Page 13 of SEAL's Sunshine
“And the women you’re with don’t care?”
“Not so far. I think most of the women at The Ready Room expect it.”
“You’re nothing but a horndog,” Jake said as he joined the group. “One of these days one of those women is going to catch you like a bass on a hook.”
“That’s what you think. This frogman will never be hooked.”
“That’s a bet I’ll take,” Cam said with a huge grin. Now that Rafe was with Meghan it was like something had changed with everyone else. He saw it in Jake’s eyes when he watched Rafe and Meghan together. It was Longing for what he didn’t have.
“What are you talking about, kid?”
“A bet that you’ll get caught by a woman. The only question is how long until it happens. But it will happen.”
Murph laughed. “Fine, go ahead bet against me, but you’re throwing your money away.”
Jake laughed too. “Okay, so how are we going to do this? And who will hold the money?”
“I will,” Bill Lynch said. “But I want in too. I’ve got fifty on Murph. No woman is gonna convince him to settle down. I’ve seen his moves in The Ready Room.” Murph thumped him on the back.
“See, Lynch knows.”
“You got it,” Cam said as he wrote his bet down. “Next?”
“Wait, you’re all putting money in, but what’s the time frame. You can’t leave it open-ended.”
“Leave it to Ryan to pour ice on the deal.”
“What the fuck, don’t make me punch you. I’m just saying. We need to figure this shit out or it’ll be a clusterfuck like our last bet. Remember, Jake?”
“Fuck yeah. Good point. Okay, so if Murph is still single in two years he wins, but if he’s been ‘hooked’ then he loses.”
Cam looked around and when none of the team objected, he wrote the ‘rules’ on the top of the betting list. “What happens when he loses?”
“There’s no way I’m losing,” Murph boasted then chugged his beer.
“We’ll see about that. How about this,” Jake continued, “if Murph loses he has to serve us beer in The Ready Room in a pink dress.”
They howled loud enough that the captain wandered over. “I thought you would be sleeping by now. What’s going on?”
“Just a friendly bet, Cap.”
“Yeah, we’re betting that Murph won’t be single two years from now,” Ryan explained.
“I want in,” Tony Knox said as he pulled a few bills out of his wallet. “You won’t make it, Murph. Sorry, bro. But as these guys find their women it’s inevitable. Trust me.”
“Gee, Cap, I thought for sure you’d take my side.”
“Sorry. Been there done that.”
Ryan, Rafe, and Jake put in fifty each against Murph, and Cam added his name to the list. After he double checked that he’d marked down all the bets, he added his money and totaled it up. Then he wrapped the two-hundred and fifty dollars inside the sheet listing the bets and handed it to Lynch.
“So, same deal as last time?” Cam asked.
“You mean with the money?” Jake nodded. “You all okay with that?”
“Yeah, money goes to the next fundraiser The Ready Room runs.”
“With any luck, Murph will be wearing pink to the event.”
