know that playtime was over
“It’s your show, Chug,” Eyes replied. When the team was out in the field, Eyes was in charge. When they were at this location, he turned the reins back to Chad with zero hesitation.
“Brackish, you’ve only been back a day, but we’re looking for an update on Damien as well as any other news the team might have,” Chad said.
“Yeah, he’s got an update. Like the battle of Thermopylae, his junk has been hammered by endless rounds of constant pressure, wave after wave trying to break him, and no rest between the demands of expecting him to give up. The burning in his lower regions gives the term Gates of Fire a whole new meaning. He’s now walking around like a hundred-thirty-year-old,” Sleep said with a hearty laugh.
The entire room shared in the humor and appreciated the reference to Steven Pressfield’s book, Gates of Fire, that every special operations operator had read sometime in their career. It was a great story of how to use the environment to your advantage when you were severely outnumbered in war.
“Har, har, har,” Brackish mock laughed at the joke. If he was being honest there was more than a little truth to it. His four-day jaunt with Erin had turned into an absolute sexcapade and she’d come close to wearing him out — a first for him.
He’d spent the night at her house after arriving back from Paris the night before, and they’d only gotten about four hours of sleep. This morning she’d woken him up ready to go another round. It was a long session, very long, and after they’d showered the sweat away, he’d been ready to call in sick and spend the entire day with her. How was it possible they couldn’t get enough of each other? Maybe because he’d truly thought he wouldn’t see her again.
When he was minutes away from the operation base, his cell phone had buzzed. It was a message from Erin reading, I’m sore, barely able to walk . . . and I love it. Brackish had grinned like a damn loon while giving his reply. Baby, I didn’t think it was possible to wear me out, but you might’ve just done it. He was in shock as his fingers tightened on the wheel with the desire to turn his vehicle around, which thankfully had been delivered to him at the airport when they’d returned. He hadn’t wanted the team to pick him up; he was too selfish with his time with Erin right now.
“Where in the hell did you go, Brackish?” Smoke asked, snapping Brackish’s gaze to Smoke’s. He was leaning back, grinning.
“I’m thinking about the operation,” Brackish quickly responded, getting a laugh from the entire table.
“Did you guys hear him singing Wrecking Ball as he walked in the doors this morning? I don’t think he was in his head quantifying numbers,” Sleep said.
“Yeah, and then he was humming, All of Me,” Green said. “I almost puked.”
“You obviously like the song if you knew what I was humming,” Brackish pointed out with a smirk.
Green threw his hand to his chest looking horrified. “Nope. Not me. I don’t do that love bullshit song thing. I’ve just heard it on the radio before I quickly change the station.”
“Nope. I think Green has a romantic side,” Smoke said. “You’d never have me humming a love song.”
“Says the man who likes to go to the spa. Will that be your first date with your future wife?” Eyes asked.
“Nope. No way, no how,” Smoke said. “I’ll bet a thousand dollars I’ll never marry.” He pulled out his walled and counted out ten one-hundred-dollar bills, slapping them on the table.
The other five men around the table, including Chad, reached into their wallets and threw down massive amounts of money. They each carried about five thousand on them at all times in case they had to move fast.
“Green, make a calendar. Winner closest to the day Smoke proposes wins. Don’t let Smoke see it so he can’t cheat,” Eyes said, going into team leader mode.
“On it,” Green said. “Easiest six thousand dollars I’ll ever make.
“This is better than Vegas,” Sleep said.
“Ohh, want to do a second bet on where the wedding will take place?” Green asked.
“Okay, you idiots, we do have actual work to accomplish,” Brackish said as he pulled up his computer and hit a few buttons before he continued. “Before I left, I created a wormhole with a type of malware, and I remotely embedded it