Double Tap (Code 11-KPD SWAT 2)

“How do you like the Navy?” I asked into the dark.

I felt him take a deep breath next to me.

“It’s okay, I guess. I don’t really know what I expected…not what I’m doing, that’s for sure. I’ve met some really good friends, though. One of them actually lives fairly close to me. The others live in Las Vegas. Two brothers, if you can believe it,” he murmured.

He didn’t see how the sound of his voice sent goosebumps dimpling all over my skin.

My elbow hit the digital camera I’d left on the counter earlier and I grinned.

I’d been wanting a new picture of him for a while, but he never let me take one, something about national security and all that B.S.

My camera was my pride and joy.

I’d saved up for nearly two years to buy this bad boy and I’d just gotten it last week.

I couldn’t think of a better subject.

I turned the camera switch to the ‘on’ position and backed away from the counter.

Aiming it at where I thought his face would be, I depressed the button and a bright flash lit up the kitchen.

I smiled when I saw the picture.

It was a good one of him, most definitely with it being dark.

“You know,” Nico sighed. “You can’t post that picture anywhere. You can have it, just don’t put it on any social media. Or anything. Ever. Okay?”

Curiosity got the best of me, and I couldn’t help what I asked next. “You’re not like a hit man or anything, are you?”

He chuckled. “No. I’m not a hit man. I’m a SEAL. And we can’t just have our pictures floating all over the internet. Our lives could depend on it.”

A SEAL?

That was new to me.

“When did that happen?” I asked.

Setting the camera down on the counter, I leaned up against the counter again. This time we touched from shoulder to thigh.

“A year or so ago,” he said.

I could practically feel him roll his eyes.

“So, when do you have to go back? You practically wasted your first two days on the couch,” I teased.

He sighed. “I have…had a week. I go back on Friday.”

I turned to look at him. “You’re going to make our graduation?”

He looped an arm around my shoulders. “Yep.”

I shivered at the touch. A touch that I’d wanted for so long.

Although not quite the touch I yearned for, it would do.

I leaned my head onto his shoulder, staying like that for a few long moments before he pulled away.

Except it wasn’t to let go of me, but to turn so his body was in front of mine, leaning into me, pushing my hips into the counter.

“You’re legal now,” he whispered.

I felt his breath on my lips.

If I leaned closer…I’d be able to touch my lips with his.

I leaned.

Our mouths touched briefly, but just as quickly, he was gone.

And Nikki was in the kitchen, the lights flaring bright.

“Water, woman! How hard is it to grab some water? Oh,” Nikki exclaimed. “Nico, you’re finally awake!”

We both blinked at Nikki’s impeccable timing of turning on the lights.

Then we both got our first good looks at each other.

I was in my usual of a long t-shirt of my brother’s that reached my knees and some really short shorts. Ones that could pass for panties, if I was being truthful.

He was in a pair of boxer briefs. The type that left very little to the imagination.

His hair was shorter than I was used to, buzzed closely to his head.

He had on a pair of dog tags that hung between two defined pectoral muscles, and his smooth toffee colored skin looked gorgeous. Although, he did have a new scar that ran the length of his arm.

“Well, my clock’s a little backwards from what I’m used to. I was up all night last night, but I didn’t have the energy to wake up with y’all this morning,” he said, explaining away his tiredness.

Nikki walked into his arms and hugged him fiercely. “If you can manage it, mama’s making chorizo and eggs in the morning. The kids miss you.”

The ‘kids’ were Nikki’s and Nico’s sisters. There were six of them in total, including Nikki and Nico, ranging in age from nine to eighteen.

Nikki was the second oldest, and one of five girls, similar to what I was with my own family of all brothers.

That’s why we’d gotten along so well, because we both had overprotective brothers that didn’t like that their baby sister was old enough to date.

“I’ll try, sis. I really will,” he promised.

I was looking down at my hands, trying to will them not to shake from the moment we’d almost shared.

“If Georgia tries a piece of the chorizo, I’ll promise to stay up,” he declared.

I made a gaggy sound. I hated chorizo. A Spanish form of sausage, it made me want to barf every time I smelled it.

Nico, however, loved it. He loved it so much that he wanted me to love it, too. Except it smelled like ass and I didn’t want anything to do with it.

Nikki laughed as she grabbed her cup of water and left the room, leaving the two of us staring at each other.

I’d planned on leaving before breakfast.

I had to go help my brothers with the farm work, because they couldn’t get it all done by themselves.

“I can’t stay. I have to be out of here by five. We’re moving the cattle to a different pasture in the morning,” I explained.

I was already tired.

It’d be a long day tomorrow, but I’d get through it. I only had four more days, then I was away to college.

I could do four more days.

Nico smiled at me, a warm me to my bones and more, kind of smile. “Maybe a graduation dinner before I leave on Saturday. To celebrate.”

“Friday afternoon is the only day I can do,” I said. “The other three days I’ll be branding cows,” I explained.

He nodded. “Friday.”

Except, the next morning, something happened that would change the course of my life. Taking away everything that I thought my life might be, even my dreams.