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CARTER

He woke with a grunt, running his dry tongue over his teeth. The first hints of the sun coming up were leaking through curtains in the living room. Carter sat up, rubbing his face, and immediately stopped when the bruises screamed in protest.

Right, he’d forgotten about that.

He looked around and stopped when he saw a white legal pad on the table. His name was on the top of the page, so he drew the note toward himself.

Hey,

I figureif you’re like the other military weirdos I know, you’ll probably be up at the crack of dawn, long before me. There’s leftovers in the fridge if you want to eat or take it with you. Grab something to drink while you’re there. Probably need to keep hydrated after the night you had.

You probably won’t takethem, but there’s some meds in the bathroom if you want them. And if you do leave before I’m up,make sure to lock up before you head out. Nice neighborhood or not, I’m not a fan of leaving my door unlocked while I’m asleep.

Take care of yourself,alright?

Marco

“This guy,”Carter muttered, still trying to shake the drowsiness.

He frowned at the thought. He’d only slept a few hours, but he normally woke up and quickly shook off the fog. That should have been especially true because he was in some strange guy’s house.

Carter looked down at the letter, rereading it with a snort.

A very strange guy’s house.

Carter glanced up at the loft. It was completely dark, and he couldn’t hear any sounds. He wondered if Marco was an underwear, pajamas, or nude sleeper. After a moment’s debate, he decided he was probably a nude sleeper but would be wearing pajama bottoms since someone else was in the house. He seemed like that sort of person.

He wrinkled his nose, willing the thought away before he dove too deep into it and let himself wonder what Marco looked like wrapped up in the blankets, face peaceful from sleep.

It wasn’t like if he’d seen Marco on the street or at the bar, he would have turned the guy away. The guy was cute, though he seemed completely unaware of it. But it made Carter squirm, trying to think of Marco curled up in bed and wondering what he looked like naked. Not because it wasn’t anattractivethought, it was just?—

“Weird,” he muttered, setting the paper back on the table before standing up. “You’re being fucking weird.”

He would give the man credit. He’d been right about whether Carter would take him up on his offer for meds. The aches inhis face and limbs weren’t bad enough to need anything. Though he would admit, the man had a point about getting water inside him.

Feeling strange as he rooted through Marco’s fridge, he grabbed a couple of bottles. As he drank the first one, he eyed the leftovers. By the time he made it back to the Fort, the mess would probably be empty of anything decent. If he was going to have a halfway decent breakfast without stopping on the way, he would have to take Marco up on his offer.

He stopped as he reached in and realized one of the containers still had the receipt attached. Carter read it and shoved it into his pocket. He wasn’t a complete jerk, not toward someone who was clearly too nice for their own good, so he only took half the leftovers.

Before he’d finished shoving on his boots to leave, he hesitated at the door. Sighing, he let the boot slip off his foot again and walked to the table where the note had been. He glared at the letter, wondering what the hell he was supposed to say.

Finally, he settled on ‘Thanks’ jotted in big letters beneath Marco’s signature. It was the best he could come up with. He probably could have managed something better if he had been talking to the guy, but he wasn’t going to wait around for Marco to wake up. He almost thought about leaving his number but decided against it at the last second.

Carter wasn’t sure it was a good idea if he and Marco crossed paths again. Carter wasn’t exactly blind, and he knew the effect he had on other people and their lives. He tended to bring nothing but stress and trouble. Marco seemed a decent sort, and he didn’t deserve to have more bullshit brought down on him.

Snorting, he shoved his boots on before he could get too depressed. He hoped he could make it back to the base and his duties without catching too much flak.

“Grant!”a sharp and irritatingly familiar voice barked his last name.

Carter sighed, tilting his face up toward the sun. He closed his eyes as the heavy footfalls of the sergeant, who apparently was his designated babysitter, marched across the strip of grass in front of the barracks.

Just another few yards, a couple of minutes, and he would have been able to slip away unnoticed. Sergeant Reynolds would have found him eventually, but at least Carter wouldn’t have been busted slinking back on base.

“Morning, Sergeant,” Carter said dryly, snapping his salute when the other man was close enough and holding position.

“Have another late night, did you?” Reynolds asked, hard eyes looking him over.

“Something like that, sir,” Carter said, his voicejustrespectful.