Page 2 of Jag

I moved to the front door. The sooner this was done, the better. But Simone wasn’t quite finished.

“Go, but you’ll realize what you lost.”

“Doubtful,” I mumbled under my breath as I stepped out the door, then down the two steps to the sidewalk that led to the driveway on the side of the townhouse. I reached her car before she had made it out of the door.

When she stepped down to the sidewalk, she popped the trunk with her key fob, and I set the box inside. By the time I closed the trunk, she stood at the driver’s side door.

“I always thought your laid-back demeanor was a good trait. Instead, I think you use it to cover up the bastard underneath,” Simone sneered, pulled the driver’s side door open and slid into her car. “And know this—you’ll never find anyone like me, and while you’re regretting your poor decision because you will, I will be in another man’s arms and his bed.” She slammed the car door on her parting words. The engine turned over, and I stepped quickly to the side. Frankly, I wouldn’t put it past her to clip me with the vehicle.

After I watched her drive away, I turned toward the front of my place, and that’s when I noticed the car parked at the curb with a man leaning on the hood. His dark hair touched his shoulders, and he had his arms crossed over his chest. The smirk and cocked eyebrow told me he had heard most of the exchange between Simone and me.

“Christ, the man whose bed she lands in, you really should consider sending a condolence card to him,” he said as he dropped his arms, pushed off the hood, and started toward me. “Shit, brother, were you that desperate for a woman?”

When he reached the sidewalk and stood in front of me, we clasped hands, then I pulled him in for a hug.

“Goddamn, it’s good to see you. But aren’t you a little far from Bragg?”

Coast grinned and shook his head. “Landed at Dulles earlier and thought I would stop by since I was in the area. Going to be around DC for a couple of days before I head back to base.”

“Should I even bother to ask where you’ve been?” I asked and got another smirk for an answer.

“Nah, you know the deal. If I share, I’d have to kill you,” Coast said, and I snorted; it was something he always said when asked about anything to do with his job. Then again, being Delta Force, who knew if that shit was true or false.

“Got time to stay and have some dinner with me?”

“Sure do. Even have more time than that. Thought I’d crash here until I have to fly out if it’s alright with you?”

“As you saw, my evening freed up, and I don’t have anything planned for the next couple of days. Itisthe weekend. I’m sure we can find a few things to do.”

“So, since you’re free, why don’t we go inside and order takeout? Then we can sit and drink a few beers while you fill me in on what I witnessed,” Coast said, and I grinned.

“Well shit, we’ll need more than a few beers if I’m going to talk about Simone,” I said as we stepped through the front door of my place. “And watch your step, I’ve got a small mess to clean up.”

Coast chuckled and shook his head when he glanced at the broken picture frame laying on the floor.

“Damn,” he said when we reached the kitchen, and I bent to pick the busted laptop off the floor. “Oh yeah, definitely need to the hear the story about that woman. Then when we’re done with that, you can tell me if the rumor about you resigning your commission and heading home has any merit.” Coast slapped me on the back, then pulled out a chair and sat.

“Fuck, my dad didn’t waste any time.” I sat the broken computer on the bar, then opened the fridge, pulled out two beers, and handed one to Coast.

“Not when he’s excited, brother. Your pops didn’t mention the others to you?” Coast asked as I joined him at the table after I grabbed the takeout flyers in the drawer.

“No, we talked about what I needed for the Washington Bar. I want to be cleared to practice in the state as soon as possible. Why, did something happen?”

“Where to begin. Well, Crusher’s clearing base now. Flirt is out on a mission, but whenever he gets back, he’s not going to re-up. Devil is back at his base after another stint in Afghanistan and has a little over two months left on his commitment before he calls it quits. Speed is the only one my dad didn’t have news on.” Coast leaned back and took a drink of his beer.

“Speed just left for Iraq a couple months ago. He visited me the weekend before he deployed. Since he lost his dad, it’s been rough on him, brother. Even being in the same vicinity of each other, I only see him every once in a while. I don’t know about you, but I can’t imagine going back to the club and my dad not being there,” I said, and Coast agreed.

We sat in silence for a minute, and I’m sure Coast was thinking the same as I was. Cutter’s death had brought not only sadness to the whole club, but our dads had changed after his death. The loss of their friend and brother hit them hard. They talked more about turning the club over to the six of us when we decided to come home. And by what Coast said, it looked like they were going to get their wish sooner than they probably counted on.

“You mentioned the others, but what about you, Coast?” I asked and shoved the takeout menus toward him.

“This was my last assignment with my team. I’m out of the rotation, and my replacement is already at Bragg and raring to go. I’ll start clearing when I get back. If the transition goes smoothly, I figure I won’t be too far behind Crusher.”

“All of us back within a few months of each other with the exception of Speed. It’s going to be an adjustment. But I’m ready,” I said.

“With you there, brother. Looking forward to it myself.” I watched Coast’s face as he thumbed through each order sheet. If I hadn’t, I would have missed the brief change in his expression before it went back to relaxed. Knowing he wouldn’t discuss what brought that on, I didn’t bother to ask.

We settled on Chinese food, and I called the order in. Since the place delivered, we took our beers and went into the living room to wait for it to arrive.

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