Page 4 of Rebellious

I shake my head. “I’ve seen you whine and deny that you fell in love with Private Brannon’s sister.”

“I didn’t whine.”

“Oh, you whined, big boy. You hopped on that whiny-bitch train and rode that thing all over this fine city, making everyone in its path miserable as fuck.”

“You’re a dick.”

“That I am. And that’s how I know the man who was a Major in the Marines, charged with leading a team—”

“—A team I let die!”

His words are sharp and laced with a kind of pain I’ve never experienced, but that doesn’t stop me from being the friend he needs right now.

“A team you owe!” I shout, standing from the table. “The Cade I know wouldn’t let those families not see him honor his team.”

Leaning down, I fist his shirt and haul him up and out of his chair. “This is about honoring those Marines, not you. You owe them that honor.”

His jaw clenches, and he yanks his shirt from my hand, dropping back into his chair without a word.

“I know you don’t want to hear this, Jameson. But you deserve that medal. You died that day too.”

Cade blows out a breath and buries his head in his hands.

The silence in the kitchen seems contradictory to the chaos between us. “Look, Cade. I don’t know what you’re going through, but I can take a week off. I’ll even hold your dog tags back when you puke on the side of the road a few dozen times on the trip there.”

That finally gets a laugh out of him. “You’re an asshole.”

“Does that mean you’ll dress pretty for the girls and let them take your picture?”

He tenses but then sighs. “You’ll say something shitty right before I go on?”

I smirk. “Always.”

He shakes his head and finally smiles. “I hate you.”

I grab his coffee and drink the rest of it, slamming it down on the table. “I’m taking Aspen home. When I get back, you better have changed clothes. You owe me a run for all this girl chat.”

Cade holds his hand out for me to shake.

I eye it for a moment before I clasp it and nod. No matter how shitastic of a neighbor he is, he’s my brother, and for that, I plan to kick his ass later for bringing up all these awkward feelings.

“I’ll be back in thirty. I will punch you in the face if you’re asleep when I return.”

Turning around, Cade chuckles. “Thenyou’llneed the tissues.”

Haha.

He thinks just because he’s the size of a bulldozer, no one can hurt him. Well, he’s probably right. “I’m getting my kid. Get fucking dressed. I’ve almost met my quota for dealing with you today.”

Without another word, only a simple chin tip, Cade disappears down the hall.

I exhale, rolling my neck from side to side, relieving the tension. Cade has always been intense, but he can be unpredictable when his past bubbles up. Usually, his wife, or my wife—the doctor—can handle it, but sometimes it takes me and a heavy dose of brutal honesty to shake him out of it.

If he doesn’t want the medal, fine. But he can’t run from his demons, leaving his family behind like he did today. He needs to face it. He needs to do this for closure on the past he can’t change.

Creeping down the hall, suddenly exhausted, I crack open Bennett’s door. Before I know it, I’m shoved through the door with two arms wrapping around my stomach.

“Thank you.”

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