Page 105

Story: Men of Fort Dale

Sean snorted, stepping out of sight and moving from the dining room into what looked like the kitchen. “No. I’ve been sitting around doing absolutely nothing.”

“How’s the ankle?”

“About as good as it was when you asked earlier.”

“Right.”

Sean reappeared, holding out an opened beer. “Here. I don’t have much to offer, but I do have this.”

“Ah, a true gentleman,” Aidan said, accepting the ice-cold bottle with a grin.

“Don’t let it be said I don’t know how to be a proper host,” Sean said as he walked into the living room.

Aidan followed him, taking a moment before deciding to sit on the opposite end of the couch to Sean. He’d thought the hardest part would be knocking on Sean’s door, but as they settled on the couch, Aidan realized he had no idea what he was supposed to say. He’d agreed with Sean when the man told him they couldn’t discuss things until they’d come back, and now Aidan didn’t know where to start.

Sean glanced at him, raising a brow. “I figure I know already, but...how did you know what apartment I was in?”

Aidan snorted, tapping the pocket where his phone sat. “Ricardo texted me it.”

“He gave you my address?”

“Without my asking, I might add.”

Sean snorted. “Jesus. He wasn’t fucking around.”

Aidan raised his brow in return. “What’s that mean?”

Sean sighed. “Before we got back when we were still waiting on our ride back to the base, he talked to me. Wasn’t much. He’s not exactly a wordy person. But he told me he knew there was something going on between you and me when I thought we were keeping it pretty low-key.”

“Yeah, until I got that text message, I didn’t think anyone else noticed.”

“Well, he did, and he told me you and I needed to figure shit out because the team needed to be whole and needed us.”

That was vague enough to make Aidan wonder exactly what Ricardo meant. Did he mean whatever Aidan and Sean had been up to needed to stop so the team could function? Or did he mean that they needed to find some sort of resolution that would leave them both happy and clear-headed?

“I’m guessing he didn’t tell you what that was supposed to mean,” Aidan guessed.

Sean shook his head. “I think he was leaving that up to us.”

Which was fair, but it still left Aidan wondering what the hell they were supposed to do. He and Sean had only recently learned to get along and maybe even like one another. What the hell was he supposed to do with everything else?

Was he attracted to Sean? Absolutely, there was no denying it, especially considering they’d had some fun…twice. But what did that mean now? Before, he could have passed it off as nothing more than a bit of fun, maybe blowing off some steam to deal with their emotions toward one another while still being attracted. But didn’t everything change the minute they decided they could stand one another?

And didn’t it mean something that they could actually like one another?

“I guess that means we should probably figure out what that means for us, huh?” Aidan finally asked after a stretch of silence.

Sean looked up, eyes distant. “Been thinking a lot about it since we got back.”

Aidan’s heart skipped a beat. “Yeah?”

“And I don’t know the answer.”

Aidan couldn’t help his sigh. “Yeah, neither do I.”

Was it just sexual attraction, or was there a chance of more? He could already acknowledge that they were physically into one another. That much was plain. But was there a chance there could be something more? Did Aidan even want that?

Then again, he couldn’t deny there was something different about Sean, and perhaps always had been. Who else had gotten under Aidan’s skin in the same way as Sean? He suspected he’d had the same effect on his team leader. Despite their differences, Sean had risked his life to save Aidan and trusted him to lead the team. And when it came down to it, Aidan had opened up and told Sean the story behind why he’d been thrown to the wolves after dealing with Jason.

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