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Carter “Cy” Dresden couldn’t stop the smile spreading across his face or the laughter spilling from his lips. They were at Aces to celebrate Dog’s remission. The place was packed with Dog’s friends, both current and former SEALs. His cancer treatment had been brutal, but now it was over, and Dog was happy to party with the crew.
On his way in, Cy had talked to Kevlar and Blink, then stopped to chat with Trip and Hop. In the corner, he spied Wolf and Caroline speaking with Zip and Rider.
There were so many people here to celebrate the great occasion. Most of the guys had their women with them, some of the wives, others were girlfriends. Honestly, he didn’t remember most of the women’s names. He remembered Flora and Talia, but he didn’t spend much time with the married guys. Everyone knew Caroline, though. She was a legend.
He wasn’t thinking of settling down anytime soon, but Wolf had found a good one in Caroline. Not that there were too many women out there like her, but at least he had an example of what to look for. Besides, he liked his freedom too much to get tied down.
Bang, one of the guys on his team, stepped close. “That woman is checking you out.”
Cy threw his hands up in the air and shook his butt to the rhythm of the music blasting over the speakers but didn’t turn to look for the chick checking him out. “I don’t care.”
Bang chuckled. “So you don’t want to get laid.”
He shook his head. “Not tonight. I just want to dance and party. We’re celebrating life.”
Bang snorted a laugh. “What guy doesn’t want to get laid? I bet you could take her out back.”
Cy shook his head. “I said I don’t care. I’m not doing that tonight. I’m happy and free. And if she’s here, she knows someone we know. I don’t want that pressure. I am not getting busy with someone who can find me. I’m a free agent, and I’m not looking for more.”
Bang slapped him on the shoulder. “Just checking.”
Cy rolled his eyes as Bang walked away. It had been two years since he’d extracted himself from a mess that he wouldn’t call a relationship. It had certainly been a situation, but not more. She’d wanted to tie him down, and no matter how many times he said no, she kept coming back at him. She even found out where he lived and started showing up at all hours of the day and night.
That experience had cured him of dating and messing around. She absolutely made him regret dropping his shorts to get busy with her.
Not hooking up with women at parties was one of his major rules. If he needed to have sex, he would head out of town and lie about his job. The old him would have been balls deep in whatever babe wanted his body. Not anymore. He was a changed man.
The song ended, and Dog stood at the front of the room, microphone in hand. “Thank you all for showing up to celebrate.Trixie and I appreciate everything you’ve done for us over the last few months. It has been difficult, but I’m on to new things.”
Guys shouted and whooped, applauding his victory over cancer. Dog chuckled and shook his head. Trixie moved closer and put her arm around his waist.
Cy’s throat grew tight as he watched Trixie stare up at Dog, her eyes bright with emotion. Dog leaned down, brushing his lips over Trixie’s, which led to more whoops of approval. The crowd cheered even after their kiss ended.
“This year has shown me what matters.” Dog lifted his glass to the crowd. “To family, to my brothers, and to everyone who supported us.”
Cy raised his beer before taking a sip. He wasn’t jealous of Dog. The guy was older, had gone through cancer treatments, and had lost his hair. There wasn’t much to envy. But the tightness Cy felt in his chest watching how Trixie and Dog looked at each other felt like some kind of green-eyed monster rising up. He was happy just being himself. He didn’t need a woman in his life to be fulfilled.
Someone bumped into Cy’s back, and he glanced over his shoulder, seeing a woman dressed like the other waitresses wiping beer from her leg.
“Sorry about that. I didn’t spill any on you, did I?”
Cy shook his head, noticing the bruise under the woman’s eye that she was trying to cover up with makeup. Maybe the heat in the bar had made some of her makeup come off, or maybe she’d been working too long for the makeup to still be on, but this close, he could see the spread of the bruise, and it looked bad. His fist tightened around the bottle in his hand.
“I’m fine. No worries.”
“Sorry.” The woman stepped away, her lips dipping in a frown as she made her way back to the bar.
Cy noticed someone he didn’t recognize slipping out the door of Aces. He took a few steps to follow, but Q was there in front of him.
“Hey, Cy, I hear we’re doing some training together this week.”
Cy turned to Q and forgot about the man he’d seen slipping out of the bar. “Yeah. I heard that, too.”
“I guess we’ll be heading out on a mission together.”
“I guess so.” That would be cool. He liked combined missions. Working with other teams could be frustrating, but Q’s team was easy to work with.
