Hot SEAL, Confirmed Bachelor- Cynthia D'Alba
Chapter One
“Hurry up, C-Note. Ensign Davis will kill us if we’re late to the wedding.”
“Relax, Cowboy. I’ve got this. Besides,” Benjamin Blackwell checked the clock on the dash of his truck, “we’ve got eight minutes before it starts.”
“You just had to help that clerk at the gas station?” Jacob Fowler, aka Rooster, said.
Benjamin chucked. “Hey, don’t blame me. That gas station clerk was hungry. What was I supposed to do? Let her starve?”
Evan Lancaster, aka Cowboy, groaned. “Your cock gives us more trouble than the Taliban.”
“And yet, it’s so much more popular,” Benjamin quipped.
“Turn here,” Rooster demanded, slapping the back of Benjamin’s headrest.
Benjamin slammed on the brakes and whipped the two-ton truck onto an unpaved drive. The heavy truck’s suspension took a beating as the truck shot down the rough road, the rear tires spitting dirt and rocks behind them.
“Christ, Blackwell. I swear, if we’re late, Davis will suggest that every INFIL is a HALO.” Cowboy had the palm of his hand pressed to the truck’s roof to keep from falling over.
Benjamin snorted and start to call him a pussy, but he caught Rooster’s glare in his rearview mirror.
“The threat’s no good if we’re dead,” Rooster said through gritted teeth.
“I’ve got this,” Benjamin said as he wheeled the truck between two fence posts and into a pasture that’d been converted to event parking.
“I can’t believe Davis is having some frilly, white wedding,” Rooster murmured as the guys climbed from the truck. “She’s more guns and camo than sterling silver and lace.”
“You’re just pissed because she nailed your ass at paintball,” Cowboy said.
Rooster socked Cowboy’s shoulder. “She got you, too, asshole.”
“I hate to interrupt this stimulating conversation, but….” Benjamin looked around the area. “Anyone know where we’re going?”
“There.” Cowboy pointed toward a white tent.
The three men set off at a jog toward the distance tent.
“Time?” Rooster asked.
“Four minutes,” Benjamin said. “We’ve got this.”
“Where’s the wedding?” Rooster asked as they walked under the tent.
The kid setting the table pointed down a hill. “Down there. It’s in the rose garden.”
“Shit,” Benjamin said. “Double time, men.”
They took off down the hill, skidding on lose rocks and dirt. As they turned a bend in the road, white streamers and flower-filled vases came into view. They were still a good minute from the wedding venue.
“Kick it,” Cowboy demanded. “I hate HALOs.”
“Who doesn’t?” Rooster replied as they upped their speed to an all-out run.
“Back row,” Benjamin said. “I see three chairs.”
The men skirted around the side of open pavilion to the rear. On the last row, three chairs sat vacant with signs tapped to the backs.
Chair one’s sign read, “Bravo One.”
Chairs two and three had signs that read, “Short straw losers.”
The guys exchanged grins and dropped into chairs that had been saved for them. Benjamin’s chair, i.e. Bravo One, was on the aisle. Rooster took the second chair and Cowboy, the third.
Their butts had barely touched the seats when the music started and the wedding officiant, groom, and groomsmen took their places in front.
“See?” Benjamin whispered. “I told you we had plenty of time.”
His men laughed quietly.
The bridesmaids started down the aisle. After the first woman began walking, the second bridesmaid stopped beside Benjamin and waited to begin her walk. When the third bridesmaid stopped, she handed Benjamin a slip of paper, and then walked on.
He unfolded the paper and read.
Tiffany Nobles. Room 110. See you at the reception. I’m saving you a ‘dance.’
“What the hell, man?” Rooster asked, leaning over and reading it. He snorted and shook his head. He grabbed the note and passed it to Cowboy, who rolled his eyes.
“I like women who know what they want,” Benjamin said.
“You like all women, regardless,” Cowboy said.
“We know you,” Rooster said. “The more, the merrier for you.”
Benjamin looked at his two best friends. “And that’s why I’m a confirmed bachelor, unlike you losers.” He shook his head with a sad expression. “Same woman for the rest of your lives. Mistake, guys.”
Rooster and Cowboy exchanged glances and grinned at each other.
“You’ll find out,” Rooster said with an elbow nudge to Benjamin’s side. “Your day will come.”
“Nope. Never,” Benjamin said with confidence as the bride stopped at their aisle.
“Damn,” she said. “I had all my arguments ready to present for HALOs as punishment for missing my wedding.” She winked and walked to the front.
The wedding went off without a problem. The happy bride and groom danced down the aisle, followed by their seven groomsmen and bridesmaids. The wedding officiant invited the audience to join the bridal party at the