“Oh hell no, Tanner.”
Jake settled his fingers on the strings and strummed a chord that had Ryan grinding his teeth. He looked up, raising his brows innocently. “Did you say something, Kendall?”
“Take that thing outside. Go play it in the shithouse where it belongs.”
Jake’s fingers fumbled as he struggled to find the note he was looking for. “What are you trying to say? You don’t like my playing?”
“I thought we hid that fucking thing from you in Monty’s room,” Ryan muttered.
Jake strummed another chord and grinned. “I found it, asshole. Couldn’t find my sheet music though, so I’m just gonna have to play by ear.”
“You do remember me telling Fin that Crookshanks could play that thing better than you, right?”
Jake strummed the strings in rapid succession, the sound so painful a passing soldier muttered a solid “fuck” as he passed by their bunk.
“So? I’d be able to practice better if you didn’t keep bitching me out.”
“Jesus. I thought you hid that bloody guitar, Kendall!” came a loud yell from Kyle in the bunk across the hall. “Keep that shit up, Tanner, and I’m gonna come in there and break that thing across your face!”
Jake kept plucking away at the strings.
“I think Brooks was serious,” Ryan warned.
Jake set the guitar aside and focused his eyes on Ryan.
“What?”
“I got a couple of emails from Fin,” Jake replied.
Lacing his fingers behind his head, he stared at the bunk above him and took a deep breath. “Yeah?”
“The first one says she’s home safe.”
Ryan closed his eyes for a moment.
“Did she mention me?” Kyle yelled out from across the hall.
“She says she hopes you live a very long and miserable life,” Jake called back. “Oh, and she brought you back a penguin.”
“Fuck yeah,” Ryan heard him say. “I’m in.”
Ryan raised a brow at Jake and Jake shook his head, his lips twitching.
“The second?” he prompted him.
Jake’s eyes searched Ryan’s face. “She split with Ian.”
“What? When?” With all hope of sleep gone, Ryan sat up and swung his legs over the bed.
“When she got back.”
“Fuck. He didn’t—”
“No,” Jake cut him off. “I asked the same thing. She says he didn’t hurt her.”
Ryan rubbed his brow. “Is she okay?”
“You know Fin. Mum says she’s buried herself in work.”
Ryan stood up and opened the cupboard beside his bed. He yanked out a shirt and tugged it over his head, tucking his tags underneath the thin cotton.
“What are you doing?” Jake asked.
He grabbed his shoes. “Going for a run.”
“Thought you were going to have a sleep,” he said as Ryan tugged his shoes on.
“Yeah, I can’t see that happening right now, Tanner.”
“Kendall?” Jake called out as Ryan reached the door.
He paused and looked over his shoulder.
Jake sat there, his eyes steady. “I love the two of you. I just want you both happy, you know what I’m saying, don’t you?”
Ryan pressed his lips together and gave him a short nod. “I hear you.”
As he walked down the narrow, bomb-proofed hallway of their base, he heard Jake start strumming his guitar again.
Eight days later, after heavy preparation and planning, their team— including the addition of American snipers—was inserted into the mountains by a vehicle-mounted patrol. It was perfect timing: the night black, the sky clear, and the air cool.
Ryan cleared his mind as he leaped to the ground and weighted himself down with his pack. This patrol might solely be reconnaissance, but it was going to be done inside enemy territory. Intelligence told them Taliban fighters near the village of Khaz Uruzgan were planning something big. Ryan’s team was going to gather information that would flush those bastards out.
Jim, one of the snipers that sat opposite Ryan on the drive, gave him a short nod as he slid his own pack on. Ryan returned it. He liked the Americans. They were brash and loyal to their allies, which was pretty fucking important when you were caught under heavy fire.
Monty pulled their team together. “All set?”
Ryan gave the thumbs up.
“Right,” he said.
Beside him Jake grinned. “Let’s go fuck shit up.”
Ryan fell into step behind Monty, Jake following behind him, as they began the long climb.
Ten hours later and they were eighty-seven kilometres northwest of their base at Tarin Kowt and high into the mountains.
“Ready for that nanna nap yet, Kendall?”
Fuck. Jake sounded barely winded. Asshole.
Exhausted, Ryan steadied his breath. “Not me, Tanner, but if you’re tired just say the word. I’ll read you a story and tuck you in.”
Jake chuckled as their feet crunched softly over the rocky terrain.
Five minutes later, Ryan heard a soft, warning click from Monty and he froze. The entire team behind him halted and silence reigned to the point you couldn’t hear a single breath.