The Shepherd (The Game 6)

I grinned tiredly and rested my forehead against his neck instead. “You know me too well too.” Skin on skin, that was the sweet spot. And he smelled so damn nice.

He hummed. “I also know you’re gonna take a Tums on your way home because no matter how hard you try, you can’t shake the Marine mentality completely that says if you don’t eat fast, you don’t eat at all.”

I felt my shoulders shake with a soundless laugh. He was right.

“What else do you know?” I yawned.

He sighed and squeezed me tighter. “I know you get lonely, Shep.”

Fuck.

I instinctively nipped at his neck, sharply. “Okay, stop talking.”

He flinched and shivered. “No. That’s the point—I want you to call me when you feel low. When you need me to hold you for a moment, let me. It’s for me too. I want to be there for you.”

Jesus. This from the guy who didn’t even want to belong to the same kink community as me because he thought “physical boundaries are safe.” Now he was holding me tightly and offering to be my hug buddy? It made me laugh against his neck.

“What the fuck are we doing, Sloan?” I chuckled.

“Why are you ruining the moment?”

Because I had to. Maybe he’d been right. Maybe physical boundaries were necessary, ’cause I had half a mind to let my hand drop a little lower and squeeze his ass, and I was wondering how it would feel to nip at him and then swipe my tongue over that spot.

I pulled back to look at him, and he eased away too.

Part of me felt the need to crack a joke.

This wasn’t who we were to each other. We weren’t affectionate or intimate. Those things were reserved for men we dated or played with. And right now, I understood why. Maybe I’d known all along that Sloan was a friend I’d have to be careful around. I’d never pushed for him to join my community before. That was new, and mostly because I wanted more time with him. Four kids, two jobs, and financial struggles…? Didn’t take a genius to realize he couldn’t meet up whenever I missed him.

Either way, he was right. The distance was good. It was safe. It ensured we’d always have our friendship and that I wouldn’t ruin it by getting too hooked or wondering what if.

Hell, life had been a lot easier when he’d been married. I’d seen him a couple times a week, I’d had no issues throwing my arms around him…and so on.

“I’m gonna go.” He smiled slightly and patted my cheek. “This was fun.”

I chuckled under my breath. “Yeah, we should do it again sometime.”

My phone went off, and Sloan took that as a cue to speed up our goodbye.

He said we’d see each other on Monday, and then he strolled off.

I glanced at my phone and saw Genevieve’s name on the display. As I answered the call, I couldn’t help but cock my head and check out Sloan’s ass.

It was a damn fucking nice ass.

“How’s my favorite sister-in-law?” I got behind the wheel and shut the door.

“Hon, I talk to Peyton every day—you say that to both of us.”

I laughed and started the engine. “Hold on, connecting to Bluetooth.”

Soon as the call connected, she got straight to it. “I have nephew right here who’s on his mother’s shit list for enlisting behind her back.”

Whoa, hold up. Someone had enlisted? And it wasn’t any of my eldest brother’s kids. Angus was married to Genevieve. But that still left too many options, partly because my cousins’ kids were also considered nieces and nephews.

“Who?” I felt my forehead crease.

“Maverick,” she replied.

Oh. That couldn’t come as a surprise. He’d been wanting to follow in our footsteps since his brother had joined the Marines. Crew was his hero.

“That’s great news.” Seriously, good on Maverick. He’d do well.

“No, not great news,” Genevieve grated out. “He didn’t say a word to Peyton—or Cullen, for that matter. Can you talk to him? He’s so nervous, and he doesn’t want to show that to his parents.”

“Sure, put him on.” I slowed down for a red light and scratched my jaw. Sometimes I missed the service. I’d liked the structure of it, the camaraderie, never feeling alone.

After some rustling in the background, I heard my nephew’s voice. “Hey.”

“Hey back. And congratulations. When do you head south?”

“Tomorrow,” he muttered. “Can you tell me what to expect? I’m freaking out. What if I quit?”

“You gotta block that option altogether,” I said. “You’re tough, kiddo. But I don’t understand why you wouldn’t tell your pop. He’s gotta be hella proud.”

Cullen had dedicated far more years than I had to the service, and he’d teared up good and proper when Crew had decided to join. He was incredibly proud of Kaden too, who was studying toward a future in cybersecurity.