Now wasn’t the time to dwell on the past.
“Rumor has it you’ve avoided the guys since returning from Colorado,” John said, nodding towards his door to indicate the team.
I wouldn’t call declining the New Year’s Eve invite avoiding them.
Even though it’s the reason I declined.
“No, sir. Just staying out of trouble.” It was only half a lie. I didn’t want to deal with them outside of work until they stopped acting like they wanted to castrate me.
“Madi’s informed her brothers that heads will roll if they keep sticking their noses in her business.”
I couldn’t help the smile that formed. Madi, whose real name still sounded weird after hours of calling her Lynn at the bar and a night spent in a hotel bed calling her Red, wasn’t a wallflower.
You’d think her brothers would know that.
“Will they listen?” l asked, suspecting I knew the answer.
“Jack’s on paternity leave.” John smiled, clearly thrilled at being a grandfather. “So he’ll leave you alone.”
Reading between the lines, it meant that he’d probably still pester Madi.
No surprise there.
“Jamie might, but Jay’s never been one to follow orders.”
Really?“He’s a Marine.” Following orders was in their DNA.
“He’s a Raider.” John countered, knowing I’d understand.
Being in the special forces didn’t mean we didn’t have to follow orders. We did. But unlike the rest of the military, our leaders didn’t expect us to follow orders blindly. Challenging orders was encouraged, if you had a valid reason.
“They’d risk Madi’s wrath to give me shit?”
“They trust she’ll forgive them.”
“And what about you, sir?”
“Madi’s assured me there’s nothing to worry about. I’m respecting her wishes.”
“Thank you, sir.”
“Now that that’s out of the way, you can stop calling me sir.”
I nodded. I’d more or less broken the habit before the break, but given the circumstances, I brought it back as a show of respect.
When a knock sounded on John’s door, he said, “Come in.”
I stood and turned to leave.
Jamie, Jack, and Jay blocked my exit. Not maliciously, but they stood between me and the door.
“You can stay,” Jamie said.
“We missed you at the New Year’s Eve party,” Jay said. The words were innocent. His tone, not so much.
“I chose to stay in.”
“Thanks for the coffee and pastries,” Jack said.
