“Will you be able to train? I don’t know what tracks are there.”
“I’m sure we’ll be able to work that out. Wherever you decide to go. I’ll have a lot of training to do before I can even start racing again. I can do that almost anywhere.”
Rick rubbed his thighs. “Well, looks like we figured all of that out pretty quickly.”
“Mm…maybe we can spend the rest of the weekend in bed then.”
“Well, Hot Wheels, I like the way you think.”
Chapter Fifteen – Rick
Rick flexed his fingers against the steering wheel. The drive from Benning to Campbell should have only taken seven hours. Of course, they’d forgotten to time the drive so they didn’t hit rush hour traffic in Atlanta. Not their best moment.
Coop shifted in his sleep in the passenger seat. He’d fallen asleep somewhere after they’d crossed the Tennessee border. Coop was beyond frustrated with his cast at this point and he still had a few weeks to go before they’d even think about removing it. Rick kept the radio low so he could sleep. Before Rick could stew more about Coop’s injury, the Bluetooth cut off the book he’d been listening to—General Mattis’Call Sign Chaos. He’d read it a few weeks ago and the principles that he’d laid out gave Rick so many ideas he wanted to implement when he got to his platoon in the 502nd. Glancing away from the road for a second to see if he even wanted to answer, Rick quickly flicked his thumb against the button on the wheel.
“Hey, Drew. Where are you?” Rick asked as he moved into the left lane to pass an 18-wheeler.
“Close to hitting the San Antonio city limits. You?” Drew had debated about staying with his family while he looked for an apartment. He didn’t understand the dynamic that Drew had with his family. They were so supportive and understood the military and all that entailed. Hmmm, maybe he should see if one of Drew’s uncles could talk with Coop about partnering with a soldier. If he remembered correctly, one of the uncles lived here outside post.
“We’re about forty minutes from Clarksville. We’ve got a reservation at the DoubleTree. After checking in, I’ll shoot onpost and report in.” Rick waited for what he said to process through Drew’s brain. It didn’t take long.
“We’re?! Who’s with you? Or did you finally adopt a dog?” Drew didn’t sound like he thought the latter was the case.
“For the love of all that is holy, could you hold it down? No reason to be yelling,” Rick admonished his best friend before continuing, “Coop is with me. He got hurt during a ride so he’s got some downtime. Going to spend it with me.”
The sound of Drew blowing out a breath echoed through the car. “Is he going to be okay? Out for long? How’s that going to work with you settling into being a platoon commander? You’re going to Air Assault school, right?”
Coop shifted in the passenger seat, straightening and looking questioningly at Rick. “Hey, babe, say hi to Drew.” Rick watched as Coop reached for the bottle of water between the seats and took a drink.
“Hey, Drew. How are you?” Coop asked hesitantly. Oh, that wasn’t good. Coop needed to be comfortable with Drew. He didn’t need conflict between them.
“I’m okay but it sounds like more importantly, how are you? Do you need anything? I’ve got a set of uncles outside of Campbell. I can give them a call.” With Drew’s offer, Rick felt something ease inside. Things would be good.
“I’ll be okay, just on the sideline for a few months. It’s going to suck not riding but I’m getting time with Rick out of the injury, so that’s a good thing, right?” Rick could tell that Coop was looking for a positive, and he was glad that he was it.
“Sounds like a good thing to me. You two going to find a place together?” The GPS announced their exit coming up in a mile, so Rick moved back into the right lane.
“That’s the plan,” Rick told him. “And yes, I’m reporting to the unit and hoping for a slot in the next class for my Air Assault wings. You going to stay down there for the holidays or going to North Carolina?”
“I’ll probably offer to cover duty so the marrieds can have the holiday. I’m sure that Aunt Trish will feed me or Nova. I just…” Rick didn’t say anything. He knew his friend well enough to know when to push and when to let him stew. This seemed to be a stew moment.
When Drew didn’t say anything after a minute, Rick gave him an out. “Hey, we’re about to get off the expressway. Want to FaceTime this weekend after we’ve both reported in? Decompress after the week?”
“Sounds like a plan. I’m about to pull into Uncle Mike’s driveway anyway. Send me a text after you and Coop are settled. And Coop? If you want to talk to Uncle Scott, let me know. I’m sure a lot of the questions you have or haven’t even thought about, he had too. Uncle Mackey was about to deploy when they got together. From the stories I’ve heard, they both had reservations about a relationship.” Drew offered up his uncle? Holy shit. Drew’s family was supportive and he knew that they’d accepted him since he’d lived with Drew for four years. He hadn’t been sure if Drew approved of Rick and Coop getting serious so soon after graduation. Guess his worrying was for nothing. Drew wouldn’t reach out to his uncle if he didn’t approve of them. Rick hadn’t realized how important that was going to be to him.
Rick watched Coop out of the corner of his eye. Coop was smiling. Did he realize that Drew had basically given his approval on their relationship? Did he realize how much it meant to Rick?
“Thanks for offering up your uncle. Let us get settled and then I’ll probably take you up on that. We need to figure out if we’re compatible on the day-to-day before long-term plans are made. But yeah, I’m not sure I have even the slightest clue what it means to be with someone in the military,” Coop said.
“Oh, I’ve got plenty of resources on that note. All my aunts, my brother-in-law Cam—” Coop interrupted Drew. Rick could see when it dawned on Coop who Drew was talking about.
“Wait! Wait a minute, I didn’t put two and two together back in May. Your brother is married tothatLuna? I glanced at your brother’s bio in the program but didn’t really read it.” Rick couldn’t help but chuckle at Coop’s awe. Drew didn’t bother holding back his laughter.
“It’s always fun when someone recognizes Cam. None of us think of him as CAMDEN LUNA, ORIOLES SECOND BASEMAN. Too many memories of him and Cal getting us in trouble for sneaking cake. He even had to remind me when he bought me a Jeep for graduation that he was that good a ball player.” Drew had even done an announcer voice when he said Cam’s full name.
Rick was going to give Coop an out. “How is the Jeep running?”
“I’m fucking spoiled now. It’s a comfortable ride and I was able to put most of my stuff in the back with the seats down. Won’t need to do a run home for boxes. What are you and Coop going to do?”
