Page 79 of Inevitable
“I could say the same about you, Nate, Gage, and Seth,” I reminded him.
Brock shrugged that off. “We have the skills. It’s the right thing to do.”
Sometimes it drove me crazy that none of the men in my life saw themselves as special even though they risked their lives and gave their free time regularly to help people who were in danger.
“Has it ever occurred to you that the four of you are a little intimidating to some people, too?” I questioned.
“No,” Brock replied. “We’re just four normal guys who have a different kind of hobby.”
I snorted. All of them were far from normal. They were all gruff and physically intimidating. The few people who really knew them didn’t see them that way, but most people gave the four men their space.
“A hobby that no one knows about because it’s highly secretive and dangerous,” I said.
“We were Delta, Emma. We’ve always kept secrets.”
“Is Last Hope the reason why none of you have ever had a serious relationship?” I asked curiously.
“Nope,” Brock told me. “I think being solo is just a way of life for all of us. There’s probably not a woman in the world who would want to put up with any of us.”
I knew that wasn’t true.
Any woman would be lucky to hook up with my friends.
They might seem intimidating to some people, but there weren’t any kinder or more caring men than these four guys.
It was more likely that they’d just never found women who could see beyond their bullshit.
I also suspected that they’d never met anyone more important to them than Last Hope.
I hadn’t known exactly what they were doing when they disappeared before I knew about Last Hope, but I did know that they dropped everything when they needed to take off at a moment’s notice.
“I think Marshall is nervous about meeting Wren,” Brock observed.
Iknewhe was, but he didn’t need to be. “I had a long talk with her and my mother earlier. I told them both about the kidnapping, and she’s ecstatic that she’s finally going to get to meet her father.”
“He’ll be good to her,” Brock said. “He might be nervous, but he’s just as excited to meet his daughter. As long as I’ve known him, he’s never been the kind of guy to let anyone down. He’s the most reliable person I know. He might be intimidating, but we’ve always trusted him with our lives.”
“I trust him, too,” I said confidently.
“You’re crazy about him,” he accused.
“Guilty,” I answered happily.
Brock frowned. “I know he feels the same way. Exactly how is that going to work with you here in Michigan and him in California?”
I shook my head slowly. “We haven’t really discussed the future. It’s too early for that. He hasn’t even met his daughter yet, and he’s only been back in my life for a short time.”
“He can’t exactly move his headquarters, and even if he could, his partners’ lives are in California. And your life is here with Wren.”
“We aren’t going to just dump each other after the summer is over,” I said stubbornly.
Brock grinned. “I’m not saying that has to happen. It’s just geography. I’m just saying that it’s reality that you have separate lives in different states that are across the country from each other.”
“I’m a mature woman,” I informed him. “I realize that. I know it’s not going to be easy when he has to go back to California.”
Like it or not, Colin and I were going to have to deal with another separation.
It wasn’t like he could just stay here and not deal with his life in California.
