Page 57 of Metal & Mud

Mercury shook his hand, looking like he'd rather be anywhere but in his dress blues at the moment but also man enough to know that Logan deserved his accolades. "You didn't do a damn thing wrong, son. That was one hell of a shot. I'll deal with Huffman... privately."

"Understood, sir." Logan knew the magnanimous thing to do would be to let the issue go, but at the same time that wasn't possible to him. It was Sabby's right to drop the issue, and so far nobody had checked in with her. "If you don't mind sir, my squad's going to go bowl."

"Then let me cover the beers," Mercury said. "Those were the terms, and Huffman's my responsibility."

"Honestly, sir?" Logan commented, shaking his head. "I was never going to enforce that bit. It wouldn't be professional."

Mercury nodded, clapping him on the shoulder. "You know son, you ever want to have a safer role in the Army, I know that the base commander has an assistant position open. Better hours, good career path."

"And waste a damn fine door kicker like this?" Sergeant Adams asked as she came up, putting an arm over Logan's shoulders. "No thanks, sir. I just spent the past two months getting this kid trained up. Come on, Hollywood."

Logan and the squad left, everyone congratulating him. "Hey Hollywood," Tom Franklin said, grudging respect in his voice, "that was some damn fine shootin'."

"Thanks," Logan replied, hanging back at the counter while the rest of the squad got their shoes and Captain King talked quietly with Colonel Mercury. After a few moments, it was just him and Sabby, who was biting her lip and smiling. "So how're you feeling?"

"You want to know the truth?" Sabby asked, and Logan nodded. "I just watched my boyfriend take down a bully, alpha male the entire room, and then be totally rock god chill about the whole thing. So I'm horny as fuck."

Logan growled lightly in his throat, and reached out. Before Sabby could say anything he'd pulled her slightly across the counter, kissing her. Sabby kissed him back, and he was tempted to ditch Bron's party when someone cleared their throat behind him and he reluctantly let Sabby Go. "Later."

"For sure," she rasped, her voice thick with desire. "Uhm... hi Jess."

"Just for that," Jess said, tugging Logan towards the waiting squad who all looked more than a little amused, "you're paying for the fucking beer."

"Really, Sarge?"

"You want me to just happen to go to the gym on Sunday morning for about four or five hours of watching other people do strongman training while Sabby's not working, or do you want me to sleep in and sit around all day catching up on those YouTube training videos that I keep meaning to watch?"

Logan got the message. "Beer for everyone it is."

26

SABBY

"So you really want to do this?" Logan asked Sabby as they approached the door to the alley. "I mean, you're here constantly."

"Yeah, but this is the best system in town," Sabby reminded him, "and we've been rehearsing for weeks now. Besides, you just got back into town, and I've missed the hell out of you. So we have to."

It was true. Sabby had been terrified when the call had come for Jess, Logan, and the rest of third platoon to go on a mission. For four days, Sabby had gone through life with her heart in her throat, not knowing if her sister or the man she loved were going to be safe.

But they came back, and while he couldn't tell her much, Logan had assured her the mission had been a waste of time. Some potential threat to an ambassador, quickly resolved. He'd spent more time on the plane than doing anything else, which he was actually grateful for, considering it meant he was back with her sooner.

According to Logan, he spent more time sitting in an airplane seat than he did doing anything remotely dangerous.

She'd been glad, and while she knew she was probably heaping the lovey-dovey couple stuff on Logan since his return, she couldn't help it. She wanted to spend every moment she could with him, even doing silly things like bowling alley karaoke.

"Hey, is Jess going to be able to make it?" Logan asked as they got to the door. "I know she's not a karaoke fan, but still, we did practice."

"Who knows?" Sabby said. "I love my sister, but nobody gets between her and her squat sessions. She knows we're going to be signing up, but that's about it. I was thinking maybe we can put our names down towards the end though?"

"Sure babe." Logan put an arm around her shoulder.

She liked that feeling, being with her man, and happily entered the alley together. The place looked busier than usual, and as Sabby looked around, she recognized a few faces from Logan's unit scattered around the alley, even Major Kirk bowling with some other officers.

"Y'all having a company event or something?" Sabby asked Logan, who shook his head. "Promise?"

"I promise, there's no company event that I know of," Logan said. "Come on, let's get signed up."

Logan put their names down while Sabby ordered some mozzarella sticks. As they looked for a table, Sabby dragged Logan over to Brian Manheim, who was as always sitting alone, this time sipping a longneck. "Hey now you two. Ready to sing?"

---