THE CRAZY GOOD SERIES - Rachel Robinson Page 0,191

I know exactly what’s going on. When personal lives and problems seep into work, it’s a recipe for disaster. It happens in normal office jobs. In normal jobs others’ lives aren’t in jeopardy. No mistakes are afforded in our profession.

I slap Mav on the shoulder. “Got pussy on the brain, bro?” I always try to keep the mood light—even if it means crude jokes that offend more often than they entertain. “I can go in his place. Mav can work the radios.” Stone shakes his head the second my sentence is out. Like I suspected he would. Not only are Maverick and Stone best friends since birth, they always go together. It’s a package deal not even the officers fuck with. Any SEAL could slip into either of their positions just as easily, but they stay together. Because they are so precise and accurate, no one says anything otherwise.

“No way, dude,” Mav says, before Stone can verbally shoot me down. “I got this. He’s overreacting. I’m fine, really. Just a little pissed off at the moment.” The feral smile he’s known so well for creeps in and it looks scary—unstable.

“It’s not your decision anyways,” Stone adds.

It was his decision, though. He’s chief. Cody and him decide who gets certain positions, and for some reason Stone is hell bent that I stay back on this one. If he has a reason, he won’t tell me.

Stone shifts his weight from one foot to the other. “Yeah, he’s got this, Stevey. No need to worry.” He flashes a fake smile at me. “You’re needed back here. Your mojo keeps everyone happy.”

“Why?” I ask. “Why am I the one that needs to be back here?”

Maverick is pissed and bristles off to stand next to Cody at the sand table, watching intently as the details of the mission are explained for a final time. Not that he doesn’t know exactly what needs to happen; I think he’s trying to convince himself of something. I glance back at Stone, still silent, waiting for an answer.

“Is your American flag speedo clean?” Stone asks. We always celebrate after a successful mission. A speedo and beer are the only requirements to attend. He’s avoiding my question. It’s unlike him. He’s just as up front as his wife, Morganna.

I shake my head, unwilling to accept his detour in conversation. “Dude. Why?” His smile fades into a lopsided smirk.

“Contingency, Steve. Contingency.” He doesn’t give me a chance to ask for an explanation. He smacks me square on my tight ass and ends up standing shoulder to shoulder with Maverick. I’m on the outside looking in, but Maverick visibly relaxes when Stone is near him—a reflex that neither is aware of. Now that I take a closer look, maybe Stone does know the calming effect he has on Mav. Maybe he knows that he needs him in some weird, brotherly way. It’s something I’ve never noticed before this moment. I shrug, shake my head, and make my best flagrant, Steven Warner exit by slamming the plywood door. I cross a sand drenched path to the other tent office and take my seat at a desk in the corner. I think about calling Chloe or Sasha. Maybe even a quick e-mail to my parents, but I don’t do any of those things. I stew in my pitiful, displaced anger instead. I’d regret this choice for the rest of my life.

Stone gets everything he wants. Sure, he may have hidden reasons for requesting the current staffing situation, but I’m fucking pissed. First, he stole the chief position we both vied for, then he makes odd choices about where I’m at if he’s on target. Before all of that, he stole my most valued possession. A person isn’t something you can own, but she’s owned my heart since her southern voice pierced my ears and my heart at the tender age of twelve.

Morganna was a transfer student from a few counties over. She decided that her debut at a new school, my school, would be in the form of a talent competition. All of the popular girls completed in it and I guess if you just went ahead and threw yourself in with the sharks from day one, you’d get noticed. Morganna was a girl to notice, too. The bitchy popular girls weren’t the only ones who took notice, either. Every swinging dick in the school noticed that girl. Her black hair fell in waves and the curves that marked her as a woman were