All three of the others laughed. “We’re good,” Noah said. “No problem.”
“If we’re going to have a little confession time, here,” Sarah said, “I should probably get in on it, too. I’ve been a little less than enthusiastic about having you for a team leader, Noah, because like everyone else, I heard about your—emotional issues?” She shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t think it was the same kind of thing, but I grew up with a father who had absolutely no idea how to show emotion. It was like being raised by a machine, and that can really mess with a girl’s self-esteem. I had some issues, especially back in my early teens, but I loved the old sonofabitch. When I heard about your problems, I was scared to death that it was going to be like going back home, again.”
Noah smiled. “I think there’s a big difference between not feeling any emotion, and just not being able to show it. You see me smiling, joking, laughing—sometimes you see me acting sad—what you all need to understand, if this is going to work and we’re going to become a real team, is that all of that is an act. There is no emotion behind it, there’s no feeling of any kind.” He let the smile slide away. “I don’t think like one of you. Here’s how my thought processes go on our team. I’m looking at three people sitting here with me, and I know that each of you brings talents and abilities to the team that will make it far more likely that we can succeed in whatever mission we’re sent out on. That makes each and every one of you extremely important to me, and in a normal setting that would mean that I considered you each to be my close friends. For me, what that means is that keeping you safe is the most important thing on my mind, second only to completing the mission. When it comes to the mission, we are soldiers, just like the ones I served with in Iraq, just like the ones Moose served with in the Navy, and the sad fact is that soldiers are sometimes expendable. I will always, and I mean always, do everything I can think of to keep each and every one of you safe and healthy, so that we all come home from the missions. That I can promise you.”
The three of them sat there at the table and looked at him for a moment, and then Moose raised his bottle into the air. “To the team,” he said. “Let’s make it the best one there is.”
Sarah clinked his bottle with her own. “To the team,” she said.
Neil let out a long sigh, then sat forward and clinked as well. “To the team.”
Noah raised his own bottle and they all toasted again. “To the team,” he said. “We’ve all got to have each other’s backs, every minute when we’re out there. Are we all on the same page?”
All three agreed that they were, and they drank to their new union. When the bottles were back on the table, Sarah looked at Noah.
“So, I’m just curious, but if you don’t have emotions, have you ever had a girlfriend?”
Noah nodded. “Yes, a couple. I dated some in my teens, and I had a couple of girlfriends even since I joined the Army. I’m good enough that my human act keeps them happy for a while, but I don’t ever let anyone get too close. Wouldn’t be fair to them.”
Neil winked at Noah. “Sounds like Sarah might want to apply for the job,” he said, and a moment later Sarah pushed him out of his chair on to the ground.
“No, I don’t! God, Neil, why do you have to be such an ass?”
Neil laughed as he got back up to his chair. “Excuse me, but have you seen me? I’m a stretched-out beanpole with zits! Being a smart ass, and you can take that any way you want, is all I’ve got going for me.”
They sat and talked for another hour, and by that time, each of them had consumed enough alcohol that Noah wasn’t happy about them driving. With Moose backing him up, he managed to convince them all to simply go upstairs in his house and choose a guestroom for the night.
He went to his own room, took a quick shower and dried himself off, then walked naked out of his bathroom. He stopped just past the doorway, when he realized that Sarah was sitting at the foot of his bed.
“Sarah? Did you need something?”
She didn’t answer, but simply stood up and looked at him. She hooked her thumbs into the waistband of her shirt and pulled it off over her head, dropping it onto the floor. The rest of her clothes quickly followed, and she walked over and put her arms up and around his neck. She pulled gently, and he leaned his head down so that their lips met.
When the kiss ended, Noah pulled back and looked into her eyes. “Are you sure you want to do this?”