“Infiltrate and put a man inside,” I conclude.
“Exactly. We have a mole who’s watching for our weak points,” he verifies.
“You and Rip are aware of this?” I question.
“Yes. It’s why Icer and Shade are making menaces of themselves,” he retorts.
“They’re shaking things up by playing a game of Red Rover with the construction crew, huh?” I ask, chuckling.
“Recess was always my favorite time of day,” he muses.
“Sneaky bastards,” I harrumph.
“Can’t catch a bee without honey, LoneStar.”
“And you can’t remove their stingers until you catch them,” I tack on.
“Exactly,” Slayer agrees as we hear motors revving, closing in on us. “Looks like it’s quitting time. Wanna head back and watch Icer and Shade do their thing?”
“Absolutely. It’s been a minute since I’ve had a reason to laugh,” I tell him. “I’ll grab the cooler, stock it with beer and snacks, then meet you at the bonfire.” It may be daytime, and we may not light the fire, but it’s the central part of our property and we’ll be able to watch Icer and Shade play their cat and mouse game without any obstructions. He nods his head, salutes our brothers that are here to relieve us, and takes off with me following behind him.
CHAPTER
SEVEN
Britton
The more minutes that pass,and the longer I’m away, the guiltier I feel about how I left things between LoneStar and me. I took the cowardly way out by leaving him a letter instead of dealing with things face-to-face like a grownup. Several times I’ve picked up my phone, wanting to call him and make things right, but then my heart begins pounding in my chest and my hands get clammy and shaky, causing me to put the phone down. I know that the more I put this off, the harder it’s going to be in the long run, but my mind and heart are at war with one another. I’m not sure when doing the right thing became so hard, it’s something I’ve always pushed myself to do.
I think the issue here isn’t only that I lied to him, as if that’s not bad enough, but that I’mnotproud of how I conducted myself. Usually, I think about what my parents would do and do the exact opposite, only this time, Iamdoing precisely what they’d do and it makes me sick to my stomach.
“C’mon, Britton, you can do this.”
Once again, I pull up my favorites list but instead of hitting LoneStar’s name, I choose Jersey’s. She’s the safer bet. If anyone is aware of if he’s hellbent on making my life a living nightmare, it’d be her. She’s the only one I trust at the compound to give it to me straight and not pussyfoot around the topic.
When she answers, it’s with a hiss. “Where are you, Britton?”
“Woah, sister. What’s got your panties twisted?” I ask, feeling all sorts of defensive. She’s never, not in all the time we’ve been friends, hissed at me like a scalded cat and I’m not sure how to handlethisversion of her. “Where’s the fire?”
“Red alert, red alert,” she screeches into the phone. “I don’t know what you left in that letter to LoneStar, but he is on a tear, Britton. Nothing is safe in his warpath. At first, everything was so-so, but the longer it’s been, the more erratic he’s acting.”
My throat drops into my stomach, and the more I swallow, the tighter that ball becomes. “He’s mad, huh?”
“Mad? Mad!” she squawks. “He’s beside himself, Britton. What on earth is going on between you two? He’s walking around like you kicked him in the junk.”
“In hindsight, I kinda did,” I admit, chewing on my bottom lip. “I called to get a lay of the land, to see if you think it’s safe for me to call him and explain things.”
“Explain what?” she asks, her voice still high-pitched. “Tell me what’s going on.”
“We got drunk and had sex,” I rush out, wanting to release that burden.
“That doesn’t sound so bad,” she excuses. “Why did you leave like you did if that’s all that happened?”
“That’s not the bad part of what happened,” I continue, speaking low, hoping she doesn’t think less of me once she learns what I did. What I’m doing.”
“Did he… did he force you, Britton?”
“What?” I ask, now copycatting her squeal. “Of course, he didn’t, Jersey. What the hell?”
