Only Mine (Honey Mountain #5)(36)

And seeing his eyes on Dylan left me on edge. I’d continued to track him the rest of the night, and I’d made sure there was never a moment for him to make a move on her. The Lions had dominated and won the game, so everyone was hyped up when it came to an end, and I was relieved to finally get the hell out of there.

I offered Dylan a ride home because there was no sense in Everly and Hawk driving her when we lived in the same building.

We were quiet in the car and when my phone buzzed, I looked down to see a call from Bullet’s wife, Jaqueline, and she only called me when things were bad. It was a call I always took.

“I need to take this,” I said, glancing over at the beautiful woman beside me, who nodded.

“Hey, Jaqueline. Is everything okay?”

Her voice cracked, and she took a few seconds before she formed words. “He’s never going to leave, Wolf.”

I ran a hand down my face and cleared my throat. My loyalty was always to my brother, but Jaqueline and the boys had become family to me. “He will. I promise you, he’s thinking about it. I offered him a job with the team, and I think he’s seriously considering it.”

She gasped a few times. “He’s leaving on another mission soon, and I just don’t have a good feeling.”

It was fair. If she actually knew the shit that was going on, she’d never be able to sleep again. My natural instinct was always to say that things weren’t that bad, but the truth was, the shit we saw, the shit we faced—it was worse than most could even imagine.

A constant threat.

We weren’t called out for low-risk missions.

That’s not who we were.

We’d trained to be able to take on the worst of the worst.

So her fear was reasonable.

But as her friend, as Bullet’s brother, my job was to comfort her.

“He’ll be all right. This is Bullet we’re talking about. He’s the best of the best; you know that. There’s no one I’d ever felt safer with than your husband.”

“I know.” Her words were shaky.

“I’ll keep pushing for him to retire, but he’s a stubborn man, which you well know.” I glanced over to see Dylan watching me, and I let out a breath. This was a side of my life I didn’t share with many, but for whatever reason, I didn’t mind speaking in front of her.

“Okay. You’re right. It’s just hard with the boys, you know?”

“How about I come see you guys in a few days? I can take the boys off your hands for a few hours and give you a break.”

She hiccupped a few times, and it was fucking hard to hear how much she was suffering. It had been a driving force in me making a conscious effort not to get into anything serious over the last decade—well, that and the fact that my ex-girlfriend fucked my best friend while I was gone.

Either way, this was the shit I personally wanted to avoid.

Hurting the people you loved most.

I couldn’t stop my mom and family from worrying, but I could control how many people I let into that circle.

I kept it small, and I liked it that way.

Bullet had a wife and kids whose world revolved around him—and he put his life in danger every day because it was his fucking calling.

Hell, I understood both sides. But that didn’t mean it wasn’t still fucked-up.

“That would be nice. I wouldn’t mind getting a cup of coffee and going to sit in a bookstore for an hour.” She chuckled, but it sounded forced.

“I told you and Bullet that I’m happy to get you some help,” I said, because she was just as stubborn as her husband and kept turning me down.

“I can handle my own kids, but thank you. They’d love a visit from Uncle Wolfy.”

“All right. I’ll text you and let you know when I can sneak away. How about you get some sleep before the rug rats wake you up at the crack of dawn?”

“Okay. Thanks for picking up. I just needed someone who understands, you know?”

“You know I’ll always pick up. Get some rest.”

“Thank you. I will. Good night.”

I ended the call just as we pulled up in front of the building. When we stepped out of the car, we both thanked Gallan for the ride and made our way inside to the elevator.

“Was that someone you worked with in the Navy?” she asked.

I nodded. “My best friend Bullet’s wife, Jaqueline.”

“He’s still an active SEAL?”

“He is. And he and Jaqueline have two young boys, and they’d like to have their father home.” I stared straight ahead because talking about that part of my life didn’t come easy for me.

“Is that why you don’t have a family?”

“I think it’s easier not to have a lot of attachments when you’re gone all the time. Just the stress it put on my mother, my sister, hell, my entire family—that was enough for me. But I also wasn’t someone who’d craved having a family of their own. Bullet lives for his wife and kids, but he’s a guy who loves his job, too. So, I think everyone handles that shit differently.”

“Yeah, that makes sense.”

“How about you?” I asked as the doors opened, and we both stepped off.

“What about me?”

“You said you’re the only sister in your family that isn’t married yet.” I walked beside her. “What’s the story there?”