Trusting a Warrior (Loving a Warrior #3) - Melanie Hansen Page 0,72

gonna lie.”

He studied her for a moment, his expression smoothing out, that hint of vulnerability still in his eyes. “I appreciate your honesty. It, uh—” He swallowed. “It does help to know I’m not alone.”

“You’re not alone,” she said fervently. “And we’ll get through this together, okay?”

“Okay.” Pulling her to him, Geo hugged her tight. “The sooner I can stop disrupting your life and get back to my platoon, the better, right?”

Her heart gave a painful throb. “Right.”

“I think I’m gonna go pack some stuff, check on Bosch. You need me to pick anything up while I’m out?”

With sheer force of will, she managed to sound breezy. “Nah, I’m good.” Pulling away from him, she rummaged in her junk drawer and extracted her spare key, which she pressed into his hand. “Make yourself at home. I’ll be around most of the day.” She paused. “I do have my support group tomorrow...”

“Okay.” With a noncommittal sound, he stuck the key in his pocket. “See you later.”

After he’d gone, Lani ran for the bathroom and her shower, where she stood under the spray and let the hot tears flow unchecked. “Fuck, what am I doing?”

Despite her best efforts, all of her old insecurities reared their ugly heads. They started hissing that she wasn’t strong enough, or smart enough—that not only had she failed Tyler, she’d failed Rhys, and soon it would be Geo...

“I think you’re doing a beautiful job.” The memory of Maura’s words echoed in her ears, drowning out the strident voices. “What he needs right now is an empathetic friend.”

Lani leaned back against the wet tile and scrubbed her hands over her face.

“Remember, he doesn’t need you to fix him,” she reminded herself. “What he needs is someone to listen, and to understand. You can do that.”

Feeling a bit more calm, and proud of how quickly she’d turned it around this time, she got out of the shower and dried herself off with brisk motions. She would do it. She’d use her pain to help Geo navigate his, and hopefully in the process find a way to give meaning to her own journey.

Wiping off the mirror, she stared at her foggy reflection.

“You’ll also protect your heart at all costs, you hear me?” she said fiercely. “You know damn good and well that the minute he can, Geo’s gonna walk out that door for good.”

He would leave. And he wouldn’t look back.

Because that’s what SEALs do. Don’t you ever forget it.

Chapter Fifteen

“Geo! Hey!”

Geo spun around, a jolt of surprise and pleasure going through him at the sight of Matt’s welcoming smile. “What? You’re here, too? Why aren’t you at Langley?”

They bumped knuckles as Matt said, grinning, “Some of the CIA instructors got re-tasked at the last minute, so Master Chief gave us the option of coming home for a few days if we wanted.” He turned to the blond man at his side. “This is the K9 guy I was telling you about, babe, the one whose dog almost took a chunk out of my ass?”

“Oh, yeah. That was funny.” The man shot Geo a devastating grin. “I’m Shane, by the way. Matt’s fiancé.”

Dazzled almost speechless by Shane’s movie-star good looks, Geo mumbled a greeting as they gripped hands in a tight shake.

Holy. Shit. No wonder Matt wanted to come home. Geo’d be on the first plane, too. Damn.

“Trust me, this dog is so badass,” Matt was saying enthusiastically. “Are you busy right now, Geo? Can we take Shane to meet him?”

“He might not be busy, but I have that brief in ten minutes,” Shane reminded him. “Some other time.”

They started walking again as Geo fell into step beside them.

“Shane’s been offered a billet as a BUD/S instructor until his medical board meets,” Matt said. “Second Phase.” He grunted. “Talk about a destroyer of dreams.”

Geo shuddered. It was true. So many guys survived Hell Week only to fall victim to Second Phase’s pool competency, arguably the most challenging training evolution in all of BUD/S. He’d squeaked through it himself by the skin of his teeth, the specter of Cade losing that bet hanging over his head like a sword waiting to fall...

He must’ve made some kind of noise, because Shane glanced at him curiously. Geo cleared his throat. “Right. Second Phase is not a fun memory.”

“It ranks up there as being some of the worst weeks of my life,” Matt agreed. “This clown aced it, though.”

“What can I say? I’m comfortable in the water.” Shane rubbed his hands together theatrically before