened.

“She’s my eight-year-old niece.” I held up my phone so he could see a picture of Evanne riding the new bike she’d gotten for Christmas. She and her dad, Alec, lived in Seattle, so the weather hadn’t really been the best for bike riding until recently.

“Oh, sorry, man.” The kid held up his hands, a worried look in his eyes. “I didn’t know.”

I shrugged. “Might want to be careful who you ask to see pictures of their girlfriends or wives. Not everyone is as understanding as I am.”

“Good point.” The kid grinned at me again. “I’m Bart.”

“Leo.” My friend smiled, showing off those damn dimples that made women go nuts. “He’s Eoin.”

“I heard you guys are lifers.” Bart’s head swiveled on his scrawny neck, taking us both in. “That’s what I want to do. Make a career out of it. I’m thinking SEAL.”

That got my attention away from my phone. Leo stared at the kid, and I knew my buddy well enough to see that he was trying to figure out if he should laugh or tell Bart that he was in for a disappointment. I already knew which I was going to do.

“You’re in the wrong branch for that, kid.” I leaned back in my chair and folded my hands behind my head. “SEALS are Navy. How’d you fuck that one up?”

Bart’s jaw dropped, and color flooded his face as he looked from me to Leo and back again. “You’re fucking with me.”

Leo couldn’t help it. He started laughing, and the kid’s face got even redder. By now, we had a bit of an audience, and we all knew Bart would never live this down.

“You’re a fucking idiot.” Doto sat down next to me, across from the red-faced newby. Doto was an asshole, but Bart had brought this on himself.

What sort of moron signed up for the military without making sure he was signing for the right branch? Like someone who got seasick going into the Navy.

“But the SEALS do that badass stuff like busting into compounds and taking out bad guys. Shit soldiers do.”

Leo groaned, and I echoed him. The kid was just digging himself deeper.

“How stupid are you?!” Doto barked.

Leo pushed away from the table. “That’s our cue to leave.”

I agreed, and the two of us headed back to our bunks to change clothes. We had passes for tonight, and we intended to use every second of our free time well. Basically, we were going to get a couple drinks, find a couple girls, and enjoy ourselves. This was our third tour and our second one at this base, so we already knew where to go to find the best alcohol and the best girls. Maybe we were getting old, but neither one of us felt like dicking around with something new.

I laughed at the thought.

Old. Leo and I were both twenty-seven. Hardly ancient. I had plenty of siblings older than me, and they’d be pissed if I called them old. But, for the army, closing in on thirty was getting there, especially if you weren’t planning to go the officer route. Neither of us wanted that. We liked where we were and what we did. We’d be army for life.

After all, it’d saved my life.

If Leo hadn’t convinced me to enlist with him, I didn’t think I would be alive right now. I knew I would’ve been in jail at least one time. I’d been an asshole as a kid. Got into fights, ditched class, did drugs. I had done nothing to get arrested for, but I had no doubt that it would’ve happened. I would’ve smarted off to the wrong person. Driven drunk. Landed a punch wrong.

A shirt hit me in the face.

“Get your head out of your ass,” Leo said. “I need to get laid.”

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