Total pages in book: 74
Estimated words: 71880 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 359(@200wpm)___ 288(@250wpm)___ 240(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 71880 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 359(@200wpm)___ 288(@250wpm)___ 240(@300wpm)
“How’s your hearing?” I asked, flicking on the lights.
He squinted and shrugged. “Getting there, I guess. It’s still that incessant ringing…” He rubbed his ear, visibly annoyed.
I knew the feeling. It was a miracle I didn’t have tinnitus.
Reese Tenley
“Oh my God, this feels so good,” Shay mumbled.
“Mm.” I couldn’t watch him at the moment. I’d done that…and then I’d gotten soap in my fucking eyes, so I was busy rinsing my face in the hot spray.
“So I know it’s like four or five in the morning,” Danny said somewhere behind me, “but is there any chance we can get a Reese and Elliott special for chow?”
“Oh, I fuckin’ insist,” River responded around a yawn.
I chuckled and scrubbed a hand over my face, then glanced across the shower room to where Elliott was brushing his teeth. Our gazes met in his mirror, and I shrugged. We needed to eat, and our options at this place were limited. They kept dry goods and one freezer stocked for whenever contractors needed a place to crash; fresh food was only brought with new classes of recruits.
“What’s a Reese and Elliott special?” Shay asked curiously.
“It’s a borin’ pizza. Nothing worth writing home about,” I said.
“Hey.” Danny gave me a look. “It’s fuckin’ divine, is what it is.”
Elliott tightened the towel around his hips and tossed his toothbrush into his toiletry kit. “I’ll see you in the kitchen.”
“I’ll be there in five,” I answered.
“Fuck yeah.” Danny was easy to please.
I sidestepped into Shay’s shower and smooched his cheek a few times. “Get our room ready with River. Food in the common room in half an hour. And miss me while I’m gone.”
He smiled up at me and pressed his body to mine, which wasn’t a good idea. “I always miss you.”
“You say the right words,” I murmured. I cupped his cheek and just stared at him for a second, unable to describe how good it felt to have him back with us. Our amazing little fighter. Boy, did we have some therapy to look forward to. “I love you. Don’t let River walk around too much.”
“I won’t. Love you more.”
“Impossible.”
After toweling off and gearing up in Hillcroft’s finest sweatpants and T-shirt, I trailed barefoot around the whole building till I reached the kitchen next to the mess hall. Man, had we experienced a lot here. River and I had graduated the year before Elliott, but we’d flown down once or twice together too, always with new recruits. Established contractors functioned as aggressors during training ops, more or less. And it was fucking fun.
I tightened my drawstrings, finding Elliott with his head in the freezer.
It was a big kitchen—probably too big, actually. It looked like a typical school kitchen with its metal counters and walk-in fridge, but I doubted they’d ever had to utilize the whole place. Most classes of recruits consisted of a dozen men and women, sometimes fewer.
I didn’t know why we called them recruits, though. The majority of that dozen people came from government agencies that hired Hillcroft to improve their employees’ skillsets. So for each class that showed up in Ecuador for further training, only two or three were future operators at Hillcroft.
“You findin’ the cheese?” I yawned.
“And ham.” Elliott tossed two big plastic bags with shredded cheese and diced ham onto one of the counters.
I went into one of the pantries and grabbed four boxes of ready-to-bake bread mix. Each box contained enough to make two loaves, though we used them for pizza dough instead.
I snatched one jar of dried oregano too.
On my way back, I turned on all four ovens.
“So are you ready to talk about you and Joel, buddy?” I asked. “Now that I have my boy back, I can give a fuck again.”
He furrowed his brow and filled a pitcher with water. “It’s too soon for jokes about Shay getting kidnapped again, innit?”
I let out a laugh. “Uh, yeah.”
He sighed and shook his head. He didn’t speak right away, which he rarely did. Elliott was a thinker, at least by my standards. It was why he and River got along so well. And Darius, I should add. Those three could sit on a porch and drink beer in total silence and call it a great night.
While they did that, Danny, Coach, and I set something on fire or gathered soda cans for target practice.
Coach was funny that way. He could be grumpier than Darius but still wanna be part of constant action.
Elliott and I divided the bread mixes into two bowls and added the water.
“If you want, I can fill the silence,” I offered. “Here’s what I know. Joel is your sister’s ex-husband and the dad to your niece—and we’re bringing her home real fuckin’ soon.”
“Stepdad,” he muttered. “That’s what I’ve loved to remind him of, anyway. Because I’m a fucking asshole.”