Total pages in book: 105
Estimated words: 102549 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 513(@200wpm)___ 410(@250wpm)___ 342(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 102549 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 513(@200wpm)___ 410(@250wpm)___ 342(@300wpm)
“Also remember that if you remain a SEAL, that’s okay with us too,” I say. “Relationships need compromise, but it shouldn’t be about holding each other back from what we truly want.”
“We know you love your position,” Kit adds. “Don’t give it up for us because we’re not asking you to.”
“Can I take some time to think about it?”
“No, you must make the decision right here and now,” I deadpan.
“You’ve got an entire year to think about it,” Kit says.
I pat Kit’s chest. “Oh, that answer is more supportive. Let’s go with that one.”
“I love you both so much,” Prescott says.
Kit and I look at each other and then back at Prescott, saying in perfect unison, “We love you too.”
With Kit showing up in New York early for me, all of us rearranging our futures to fit each other in, I’m confident enough in us to know that no matter what Prescott decides, no matter where we end up, we’re in this together.
And while forever might look different in poly relationships—no marriage, no outdated heteronormative traditions to hold us back—I wasn’t raised to miss that kind of thing. My honorary family that my fathers built is proof that you don’t need to be traditional to be loved the way you deserve.
Marriage might not be in Prescott, Kit’s, and my future, but in this moment, even while apart, I have no doubt that we can love each other. Until death do us part.
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
prescott
The fun part about the military is that even though they give you plenty of time to recover, they never pressure you into going back too early. And by fun, I mean horrible. And by plenty of time, I mean the bare minimum. And by no pressure, I really mean guilting you into deploying with your team last-minute or face reassignment.
Fun, fun, fun.
After weeks of recovery and rehab, I got the call to get back to Coronado so fast I barely had time to send off a text to my parents and Kit and Brady to let them know I was shipping out.
It’s not even our turn on rotation, but because of heightened political issues, we were redeployed earlier than expected.
All I can say is I’m thankful I forced Kit into going to New York earlier than planned because at least now they’re together while I’m here, on a high alert, what-if kind of situation in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, closer to the East China Sea on the map. We’re on standby, waiting on this assault ship in case the US needs to make a move. Tensions are high between governments, and on the surface, you wouldn’t think that directly below us, there are subs basically playing a game of chicken.
Foreign warcraft encroaching on US waters moved the Pentagon to DEFCON 4 and put all inactive SEAL teams on notice.
If this all blows up, we won’t be in on the action though. No, we’ll be sent to infiltrate land, render their forces useless, all under the cloak of darkness and camouflage.
It’s the first time in my entire naval career that I’ve had reservations about going into a mission and praying it doesn’t escalate.
The adrenaline junkie in me is always ready for a fight, but I’m barely healed from the helo crash—enough to get passed in a medical assessment but still not back to where I was before it—and I can’t help thinking about the panicked text I got from Brady before I left. All of my reassurances that I’ll be fine weren’t enough to make him not worry.
Having someone relying on you to come home is new to me. Before, with Kit, he’d be right beside me out here. I don’t know how the married guys do it. My mind is on my boyfriends when it should be on the mission.
When we get word that things are heating up and we might be moving to DEFCON 3, my team makes their move.
We load up our CCM Mk1 stealth boat. Our commander gives us the go-ahead to start for land, and the second the order is made, Brady and Kit are pushed to the far corners of my mind so I can’t reach them when I need to be focused.
And still, even though I’m not thinking about them, I am still thinking about coming home.
The doubt counteracts the adrenaline pumping through me. I’m not at the top of my game physically or mentally, and I can’t pinpoint why. The only thing I can think is that Kit and Brady have shown me loyalty goes both ways, and if I’m honest with myself, loyalty to the navy is a one-way street.
When the guys gave me the option to stay a SEAL, I thought I’d be relieved. That I’d take it, no questions asked. But from the minute the words fell from their lips, something didn’t feel right.