Page 5 of Spilled Coffee

Logan sidestepped Eddie with a brusque shove to his shoulder and stormed toward Ethan’s cage.

Planting himself firmly between the frame, he loomed there, a towering figure of sweat-slicked intensity. His chest rose and fell with controlled breaths, but his eyes burned with something volatile. “Are they right?” he asked, his voice cutting through theroom like a whip crack. “I pushed you too hard? Is that what you told them?”

Ethan sat, head bowed, fingers digging into the muscle of his calf as if grounding himself against the weight of Logan’s words. The room suddenly felt suffocating, and he didn’t look up when he answered. “No,” he said simply, the word dropping like a stone into the silence. “I never said that.” His hands stilled for a moment before resuming their anxious ministrations on his leg. “Everything’s fine.”

Logan spun back to face Brick and Eddie with a triumphant grin that was equal parts smug and mocking. “See?” he declared, spreading his arms wide as if presenting evidence in court. “You heard him, he said it himself. Everything’s fine.”

A short, humorless laugh punctuated his statement, but behind Logan’s theatrics, Ethan lifted his head, and in that moment, time seemed to slow. His eyes locked onto Logan’s imposing form: shirtless, glistening with sweat under the stark lighting, every muscle defined and rippling as if carved from stone, and something twisted painfully in his chest. It was a messy tangle of admiration and hurt, swirling together in an emotional storm he couldn’t quite contain.

Logan—the man who commanded respect simply by entering a room, the man Ethan idolized with every fiber of his being. The man whose approval meant everything. And yet today… today that man had torn him apart. He’d yelled at him until his ears rang, pushed him up and down that hill relentlessly until every muscle in his legs screamed for mercy.

It wasn’t just physical, it was personal. The wound cut deeper than the ache in his calves or the burn in his lungs—it lodged itself in his pride.

Logan must have sensed it in Ethan’s lingering gaze because he turned back abruptly, and for a fleeting second, something softened in his expression. A flicker of regret? Or guilt, perhaps?Whatever it was, it passed quickly and Ethan wondered if he’d imagined it altogether.

“You just gonna sit there feeling sorry for yourself?” Logan’s voice broke through again, sharp and unyielding.

Ethan sucked in a breath, gritting his teeth, willing himself not to break. Every nerve in his body screamed to lash out—fire back with some cutting retort, and shove Logan’s words right down his throat where they belonged.

“I need a shower.” He pushed up from the bench, wincing as pain shot through his overworked muscles.

But before he could take another step, Logan stuck out a hand. “Sit your ass down,” he ordered brusquely.

Ethan stared at the floor, jaw clenched tight enough to make it ache as he tried at all costs to avoid Logan’s gaze.

“Leave me alone,” he said more firmly this time. “I need to take a shower, then I’m going home.”

The words were a challenge, and judging by Logan’s reaction, one he wasn’t about to back down from.

“Go home?” he repeated incredulously, as though Ethan had suggested abandoning ship mid-mission. His voice rose slightly before settling into something colder—anger simmering beneath the surface. “What the hell is wrong with you?” He raked a hand through his hair in frustration before crouching directly in front of Ethan so their eyes were level. “Do you know why I push you so hard?” Each word was weighted with meaning. “Because I see something in you.” His voice softened, not gentle, but earnest enough to catch Ethan off guard. “You’ve got potential—real potential—to be the best SEAL I’ve ever trained. But for that you need discipline and I need to know you won’t crack under pressure. That when you want something, you’ll fight for it.”

The air between them was filled with tension. Ethan’s heart pounded against his ribs as Logan’s words hit deep. Loganwasn’t just talking about being a SEAL, but something more, something Ethan barely dared to hope for.

His breath hitched audibly as his eyes searched Logan’s face for a hint of what lay beneath his speech.

Ethan parted his lips, but nothing came out. Was this a test? A challenge? Or worse… a way to expose him? To mock the feelings he’d tried so hard to bury? The glances he thought went unnoticed? The ache that twisted in his gut every time Logan was near him?

A silence stretched between them, but then something shifted and a spark of determination was ignited by Logan’s words.

This was Ethan’s chance to prove himself, not just as a trainee, but as someone worthy of the Team leader’s respect… and maybe something more.

“Yeah,” he finally managed, his voice barely above a whisper as he nodded. His gaze met Logan’s again. “I want it. I want it more than anything.” His tone steadied, each word rising from the pit of doubt. “But you don’t have to grind me down to prove it.” He swallowed hard, feeling the heat rise in his cheeks but pushing through, anyway. “I’ll run any hill, take any pain—do whatever it takes—just to be on your team.”

Logan’s stern expression softened ever so slightly, and a rare grin tugged at the corners of his mouth. There was genuine pride as he studied Ethan like he was seeing him in a whole new light.

“There we go,” he said with a small nod of approval before glancing at Brick and Eddie. “The kid gets it.” His tone was lighter, almost teasing, but it still held that undercurrent of authority that reminded everyone who was in charge.

“If you want to be on Alfa,” he said slowly, deliberately, “you gotta toughen up. You gotta show me you’re all in.”

“I will,” Ethan promised quickly, the words tumbling out before he could overthink them. A small smile broke through hisnervous exterior as he straightened in his seat. “I’ll show you what Alfa means to me. What being part of your team means to me.”

Logan studied him for another beat before giving a curt nod. “Good.” Then, without missing a beat, he added with a smirk, “Now drop your pants.”

It caught Ethan off guard and he froze mid-breath, his jaw dropping open as nervous laughter bubbled up inside him. He quickly glanced around the locker room like someone might jump out and tell him this was some sort of elaborate prank. “What?” he asked, his voice cracking slightly. “Drop my pants?”

“Yeah,” Logan replied in a matter-of-fact tone that made Ethan question if he was the crazy one for hesitating. “Let me see that leg. You were limping back there—you think you pulled something?”

“No,” Ethan stammered quickly, heat crawling up his neck and settling on his cheeks as he shifted awkwardly. “It’s just a cramp.”

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