Page 6 of Raven's Nest
That a part of him couldn’t shake the idea she’d been relieved.
He groaned, stabbing his fingers through his hair. He really needed to grow it longer — give himself something to yank when shit inevitably went sideways.
Or at least, give Saylor something to anchor her fingers in when he ravaged her mouth.
He let his head tip back. He needed to get a grip before he lost his focus — got someone else hurt, or worse.
Kash sighed. “Zain…”
Zain blew out an exasperated breath. “I asked her out.”
Kash glanced at Foster, then Chase before circling back to him. “And…”
“We went to coffee a couple times, then dinner.”
Kash stood there, looking as if he was trying to Jedi-mind trick the answers he wanted out of Zain. “And?”
“It didn’t go exactly as planned.”
Foster huffed as he eased back on the throttle — allowed the boat to simply glide for a bit. “Hand to God, Zain, if you keep answering in this cryptic speak, I’ll personally toss your ass overboard. When did you go out to dinner? What didn’t go as planned?”
Zain leaned against the main console as the boat rose and fell with each swell. “Last night.”
Kash coughed, pounding on his chest a few times before chuckling. “Last night? As in the one night we got called into work for a massive emergency?”
“And that’s why it didn’t go as planned.”
“Why didn’t you just text us? We would have understood.”
“Right, because Saylor’s the first person to blow off an emergency. The woman’s as intense as everyone else. She got one look at that text and had the check paid and us out the door before I could get any details.”
Kash grinned, then sobered when Zain glared at him. “I wondered why you were both waiting for us at the hangar. So, you didn’t want to pick things back up once we were finished? Maybe grab a piece of pie at that all-night diner?”
“We didn’t finish the final sweep until nearly four. I’d intended on offering to make her some coffee — maybe heat up a poor excuse of a pizza at my place, but then…”
Chase scrubbed a hand down his face. “The doctor from Raven’s View manor called about Rhett, and we jumped down a rabbit hole.”
Zain shook his head. Ever since Rhett had been medically discharged with honors shortly after they’d moved to Raven’s Cliff, Zain and his buddies had gotten him transferred to the private, long-term care facility in town, making weekly visits. Hoping their presence might shift the tides in Rhett’s favor. “I can muscle through with the best of them, but how was I supposedto pretend everything was okay with the doctor saying Rhett was either showing signs of waking or, more likely…”
Zain wouldn’t say it. Wouldn’t tempt Fate by putting that word out into the universe. Not when Rhett still had a chance, even if it was astronomically small. Zain had never given up on a teammate, and he wouldn’t start, now. Would keep that glimmer of hope alive until Rhett’s heart finally gave up.
Foster nodded. “None of us could, including Saylor. She knows the basics about Rhett. That we’re all dreading that phone call, knowing it’s either gonna make us or break us. And I can’t imagine she made it through fifteen years with the Coast Guard without some sort of loss.”
Zain scoffed. “Which means what?”
“That she strikes me as the kind of girl who’d offer to sit with you on a sofa and watch some crappy movie without having to say anything, at all. See where everything stood in the morning. Which I’m sure you already considered. So, why don’t you tell us what this is really about? Because I have a feeling it’s less about Rhett and more about what he represents — our collective failure.”
“You meanmyfailure.”
Foster sighed. “We were all in the chopper, Zain. We were all fooled.”
“But it wasn’t your job to dig deeper. To take point. Provide overwatch.” Zain tapped his chest. “It was mine.Ishould have recognized the signs. Should have reacted sooner.”
Should have taken all the hits.
Foster shook his head. “None of us came out of that mission unscathed.”
“It’s those of us who didn’t come out, period, that’s the problem.”
