Page 4

Chapter 4

Jay

M axwell accepted the invite just to prove me wrong and then showed up with a twelve-pack of craft beer and a bottle of sparkling grape juice for Meg. Which thrilled Meg, who was drinking “plain old boring water”.

A gift for the host . I mimicked her in my head. Of course she brought a gift. What a kiss ass .

When Emily said, “We’re ordering pizza, wings, and salads. Is there anything specific you want?” Maxwell shrugged and said she wasn’t picky.

“The military does that to a person,” Jack joked. He wasn’t wrong. You learned to eat what you could, when you could. But Maxwell was an officer, and had never seen combat so I doubt she really understood.

Maxwell acted relaxed, but I could see the tension in the way she held herself. Not that I paid that much attention to her body, or the curve of her shoulders, or how she absentmindedly tapped her fingers on her legs when she was tense or nervous.

Just like the irritating way she tapped her pen to her chin when thinking.

That’s what she gets for accepting an invitation just to spite me.

I downed my beer and got a second one from the fridge.

“Blake, what’d you think of the class?” Maxwell asked.

“I learned a lot,” Blake answered. “But I’m not sure how much I’ll remember.”

“I’m sure AJ will help you with that,” Meg said. “If not, I’m sure Jay can.”

AJ growled in my general direction. No doubt the exact response Meg wanted.

“Dude, I didn’t say anything. Growl at Meg.” I twisted the cap off a bottle of Maxwell’s fancy beer. She had good taste, but I’d ever tell her.

“If he does that, Jack’ll growl back.” Meg laughed, “It’d be chaos.”

Maxwell watched the verbal sparing with a half smile. It was like she didn’t want to let herself enjoy the banter.

“Best let them get it out of their systems now,” Ashley said with a grin. She loved watching us bait each other, and occasionally egged us on. “Jay, who are you going to growl at?”

“Leave me out of it,” I said, saluting her with my beer.

“Smart man,” AJ said.

“Whatever, dude.” I flipped him off before asking, “Anyone else want one?”

“I’ll take one,” Jack and AJ said together .

I still couldn’t believe AJ was engaged. I thought we’d be drinking buddies, being the only two single guys at SSI, but he’d put a ring on Blake’s finger before we had a chance to become friends.

I made a mental note to reconnect with some of my friends from high school. We’d lost touch after graduation, most of them going to college while I joined the Marines.

It was hard maintaining long distant friendships. While they were getting married and starting families, I was doing my best to not get killed in the desert.

“Jay?” Jamie’s voice cut off my thoughts.

“What?”

“What kind of wings do you want?” he asked.

“Buffalo’s fine. With blue cheese.” Ranch dressing was the standard but I didn’t care for it.

“Told you,” Jack said. Like he knows me so well .

I was always the odd man out, and they’d never really taken the time to get to know the adult me. Jack was three-and-a-half years older and Jamie, and his twin, Madi, were five years older. Mom and Dad were done having kids after Jack, so unlike my older siblings, I wasn’t planned.

A mistake . Something my brothers had reminded me of often when we were kids.

A happy accident is what my mother called me, but it didn’t help. I was nothing like my siblings; something none of them were shy about pointing out.

Jamie and Madi were typical type A personalities. Smart, over-achieving, popular. Jack wasn’t as bad, but he was clever and easy-going, and everyone loved him. He was also the spitting image of our dad, only taller. The only attribute I got from my father was his amber eyes.

I wasn’t as smart as any of them, and couldn’t stand sitting still in the classroom. I wanted to run around and play. Even in high school, I preferred classes where I could learn by doing not by reading. I squeaked by with low passing grades, falling short whenever my teachers compared me to my siblings.

The only place I made a name for myself was on the field. I was big and fast, qualities that helped me lead our varsity football team to the championship. I was the third Sheppard to lead the team, Dad and Jamie having done so before me, but I was the only left tackle ever voted to captain. I grinned at the memory. No one ever sacked our quarterback if I was on the field.

I was scouted my senior year, and offered more than one football scholarship but my grades sucked and I would’ve failed in college. Much to my mother’s disappointment, I declined the offers and joined the Marines instead. She wasn’t disappointed I joined the Marines—she was proud of her children for serving. She just didn’t want another cub to leave the nest for dangerous places unknown.

But, I couldn’t stay in Weatherford.

Joining the Marines gave me an opportunity to crawl out from under my brothers’ shadows and grow into who I was meant to be. I didn’t regret choosing the military over college or a pro football career. And when I was finally ready to earn my degree, the Marines paid for it .

Stuck in my own head, I’d missed most of the conversation but the doorbell, alerting us to the pizza being delivered, caught my attention.

“Of course that got your attention,” Jack said.

“Fuck you, Jack.” It wasn’t my fault I was always hungry; it took a lot of effort, and a lot of calories, to stay in top fighting condition. I couldn’t best my brothers in any category, so I prided myself on being the biggest.

That, and being able to kick both their asses.

I guess there’s one category I can best them, unarmed combat .

Jack raised an eyebrow. “Who pissed in your beer?”

“No one. What do I owe you?” I asked, pulling out my wallet.

“Twenty each,” Jamie answered. “You can give it to Em.”

“Hell yeah, we should plan a girl’s night out with Jamie’s money.” Ashley chimed in as she grabbed the twenty out of my hand.

“That’s my twenty,” I teased her.

“Not anymore,” she teased back.

Ashley was hot, but knowing she’d hooked up with AJ made her a no-go for me. That and I wasn’t looking for a relationship, so sleeping with her would get me in trouble.

But it’s fun flirting with her.