Couldn’t she?
But as the scent and memories she’d tried to rid herself of for years soaked back into her skin, she wondered if she’d ever been free from them in the first place.
CHAPTERELEVEN
Nine years ago
The rich combination of worn leather, earthy pine, and the dewy freshness of a spring morning. Add popcorn and stadium food on top of that and nothing could beat the smell of major league baseball opening day.
“Coming by you, Eagle.”
Eagle leaned back in his seat, allowing Hannah room as Hawk helped her return to her seat between the two of them. A whiff of sugar and oranges wafted under his nose and he couldn’t help the deep inhale.
Well,almostnothing could beat the scents of opening day.
“Thanks for keeping our seats safe, brother.” Hawk lifted his chin.
“Sure. Yeah, no problem,” he mumbled as he watched his best friends get settled in their seats again. “Did you guys come back empty-handed?”
“Ugh. I know Phoenix couldn’t come because of some ‘book club meeting,’ but he’ll have to wait until the next game to get his own damn hat. Maybe by the time he decides to actually see a game they’ll have finally changed the branding. Thenhecan stand in the crazy long lines and getmeall the memorabilia whileIget to watch the game.”
“Is that what took you guys so long? The gift shop?” Eagle chuckled.
“Yes! I thought Hawk was going to have a conniption.” She poked Hawk and a cute smile curved her rosy lips. “But it’s not like we’re going to miss anything. Baseball games lasthours.”
Hannah laughed, but Eagle lost focus as he overanalyzed the way Hawk fidgeted in his seat.
Men like Hawk don’tfidget, but the box in the man’s pocket had to be burning a hole in his jeans.
After Hawk dropped theengagementbomb, time had simultaneously sped up and slowed down. Like the milliseconds after a baseball cracks off a bat and you’re not sure if you have enough time to catch it before it hits you square in the nose.
He wasn’t sure how he’d feel after Hawk proposed and he’d been trying to protect himself from getting smacked in the face ever since. Would it be a triumphant catch? Would he be happy for his friends? Or would it break him?
His new MF7 team had been his only solace, even as the actual work had been scary as fuck. When he’d agreed to start a new force with General Smithers, he’d thought they’d have months—or even years—of training, like every other military branch. But General Smithers had made them hit the ground running.
They’d already had quite a few missions against local sex traffickers. The takedowns were of low-level pimps, nowhere near what Eagle knew the General had in store for them. MF7 was meant to eradicate trafficking rings all over the world and his team was already getting a little frustrated they weren’t going for the big guns at the top. They were risking their lives bunting fastballs when they should’ve been swinging for the fences.
Eagle got the theory behind it though. It was hard to train like every other Special Forces team when theyweren’tevery other Special Forces team. They were technically paramilitary, off-the-books, and only answering to one man. The type of security clearance that made him wonder whether the president was even in on it. That was the only way to ensure American government officials answered for their crimes if they’d been compromised themselves. It was a lofty goal but his team was the best of the best. Every one of his teammates had been handpicked by himself with General Smithers’s guidance.
The only person he and General Smithers disagreed on needing was Hawk. Eagle’d had reservations about including him on the team. Not due to his skill, though, far from it. He’d been one of the best Night Stalkers the Army had ever seen, an amazing instructor, a hell of a leader, and an even better best friend.
Thinking about their friendship was when Eagle’s guilt crept in. He knew how heartbroken Hannah would be once Hawk inevitably had to say goodbye to her—whether the man believed he’d have to or not. It was true that asking the team to leave their loved ones behind was unprecedented even by special ops military standards. Hawk thought he could make it work, keep Hannah and the dream career, while Eagle was skeptical. Then again, if anyone could do it, it’d be him.
That was why Eagle was sitting in the stands on opening day for the Atlanta Braves, about to witness the biggest moment of his best friend’s life, knowing the whole relationship would surely end in disaster.
Eagle wasn’t even supposed to be there. When Hawk had talked about the details of the proposal, he’d confessed he’d grown nervous about the idea since the team had bypassed training and gone straight into missions. He’d questioned whether he should do something more low-key, but Eagle had seen it ashisopportunity to shine.
He’d told Hawk he was overreacting because they’d only dealt with easy targets thus far. While that was true, in reality, Eagle wanted that big moment to finally act on hisownfeelings. To see if he truly loved Hannah, or if he just coveted the love between his friends. If it was the former, he’d have the balls to stand up and interrupt the proposal. If it was the latter, well, then he’d shut the fuck up and clap with the rest of the stands.
But then Hawk had metaphorically slammed the door on that idea when he told Eagle it would just be him and Hannah at the game. That’d been the plan at least.
Last week, Eagle and Phoenix had been playing video games when Hawk brought Hannah home to their apartment after a date. Hawk had invited Hannah to the game right then and she’d turned around and invited Eagle and Phoenix out of the goodness of her heart.
Phoenix had been able to get out of it, coming up on the fly with some fake-ass bullshit about a book club. But even as Hawk had silently shaken his head, Eagle had jumped at the chance and said he’d love to go.
Eagle glanced over at Hawk who was now compulsively staring at the scoreboard every time there was a lull in the game. Hawk likely waited with bated breath during every announcement, despite the fact he’d been given the exact time it would roll onto the giant screen. Poor guy was a wreck.
“Hawk,mi amor, you are a mess today. What has gotten into you?”
