Page 10 of No One Wants That (Blitzen Bay)

BUTCH

“Give me the keys. I’m driving.”

When I get to Mason and Millie’s house, Mason and Alex are loading suitcases and coolers into the back of an enormous Suburban. Alex arrived last night—a few hours after playing his last baseball game before the All-Star break. He was voted into the game but turned it down to spend a week with Raine.

“Nice to see you again, too, Butch,” Alex says, pushing my hand away from him. “Did you miss me?”

“I just saw you two weeks ago at your game in L.A.” I put my hand back out. “I see you more often than I see my mom. Give me the keys.”

“Get away from me,” Alex says, looking over his shoulder as he puts another suitcase into the back. “I rented it. It’s under my name. I’m driving.”

“Naw, man, Butch drives,” Mason says, tapping Alex’s shoulder and pointing at me. “Give him the keys. He was always the driver on our missions.”

Alex looks back and forth between us. “We’re not going on a military mission.”

“We’re driving through L.A.,” I say, holding my hand out again, “so not really that different.”

Alex turns away from me. “Mack, tell them to back off. They listen to you.”

Millie’s dad, Mack, walks over holding Mo. “What’s the problem?”

“Alex wants to drive,” Mason says, laughing.

“Oh, no, that’s not happening,” Mack says, turning to Alex. “Butch is the driver. We all had our core assignments on the SEAL teams. It stays with us for life.”

Alex leans against the car and shakes his head. “Do I want to know what your assignment was?”

“I was the interrogator,” Mack says, a frightening grin flashing across his face. “If we needed information out of someone, that’s when I stepped in. Right, Chase?”

Mack’s best friend and former SEAL team leader, Chase, joins us. “Yep. Best damn interrogator in all of the teams. And I agree with Mack, you’re not leaving here without Butch at the wheel.”

Raine comes over and circles her arm around Alex’s waist. “Are you guys harassing my boyfriend again?”

“Alex,” I say, exhaling slowly, “you’ve grown on me a little these past eight months so I don’t want to embarrass you in front of your girlfriend, but you’ve got about five seconds to hand me the keys.”

He gives me his best glare then reaches into his pocket and whips the keys into my chest at about eighty miles an hour.

“Damn! You’re not throwing to your first baseman,” I say, jumping back as they hit me. “Ain’t nobody going to Bitzy Bay if the keys are embedded in my chest.”

“It’s Blitzen, dumbass. And if you wreck this car, I’m throwing the keys at your head.”

Chase walks over and pats Alex’s back. “Your trash talk is getting better, but it’s still not great. It needs to be more threatening—like, if you wreck this car, I’m embedding the keys in your head.”

“Or maybe shoving them down your throat,” Mason says, giving Chase a fist bump.

“Don’t let them bully you, Alex,” Millie says as she rolls her suitcase to Mason. “They aren’t always right.”

I raise my eyebrows as I look at her. “He wanted to drive.”

“Oh, no,” Millie says, patting Alex’s shoulder. “They are right about that. Butch always drives.”

Alex lets out a long sigh. “This is already the longest road trip ever and it hasn’t even started.”

“I think we have everything.” Mason kisses Mo’s head. “Are we ready to leave?”

Millie lets out a little snivel. She walks over and hugs Mack—squishing the baby between them. This is the first time she’s left Mo for more than one night.

“He’ll be fine,” Mack says, wrapping his free arm around her. “You know that.”

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