Page 48 of Capturing Perfection

"I would totally respect the grind. Now shut up and give me a hug, Fucker."

Logan grabbed Markham tugged him close. "Good to see you, Dipshit."

Anthony said as he walked into the living room. "They still have the maturity of middle schoolers. Hi, I'm Anthony Long.Logan's former team leader. You must be Clay." He said, holding out his hand.

Clay held out his hand. "Nice to meet you."

Logan walked over and put his arm around Clay's waist. "Guys, this is the love of my life."

Anthony smiled and held out his hand to Eric. "Funny, I was about to say the same thing."

Logan's jaw dropped. His gaze ping-ponged between Anthony, Eric, and Clay. He pulled out his phone.

"What are you doing?" Clay asked.

"Doing an integrity test on my processors. He couldn't have said what I thought he did."

"I would slap you upside the head, but I'm kind of afraid it might pop like a water balloon." Markham said.

"Can we all sit down?" Anthony asked. "I think it's time we set the jokes aside and confront the pink elephants in the room."

"More like the rainbow striped elephants," Logan mumbled.

Anthony growled, much like he had when he'd gotten fed up with the shenanigans from the squad. Logan held up his hands and led everyone over to the sofa and chair grouping. He and Clay each took a chair, while his teammates occupied the sofa. His teammates that were apparently a couple? Someone dig up Rod Serling, he'd officially entered the twilight zone.

"My house, so I get to decide who starts. Spill it." Logan ordered. "When did this happen? If you tell me you were together while we were over there, I might lose my shit."

Eric shook his head. "No. After what happened, I got transferred to D company, but PTSD is a viperous bitch. I couldn't sleep. I jumped at every sudden sound, and the team leader wisely didn't trust me with a loaded weapon. Ended up riding out my deployment in logistics then separated not long after my feet hit US soil again. I drifted from town to town, but because I was hitting the bottle and other substances hard, neverstayed in one place for long." He paused and Anthony rubbed his back. "For a couple of months, I found myself living on the streets of DC. There's nothing quite as haunting as sleeping beneath the shadows of stone sentinels, carved in memory of those who died for freedom. People just like Mya, Greg, Will, Drew, Chase, and Brian. One night I was so drunk I thought it would be a great idea to add their names to the DC War Memorial. A USPP officer found and arrested me. Hindsight, I'm glad he caught me before I could deface a national monument, but man I was fucking pissed. I just wanted six names to be remembered. To be honored fortheirsacrifice. The officer recognized my Ranger patch and instead of turning me over to the Metropolitan Police, he signed me into a shelter for vets." He looked up at Logan. "Can I get a drink?"

Logan stood and headed for the kitchen, but stopped. "Umm, I not trying to be an ass, but what kind of drink?"

Eric smiled. "Water is fine." He reached into his pants pocket and pulled out a coin. "385 days sober."

Anthony kissed the side of Eric's head. "So proud of you."

Logan filled a glass and brought the snacks into the living room. He handed the drink to Markham and set the platter on the coffee table. "Anybody else need something?"

"Sit down, Logan. I can play host." Clay said.

His legs collapsed from under him and he landed hard on the chair again. He was ashamed at how self centered he'd been for the past two years. Logan had assumed Markham and Long went on about their lives after the attack like nothing happened. Listening to Eric talk about his struggles was like getting gut punched by a Terminator.

"So how did the two of you…"

Anthony took Eric's hand. "After I got out, I needed a fresh start. I thought about going back to the Pacific Northwest, but after years in Georgia and everywhere else, my blood was muchtoo thin. Didn't know where I wanted to go though. I heard plenty of talk about P-Town over the years and figured I'd take some R&R there to figure out my next steps."

"Gotta say, your destination of choice is a surprise."

Eric laughed. "You should have been there when I came around a corner of the B&B I'd booked and came face to face with him. Nearly shit my pants.

Logan snickered. "I can only imagine. And I can assume you were there to admire the cape cod architecture and eclectic art galleries?"

"Sure. Also, it was Pride weekend, and I'd just earned my six-month chip."

He'd process that bit of new in a minute.

Logan looked at Anthony. "And that's why you never ratted me and Adams out? Because you're gay too?"

Eric whipped his head toward Anthony, then back toward Logan. "Wait! What? You and Brian?" His face blanched. "Oh fuck." He raced over to Logan and wrapped him in an embrace. "I'm so fucking sorry. Goddamn you fucker, why didn't you say anything? Logan … he … you… that day … his head…"

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