Page 46 of Rescuing Nathaniel

Throwing open the door to his room, he was shocked, and yeah, disappointed, when he saw six men standing there instead of the one woman he ached to have one more glance at.

“What are you guys doing here?” he asked Rocco’s SEAL team as he walked back into his room leaving the door open behind him. If the guys were there, maybe they had an update on the trafficking ring. While he was not officially on the case, since he was on temporary leave, nothing stopped him from helping if he chose to, and he didn't think Eagle Oswald would have a problem with it even if his commander might.

“What areyoudoing here?” Bubba countered as the guys trailed into the room after him and Gumby shut and locked the door.

“Haven't booked a flight out yet,” he replied, dropping into the chair he’d been sitting in most of the day and half the night. Every dream he had ended either with Ava being chased through the jungle and him unable to stop the traffickers from getting her, or with her naked and moaning beneath him.

Neither was conducive to sleep only for vastly different reasons.

“No why are youhere?” Bubba asked.

“The hotel was reasonable and not too expensive.” Did it really matter which hotel he stayed at? Not even the Plaza itself was going to be good enough when where he really wanted to be was Ava’s hospital room watching over her.

A hand smacked the side of his head, and he looked up at Rex in annoyance. What the hell was he thinking?

“Hey,” he snapped, glaring at his fellow SEAL. “What was that for?”

“How dense do you have to be?” Rex asked with an accompanying eye roll.

“I’m not being dense,” Nathaniel said.

“Pretty sure you are, dude,” Ace countered.

“Why are you here in a hotel and not in the hospital with Ava?” Phantom asked the question he and his whole team were apparently attempting to ask.

Since going into detail about his terrible childhood, Ava’s perfect life with everything she could ever want, and how those differences were too big to overcome, and he wasn't even sure he wanted to ask her out anyway, was too much effort, Nathaniel merely shrugged.

Apparently, that wasn't good enough.

“Don’t get you, man,” Phantom said with a shake of his head. “You put everything on the line for her. You might not have been given a direct order not to stick around and rescue her, but you knew your commander didn't want you to. Now you're on leave, we all know you’ll be cleared to come back since your comms was knocked out so you technically didn't disobey any orders, but you were prepared to. You were prepared to risk everything for her, and now you're backing away. I just don’t get it.”

Probably because Phantom really had laid everything on the line for Kalee. Almost lost everything as well.

But he did it all for a woman in trouble, a woman he wound up falling in love with.

Phantom had gone back to Timor-Leste when he learned that Kalee had survived the attack and was being held captive by rebels. Alone. Without his team. Without anyone’s knowledge. He’d rescued her, and hidden out with her, giving her time to heal, before he returned to face the consequences of his actions.

Without asking, Nathaniel knew the man was completely happy and content with his choices, and that he would make the same ones again even if it had cost him the career he loved and the comradery of his teammates.

Only their circumstances weren't the same. Phantom and Kalee had fallen in love, while he and Ava were … attracted to one another? It felt deeper than that, there was definitely a pull there to learn more about her and see where things went. It wouldn't cost him his career to pursue Ava, but it might cost him his peace and sanity.

Both of which he’d worked so hard to claim.

“I went and saw her,” he admitted.

“Then why aren't you still with her?” Rocco asked, looking truly confused. “She seemed to like you, I doubt she’d have kicked you out.”

“She didn't. But someone else did.”

“You met her parents,” Gumby said.

“You guys did too?”

“Went to check up on her early this morning,” Gumby explained. “Had the oh-so-wonderful pleasure of meeting Mr. and Mrs. Hendricks.”

“Delightful, aren't they?” he asked dryly.

“They’re obnoxious people,” Ace agreed, “but Ava isn’t. She’s nothing like them.”

---