Scared for life, I took my son by the hand and ran down to the waves with him. The water was fucking cold, but it didn’t matter. And when he’d had enough, his Papa was waiting for him with a towel to wrap him up.
I looked at my husband and this family we had with our friends. I couldn’t have asked for a better life than what I had.
“Let’s go gramps,” I said, throwing my arm around his shoulders as Max took off to play with Addison.
“Watch it. I can still take you,” he said, flexing his muscles.
I grinned. “Any day any time.”
He laughed as we sat on the blankets we’d spread out on the beach. I flopped down next to Dare and nudged him, pointing to our kids.
“Who would have thought ten years ago that our boys would end up being best friends like we are?”
He smiled at them. “I’m not surprised at all. We’ve been best friends for the better part of twenty-five years. And they will too.”
GQ and Phantom joined us on the beach. Whenever we were all together, it felt like home. We could read each other as well as we did all those years ago in BUDs, and we were brothers for life.
Even though we didn’t see each other every day, our bond would never be broken. We would forever be the Portland Protectors and the men of EHM Security.
