Page 84 of Rescuing Josiah
While Chelsea felt Josiah was giving her too much credit, she was so grateful that her happy ever after was finally here. Drawing him into a kiss, she let her romantic little heart sing with joy.
Chapter
Twenty-Three
May 21st
11:46 A.M.
When the doorbell rang and he had to pull his lips away from Chelsea’s, Josiah started rethinking this whole Cyber Team celebration thing.
It had actually been his idea. Shocking though that was. Chelsea had been talking about making time to visit Ava and Teresa, Isabella too, and since she was still in a whole lot more pain than he knew she was trying not to let on, he told her they should come here.
The way her face lit up at the suggestion had him blurting out his next one.
Everyone should come. Ava and Nathaniel, Isabella and Tobias, Teresa and Micah. It was only a few extra people, and while he didn't know Nathaniel and Micah well, the two were in the same SEAL team, and he’d been a SEAL, so surely they had enough in common to make small talk about.
He hoped.
Because small talk had never really been his thing, and in the last six years he hadn't done it at all. Merely glared at anyone who tried to instigate a conversation with him that wasn't directly related to something they were working on for Prey.
Unless that someone was Chelsea.
While he might have sent her the same glares and angry vibes as he gave off to everybody else, it had never been the same. Not on his end anyway. There had always been something about her that drew him in, and he was so glad he was no longer fighting against those feelings.
Not fighting against them and dealing with six people were still different things in his mind, and he felt his palms grow clammy. How the hell was he supposed to deal with six people all at the same time? The very thought of it terrified him.
“If you don’t want to do this, we can ask them to leave,” Chelsea offered him, and when he glanced down at her and saw the sincerity in her expression, he knew he absolutely was not going to do that.
“This is important to you.”
“But not more important than you.”
Nodding his acknowledgement of the truth of those words, he still knew they were doing this no matter how anxious it made him. “I want to do this, Chels, it’s just … so many people all at once.”
Josiah didn't have to hope that Chelsea would understand it wasn't just the number of people but the context, he knew she did. This same number of people in a briefing wouldn't have fazed him at all, but this wasn't a briefing, it wasn't work, it was just casual, friends hanging out, and that’s what had him breaking out in a cold sweat.
“You can change your mind at any time. If you want them gone, just let me know,” Chelsea told him.
“Stay put,” he told her when she went to move off the couch to let their guests in. His wound hurt, but it wasn't on the same level as broken ribs. He knew because he’d broken his ribs twice before. The pain was like nothing else because there was literally no way to avoid it. Breathing wasn't optional.
With Chelsea’s warm smile in his mind, he hurried over to the front door.
The second he did, he was met by six more warm smiles. They didn't hit the same way that Chelsea’s did, but nonetheless, these were people who could become friends if he could take a step out of his own way and let them in.
For now, the future of Cyber Team felt uncertain. Or at least the future of the way the team looked right now. Both Ava and Teresa were dating men who were active-duty SEALs and still had a couple of years left before they could retire. They had major choices about what their lives were going to look like, and he knew Chelsea believed they were both going to move to the West Coast to be closer to their guys, maybe even take jobs with the West Coast Cyber Team Olivia Oswald had been prepping for.
“We brought enough pizza to feed an army,” Ava told him, indicating the stacks that the guys were carrying.
“And some of basically every snack known to man,” Teresa added with an amused smile and glance Isabella’s way.
The tiny blonde noticed immediately and rolled her eyes. “Are you implying that’s my fault?”
“Itisyour fault, firecracker,” Tobias told her.
“Well, excuse me for being pregnant and craving something only not knowing what that something is,” Isabella shot back, but she didn't really look annoyed. In fact, she looked hungry, and she was already eyeing up the bags she, Ava, and Teresa were carrying, which he had to assume contained the snacks.
Clearing his throat, he took a step back. “Come on in,” he invited.
