Page 82 of The Soldier

Josh keeps watching them.

“Could be a coincidence.”

I shake my head and watch Adian turn some corn on the grill. He’s going to burn those damn things, and what a missed opportunity it is, but right now I’ve lost interest.

All I can do is watch Trina with Roger fucking Miller.

“Or it’s not. How many people know—knew— you and Trina were dating?”

“Would we call it that?” I rub the back of my head uncomfortably. Even I wouldn’t stretch the truth that far.

Josh stares at his wife, Cassy, then back at me. “Listen, I might be overprotective, but if you think this guy is sketchy, then get over there. We’ve got your back if you need it.”

I know that.

I never need to second guess it. We might not have served together, but all the men and women we work with come from a military background. Loyalty doesn’t end when you hang up your dog tags.

Josh and Aidan are our commanding officers and the oldleave no one behindmantra is embedded in our DNA.

But, as for fucking Roger, I don’t trust him for a damn second. What the hell is he doing with my girl? I mean, the fact he is here with her after what happened in the Middle East...something feels very off.

But I can hardly fly across the room and say that to her. She’d have my balls in a vice two seconds later. That and it’s classified information.

I pull in a breath.

There must be an explanation. I can’t leap to conclusions. For all I know he could be a friend or cousin, or some other neutral connection.

If not, am I going to stand by and let Roger have my girl? Of course I’m fucking not.

I drop my drink on the table, nod at Josh, and head over.

“Hey, darlin’.” I rasp.

Trina turns the moment she senses my presence.

“Hey, giraffe.” She smiles and a blush hits her cheek. Then she catches herself and turns to Roger. “This is—”

Shit.

What do I do here?

I can’t say I saw him last week. Or that he almost got me killed. And that between me and Rodriques we likely had him relieved of duty.

It could be why he’s back in the USA. But why California?

I smell a rat.

“Roger Miller.” He holds out a hand.

I hesitate, staring at his outstretched hand.

What is he up to?

The mission was classified but the fact we served together for a bunch of years isn’t and he knows that.

For some reason I’ll never explain, I decide to go along with it. Maybe it’s because I want to see what he’s up to.

“Hello Roger.” I squeeze his hand until I see it hurts. “Master Sergeant Adams.”

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