The Returning Hero. Soraya Lane
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He held up his own glass. “Cheers to that.”
They all took a sip, but Jamie was spluttering as soon as she’d swallowed her first mouthful.
“Are you guys trying to kill me? This stuff is like poison.”
Brett laughed. “It gets better. Just keep drinking.”
“Has Brett shown you his new tattoo?” Logan asked.
Jamie shook her head, looking at him. “Nope.” She took another sip and grimaced again.
“Brett had his done as soon as he was out of recovery, and I got mine when I touched down in Australia.”
“You have new matching ones?” she asked. “Can I see?”
Logan pushed his T-shirt up, rolling his arm around to show the words marked in black ink, curling letters over four short rows.
“‘Fight a battle for a cause that’s worth the victory. Fight a war that’s worth dying for. Remain brave in death. Honor those you love.’” Jamie stared at Logan’s arm as she finished reading the words.
Brett knew she was fighting emotion, because her voice had become low and husky, a deeper tone than he’d ever heard from her. He responded by rolling up his shirt until he could show her his matching ink, only just able to push the fabric high enough for her to see it.
Jamie turned to inspect his properly, trailing her fingers across each word as if she were writing them, committing them to memory. Her touch was light, and when her hand dropped to land on his thigh, it almost made him lose the drink he’d just reached for.
“You did these for Sam, didn’t you?” she asked.
Brett nodded when she looked at him, and Logan did the same.
“Well, they’re beautiful,” she said, dabbing her eyes with the back of her fingers. “Maybe I should get one, too?”
“No,” Brett said, faster than he’d meant to.
“I don’t think so,” Logan chimed in, almost as quickly.
Jamie raised an eyebrow, looking puzzled. “Because I’m a girl? They’re not exactly military tattoos, are they?”
Brett looked to Logan for help but didn’t receive any. He cleared his throat, not wanting to dig himself a hole that he couldn’t claw his way out of, but not having any intention of letting her ink herself.
“Your skin is beautiful and you don’t need any ink, Jamie. Don’t go rushing into anything.”
“Just keep wearing that tag,” Logan added. “It’s what he would have wanted.”
She laughed and took a hearty sip of her drink, before slowly downing the rest of it.
“Bottoms up, boys,” she announced, grinning at them over the top of her glass.
Brett and Logan exchanged looks before shrugging and following her lead.
“My round this time. Another?” Jamie asked.
They both said yes and watched her walk away, like two bodyguards ready to pounce on anyone who so much as bumped into her.
“‘Your skin is so beautiful’?” Logan mimicked, punching him in the arm. “Seriously, couldn’t you have come up with anything better than that?”
Brett glared at him. “It wasn’t like you were stepping in to help me out.”
“Yeah, I was too busy watching you swooning over her. You know she’s out of bounds, right? Because I’ll...”
Brett gave him a playful shove, trying to laugh the comment off. “You don’t have to tell me, I know.”
“I miss him, Brett. I seriously miss him.”
Brett leaned back in his seat, watching Jamie at the bar as she leaned toward the bartender to place her order. He couldn’t believe he hadn’t noticed the dog tag she was wearing around her neck, but then he’d been trying his hardest not to look at her chest, and the way the tag was being swallowed by her breasts... Brett cleared his throat. That wasn’t something he needed to think about right now. Sam had been like his surrogate brother, and he would never disrespect anyone he considered family.
“I can’t stop thinking about that day. It’s screwed up, Logan. The things I saw, what happened, I just wish I could forget it all, for good.”
Brett shut his eyes, blocked the memories out, doing what he always did. Because forcing them away was a damn sight easier than dealing with them, and he didn’t want to go there, not now.
“I’m going to go help her carry the drinks back,” he announced, needing to move.
Before Logan guessed that he also couldn’t stop thinking about Jamie, in all the wrong ways.
* * *
Jamie leaned back into Brett, eyes shut, the room starting to spin. She’d had three cocktails, but she wasn’t exactly used to drinking and it felt like three too many.
“I don’t feel so good.”
Brett’s arm was suddenly looped around her shoulders, holding her closer to his body. She opened her eyes to look at Logan, but he was starting to blur.
“I think someone needs something to eat,” Logan said.
“And water,” she mumbled.
Logan jumped up and gave her what she guessed was a salute. “Glass of water and greasy fries coming up.”
She tucked back tighter into Brett, starting to feel sleepy.
“Thanks for looking after me.”
His chuckle made his chest vibrate beneath her ear.
“They were pretty potent,” he told her, his hold on her shoulders loosening as he bent forward to retrieve his drink. “We shouldn’t have let you have more than two.”
Jamie groaned. “You’re going to take me home, right?” She didn’t want to have to flag a taxi on her own in the dark, not to mention go home to an empty house. Most nights, she tried to remind herself why she was okay alone, but tonight her brain just wasn’t cooperating.
“We weren’t exactly going to get you drunk then let you find your own way home.”
Jamie shut her eyes again, wishing she had only had two drinks. They’d been having so much fun, and she hadn’t been out in so long.
“Brett, can you stay with me tonight?” she asked.
Jamie thought she felt his body stiffen, but maybe she was imagining it.
“Ah, I’m not sure,” he said. “I’ll see you home, though.”
Jamie shook her head and turned, hand on Brett’s shoulder as she stared up at him. “Please? I just don’t want to be alone tonight.”
He looked down at her and she couldn’t read his face. Having her eyes shut and sitting still for a few minutes had made the spinning stop, but she was still feeling less than average.
“If you still want me to stay when we get to your place, then I will,” he finally said. “Just don’t go saying anything to Logan because he’ll go off and get the wrong idea and I don’t need him getting all crazy protective over you.”
She smiled up at him, leaning in to kiss his cheek. It was warm and slightly stubbled, but where she kissed him was soft enough to make her want to keep her lips there. Jamie had only meant it as an innocent thank-you, but she could have easily moved slightly to the left, kissed his lips instead. She was staring at them, eyes unable to leave his mouth, even as his hand came up between them and gently pushed her back into her seat.
“Let’s not do anything we’d regret sober, okay?”
Brett’s voice was soft, but the hungry