He smirks, and it makes me grin.
“But now you’re brothers.”
“It didn’t happen overnight. Willow was already at the ranch for the summer when we got there. She spent every summer out there. And she decided on the spot that the three of us were going to be best friends. Ryker and I both took to her right away. She’s the sweetest, happiest person I’ve ever met.”
“I haven’t metthatWillow.”
“No. You haven’t.” He changes lanes to go around a big truck. “The person you met doesn’t come out often. She’s protective. We all are, especially of each other. Anyway, it only took a few days before Ry and I started to soften toward each other. By the end of that first month, we’d figured out our shit.”
This might be the most he’s ever said to me in one sitting. I love the deep timbre of his voice, the gravel in it. I wish he was murmuring in my ear.
Just the thought makes me shiver.
“Are you cold?”
“No, just a random chill. Where are your biological parents?”
“Gone” is all he says, and I decide to leave it alone. It’s really none of my business.
“Did you always want to go into the Secret Service?”
That has his hand loosening and his shoulders lowering, and I’m glad I changed the subject. I want him to be comfortable talking with me. I’m going to be here for God knows how long, and I don’t want to do it in silence.
“No, I was recruited.”
Okay, now I’m extra intrigued, so I shift even more in the seat and rest the side of my head against the headrest. “Tell me more.”
“I’m not much of a talker.”
“You’re doing great.” Without thinking, I reach out and brush my knuckles down his arm, from his shoulder to his elbow. “You can do it. I know you were in the army. Did you go in right after school?”
“I enlisted, yeah.”
I glance down at his hoodie, which I’m still wearing. “How old is this?”
“Old as fuck. I think I got it during one of my first years of enlistment.”
I love the way it smells. I hope I never have to wash it.
“I’m not giving it back.”
“You can wear it while you’re here. I don’t mind.”
“No. You misunderstand. It’s mine now.”
He lifts an eyebrow, glances over at me, and then nods. “I figured. Women have a habit of stealing a man’s clothes. Anyway, I enlisted right out of high school. Went through all the fucking training for Ranger school, which is pretty much designed to make or break you. It didn’t break me.”
“I’m not surprised at all.”
“By the time I got out of the army, I was a second lieutenant.”
“I don’t know what that means.”
“I was an officer. One day, I got a call from Bishop, and he asked me to apply. And here we are.”
He glossed over quite a bit there.
“You’re badass, big guy.”
