Page 6 of Stay with Me
“And Haley has put her foot down that he’s not allowed to spend the summer in Boston with her, Keith, and Dylan,” another one chimed in.
“Nibble?” Brody whispered, earning a glare from Drew.
“You can forget that and the other nickname,” Drew commanded.
“What’s it worth?” What the hell? Brody was flirting with the straight guy? He had lost his mind and was going to die. It looked like if Drew couldn’t take care of Brody, he had a lot of backup who could.
“We can bargain later,” Drew said before winking at Brody.
“Would you all follow me…” Coffey directed the men to walk up onto the stage. Apparently, he’d snapped out of his stupor.
Chapter Two
Brody was shell-shocked as he watched the interplay among Drew’s family, surprised that his jaw wasn’t on the ground. Looking at John, he saw that he was in the same boat. They were a well-choregraphed play, or each one of them a part of a bigger entity. Each one moved effortlessly around the other. They seemed to finish each other’s thoughts, never mind sentences.
“John Watson?” a man asked as he stopped in front of Brody. Holy shit. The command in the man’s voice snapped Brody to attention.
“No, sir,” Brody replied as he nodded in John’s direction. “He’s over there.”
The man blew out a breath and shook his head. “Relax, please. I should’ve asked Drew for an introduction. Mike Mullvaney,” he offered, holding out his hand.
OMG. The man was treating him as an equal? Offering to shake his hand. Brody grasped the man’s hand and met his eyes just as one of his foster fathers had taught him. “Brody Walker. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Command Sergeant Major?” He thought he had that correct from Drew’s recitation of all the names but he wasn’t sure.
“Please, call me Mike. I’m retired,” Mike corrected. “Brody? Are you the one who gets to choose? I vaguely remember Kevin saying something about that?”
“Choose?” Brody was still fuzzy about how all of these men ended up here. Drew on his knees in front of him. Whoa, no fantasizing about the man’s nephew while meeting him for the first time. He really, really, didn’t want to end his time at ECU at the hospital after Drew’s family killed him.
“Kevin told us there were eight soon-to-be lieutenants. One for each of our branches and then one lone cadet. Are you going intelligence like Tristan? Being an officer, he can’t give a first salute, that would make sense.” Mike looked side to side, like he was guilty of something, before he leaned in and whispered, “Shh, pick me. It’ll give me bragging rights for months,” he finished with a wink, as though he was inviting Brody to be his co-conspirator.
Brody couldn’t believe what was happening to him. Picking his jaw off the ground, because he knew it had been there long enough, he said, “That would be an honor, Command Sergeant Major. I’ll tell Sergeant Roman to shift out of the way after he’s done pinning on my rank for you to step up.”
“Sergeant Roman? If he’s one of your family members, then why wouldn’t he give you your salute? I’m completely confused. Drew! Get your ass over here. Double time,” Mike called out.
Everyone turned toward them and Mike waved them away as Drew almost sprinted across the auditorium. Lord, could you take me now? Brody hated being in the spotlight and, oh look, for the second -- or was it third? -- time today everyone was looking at him?
“Yes, Uncle Mike,” Drew said as he skidded to a stop, knocking into Brody with his shoulder. Brody could just put his head down right in the space next to Drew’s neck and close his eyes. For a few minutes, so he could settle. “Brody, you okay?”
Fuck! Please let him not have said anything. “Um, yeah. Why?” Brody stammered.
“Well, Uncle Mike is the last of my uncles to yell so it tells me one of two things. Either you’re about to pass out or aliens are invading,” Drew answered. “Which is it?” He looked around like little green men were hiding in plain sight.
“Drew, Brody’s family is in the military. Why is one of us giving him his salute? Is Master Sergeant Coffey making all family members sit it out for the heptad? We do not need to be taking this over.” Mike’s tone made Brody wish he could disappear. “Brody just told me that Sergeant Roman was pinning on his rank.”
“Um, Sergeant Roman? He’s one of the cadre, Uncle Mike,” Drew told his uncle.
Brody watched Mike as he closed his eyes and dropped his chin to his chest. “Okay, I might need more coffee or to have my ears cleaned out. I’m apparently fuzzy enough to not question why this young man would call his family member sergeant.” Mike and Drew both looked at Brody.
“Brody, is your family not able to be here? Rick’s isn’t,” Drew said, motioning to his best friend.
Oh Christ, he really didn’t want to get into his family life in front of Drew and his uncle. He’d covered his lack of family for four years and now it came out.
“Ummmm, well…” Brody couldn’t seem to get the words out. Taking a deep breath, he straightened his shoulders. He had nothing to be ashamed of. There were lots of foster children out there who were successful in life. “I don’t have a family. I grew up in foster care. When I reached out to my last foster parents, they didn’t respond.” Please, please don’t let me see pity from Drew.
“Uncle Mike, think Aunt Trish and Nova could help a guy out? One for his beret, one for his shoulders?” Drew finally said.
“I think your aunt and cousin would be honored. Nova’s still got time before my granddaughter puts in her appearance. It just might take her an extra minute or two to get to the stage. What do you think, Brody?” Mike asked.
“Umm… what?” Could he get a sentence out without stuttering? Brody swallowed and tried again. “I think you’re offering your wife and daughter to pin my rank on. While I appreciate the offer, I don’t want to put anyone on the spot.”
