May Contain Wine (SWAT Generation 2.0 5)

I gave him a chin lift.

“So you have a tattoo and carry around my hair…” She trailed off when Saint, the quietest of the bunch, interrupted. “That’s your hair?”

I sat back in my chair and let Calloway dig herself out of that one.

I hadn’t told any of them whose hair it was. They’d asked, of course, but they didn’t need to know that I carried that fuckin’ braid around with me because I missed the person whose head it used to be attached to. They didn’t need to know that I was that far gone for a certain black-haired woman that hated my guts.

Well, they knew now. And I knew they weren’t going to let it go.

“Um, yes,” she said, her eyes narrowing in on Saint. “What do you wear, carry around, or have tattooed on your body that you feel helps keep you safe?”

Saint pulled up his shirt sleeve and showed off the raven on the inside of his bicep.

“Got this when I was eighteen. Not sure what for at the time. I had no idea what I was doing with my life. But I knew what I’d already lived. And ravens feed on corpses. Without giving you the complete rundown of why I would need that other than a ‘protection’ kind of thing, this is what I have,” Saint explained.

Saint was an utter mystery to all of us. He was the quietest of the bunch, which was kind of funny seeing as he was our negotiator.

He was also standoffish, watchful, and never really interacted in things the way everyone else did.

I honestly got the impression that he disliked us at times.

“Can I get a picture of all of y’all with your talismans or whatever you carry with you on shift?” she asked finally. “I think I’ve got more than enough to publish my article. Now I just need a picture to go with it.”

When nobody moved all that fast to do as she bid, I stood up and ripped off my shirt all over again, this time tossing it onto the bar top we were all standing around.

The next thing to go was my pants.

Luckily, I was wearing slip-on work boots, meaning that I didn’t look like a complete dumbass when I hastily took them off.

It was only when I looked over at Calloway while in my underwear that I realized she was standing still in shock, staring at me as if she was devouring my every move.

Sammy chuckled and pulled out the crucifix he wore around his neck. Booth and Bourne pulled out the Saint Michael medallion they wore around their necks.

And on it went until they were all standing around the bar.

Calloway finally came unstuck and went for her camera bag that had been left abandoned by the door.

When she came back, it was to find Nathan standing there with his McDonald’s toy.

He had a blank expression on his face, and he was staring at the toy as if he was holding something so precious in his hands that he couldn’t bear to look away from it.

Thankfully Calloway didn’t ask.

And when she looked at me, I knew that she knew why I’d taken my shirt off like I did. At least, she knew some of the reason. The other half of the reason, she was likely trying to ignore.

“Just not my face,” Malachi reminded Calloway.

“I remember,” she said softly. “And honestly, if you’ll stand to the side there, your face should be hidden by Saint’s bicep when he flexes and shows off his raven. Nathan, you’re perfect where you are. I can’t see you at all except for those great looking forearms.”

Malachi flashed her a quick grin and did just that. Nathan didn’t say a word.

Saint flexed his arm.

And Calloway took the picture.

Once she was finished, she started to pack up her camera once again, and everyone started to leave.

Most said quick goodbyes, and a few stopped to grab Calloway up in a hug before they did.

The only ones left after five minutes were Malachi, Sammy and me.

Calloway was talking to Sammy, and I looked over at Malachi.

“What the fuck was that?” I asked stiffly.

Malachi stared at me with his haunting eyes and quietly said, “You want her, get her. Nobody’s gonna wait forever.”

Didn’t I know that.

“And I saw her out on a date last week. She was eating with some douchebag looking guy wearing loafers,” he continued. “Thought you might need the in that it got you.”

With that, he left, leaving Sammy, me, and Calloway the only ones behind.

I sat there, listening to them talk for a few minutes, and realized that Calloway was ignoring me. Which pissed me off.

She knew damn well that I was standing right there, yet she kept her body turned away from me, and she was staring at Sammy as if he was really interesting when we both knew that he wasn’t.