“And God? Well, in my mind, God had thrown me away, too. He’d intended to take everyone in that explosion but got his hands full with the load, so he asked himself, which one could he do without for a few more years? Certainly not Mason, who had a wife and two kids at home. And not Searle, who spent her free time on base taking care of the stray dogs in the neighborhood. Looked like it was my pathetic ass.”
Garrett clenched his jaw. The heat engulfed him once more. He didn’t want this. He didn’t want to be listening to every word from Wyatt’s mouth and admitting the same damn thoughts had relentlessly drilled his own mind over the last year. He sure as hell didn’t want to accept the conclusion to which Wyatt had led them both, and he fought the mental shitbath of putting it into words. But somebody had to be the voice of this truth. He had to be that person.
“But you didn’t tell anyone, because that’s not what Special Forces does, right?”
Wyatt said nothing. He didn’t have to. The gripping fist in Garrett’s gut confirmed he’d already hit the bull’s-eye. He closed his eyes, trying to process the blow like he had a thousand times before—and failing, just like he had a thousand times before.
“We take the pain, don’t we, Uncle? That’s what we’re trained best for. We take it through boot camp, through Assessment and Selection, through Final Qualification, through every op in every shithole they can throw us into. Then when the agony attacks and the spool starts unraveling, we search the database in our heads, certain we missed the training about this shit—because surely they didn’t just leave it out of the curriculum.”
“And God forbid that we ask anyone what page it’s on.” Wyatt flung his own empty bottle into the trash can. “Even when the book is open and in front of us.”
Garrett stared down the neck of his beer bottle. He wasn’t certain what to say to that or how to say it if he did know. Just two hours ago, he’d vowed to Sage that he’d never turn into the man who’d crushed so many fantasies of his youth. But this twist on things was…bizarre. Wyatt himself was telling him exactly how to keep that promise.
It was an act of bravery that hauled the fist from Garrett’s stomach up into his throat. The man could’ve laid down his life for Garrett and had an easier time of it than the gut spill. Opening one’s heart to another human being was one of the first behaviors they pounded out of a guy in Basic, let alone what he went through on the way to Special Forces.
“I saw the book, Garrett,” Wyatt continued. “And I saw you, okay? You need to know that. I saw everything—all the havoc my asshole act wreaked on you. I just didn’t…” He leaned forward to brace his elbows on his knees. His shoulders slumped. “I didn’t know how to climb off that damn pedestal you had me on. I’m…I’m not sure I wanted to. After all, I helped you build the thing. And I’m sorry for all of it, Garrett. I’m so goddamn sorry.”
The knuckles at Garrett’s throat grew brass battering rings. Thank fuck his soul knew what to do with them too. The pain barely made breathing possible, let alone speaking. Why was this moment such a torment? He’d wanted nothing more than this from Wyatt for so long, words that had hammered out the beginnings of a bridge between them once again. But it had been so long since he’d believed this could happen… He’d filled in the cracks in his spirit with the no-fuss mortar that let in no more light and let out no more feeling. He liked it so much that he piled on years’ worth of the gunk, letting it harden into layers of a warrior they called the Hawk. The guy with the surprise claws. The indispensable killer.
If he believed Wyatt’s words, he’d have to tear off all that mortar. He’d have to look at the cracks again. He’d have to feel them again.
“Fuck.” He finished his beer in one chug. “Why?” he finally growled at his uncle. “Why are you doing this now?”
Wyatt tilted his head again. A broad smile spread across his lips. “Josie’s pregnant.”
Garrett gawked. Wyatt chuckled. “Yeah, that was my reaction at first too. We’re not exactly youngsters, and this was a surprise. A pretty awesome one.” The smile faded, but the gentle lines remained on the man’s face. “After the shock wore off, I realized that I couldn’t think of being a proper father to this kid until I set things right by you. When we heard about the miracle of you finding Sage, I knew I’d been given a perfect chance to do that.”
Garrett narrowed his gaze. Wyatt had never been this open with him, even on those blissful deployment breaks, and yet an undertone still clung to the man’s voice, a layer of mortar he wasn’t peeling off. He issued his reply with an air of careful casual. “A perfect chance, eh? Now how did you figure that?”
Another low laugh rumbled from the man. “Son, if burying your woman didn’t deplete the control spool, getting her back surely fucked the thing to hell.” Wyatt’s gaze darkened by a couple of shades. “Like I’ve been saying in my not-so-elegant way, I’ve been there. Maybe not the exact miles your boots have gone, but close enough, Garrett. Close enough.”
Garrett pulled in a deep breath and gazed across the water. The sky was turning lavender now. He thought about getting up and flipping on some lights, but the darkness felt better. It helped hide things like falling chunks of emotional cement.
“I’m fine.” He forced confidence to the words. “Sage and I…we’re fine.”
“Okay. Sure.”
The man’s snicker was unsettling. Screw that. Enraging filled the bill better. “What now?” Garrett barked.
“Nothing, son. Not a damn thing.”
“Why don’t I believe you?”
“Probably the same reason I don’t believe you.” He shook his head. “But you go ahead, Garrett. Keep up with the ‘we’re fine’ line. But repeating it a thousand more times won’t make it true.”
Garrett chucked his new empty at the trash can. Incomplete pass. The bottle shattered on the patio stones. Perfect. “Fuck. Off.”
“Check,” the man replied. “I’ll do that. And you keep up with your ‘fine’ thing. Ordering your woman around like she’s on some weird probation but giving her little reason to feel connected or safe in the prison you’ve confined her in—her own home, at that. Jo and I didn’t notice all the tear streaks on her face when we got here, either. Of course, I won’t bring up how you barely touch her—”
“Shut up.” Garrett surged to his feet. A bitter laugh exploded from him. “You have a couple of big ones in that nut sack, Uncle. Did you really come here to call my shit about ‘connection’? I’d laugh, but I’m too busy getting over the shock.”
Wyatt tipped back and touched a finger to his lips again. “Don’t forget the energy suck of keeping all those kinky fantasies under control.”
Garrett froze. The action reflected exactly what the man had done to every blood cell in his body. He glared at Wyatt, but damn it, his uncle’s face was mostly draped in shadows due to the twilight.
Everything save his eyes.
Finally, Garrett managed to choke out, “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
Wyatt. Fuck. Wyatt.
The fucker made him wait through another tortuous silence. The only thing about Wyatt that moved were the flames in his eyes, billowed into a full bonfire now. Ironic, that. The fire didn’t do a damn thing for Garrett’s frozen bloodstream. This royally sucked.
“Garrett…I know you were there.” The man finally shifted. As he leaned forward to his knees again, he let out a rough cough. “That night, in the barn…when you saw Josie and me—”
“Fuck.” Garrett clawed at his hair and spun away.
“It wasn’t like I had an ear peeled for you, son. You scrambled outta there with the grace of an ox on an ice rink. Man, I sure hope they gave you dance lessons in training.”
“I can’t believe you’re trying to joke about this.” He veered around and rushed at his uncle. “No, what I really can’t believe is how you never, in twelve years, chose to really grow a pair and talk to me about it!”
“Right. And that’s such a great conversation starter for post-Drooley Sunday brunch. ‘Hey, Garrett, did I ever tell you how your Aunt Josie saved our marriage by suggesting I tie her down, flog her, and then fuck her until she screamed through four climaxes? Oh, and pass the coleslaw, buddy. Thanks.’”