Chapter One
Friday, September 3, 2021
Brantley Walker woke up on Friday morningwith renewed energy.
It was the first time in months that he hadn’t had a restless night. One without a headache or a nightmare, both of which always left him feeling off come morning. The migraines had been extra brutal these past couple of months, knocking him to his knees at least three days a week, so the fact he’d been headache-free last night, sleeping soundly, had made all the difference.
No nightmare, no headache, just rest after a round of amazing sex with the man he loved.
It was almost like, for the first time since that fateful day when the world had literally crashed down on him, he was living a normal life.
Brantley smirked even as he gently shook his head. Normal wasn’t something he would’ve ever considered himself. As a Navy SEAL, normal didn’t apply. And while his career in the military had officially ended, he hadn’t exactly left the excitement behind him.
With a sigh, he pushed himself up, rubbed the subtle ache in his leg, grateful it hadn’t gotten any worse in recent months. The scar from where the rusted rebar had torn through his flesh was an ever-present reminder of that horrific fucking day. It was also a reminder that he was alive and breathing and that he had so much to be thankful for.
Maybe he risked jinxing himself, but Brantley was not going to question his good mood or look too closely into what spurred it. Especially since he knew what the day was going to bring. Now that Sniper 1 Security had officially absorbed the Off the Books Task Force and they were up and running relatively smoothly, they’d spent the past two weeks working to fill the vacant positions they’d been outlining since April. Today they would finalize all their efforts, which meant they could finally push forward rather than continue to move in circles.
After making a pit stop in the bathroom to take care of morning business, Brantley returned wearing shorts and a T-shirt, socks on his feet.
He sat on the edge of the bed, shoes in hand to finish getting ready for his run, while the man who’d rocked his world last night slept soundly on the other side.
Looked like he was going to have to be a little more aggressive to get Reese out of bed this morning.
“Today’s gonna be a good day,” he said aloud, pulling on his shoes.
“Did you say somethin’?” Reese grumbled, snuggled beneath the navy-blue suede comforter that had just appeared out of nowhere one day last week.
“Time to get up,” he told the grouchy man.
Reese’s response was a grunt.
Brantley glanced over his shoulder, then patted the mattress, urging Tesha to hop up there. If anyone could get Reese out of bed, it was the man’s canine partner.
“I tried,” he told the dog with a shrug. “Now it’s your turn. You wanna go for a run, you gotta wake him up.”
Tesha’s excitement came in the form of a full-body wag and the little hop she started around Reese’s legs.
No way could Reese sleep through that.
“Better get up,” Brantley told him. “She’s gonna sulk and mope for the rest of the day if you don’t come with us.”
Another grumble, but at least Reese stirred enough to sit up, his long legs swinging over the edge of the bed, bare feet smacking the hardwood.
Reese grunted. “You have somethin’ against sleepin’ in?”
Brantley knew it was rhetorical, but still it made him laugh.
“I’m leavin’ in five,” Brantley said on the way to the door.
Reese muttered something he couldn’t understand, making him laugh as he strolled out of the bedroom.
Sure enough, just shy of the allotted time, Reese appeared in the kitchen. He’d pulled on shorts and a T-shirt, shoes on his feet. He still looked half-asleep, but Brantley intended to fix that with ten miles of pounding pavement on a warm September morning.
“I hope you know, I was gonna seduce you,” Reese complained, falling into step with him on the way to the front door.
“Next on the agenda,” Brantley promised.
“Like hell. After this, I’m goin’ back to bed.”
