Page 74 of Coming In Hot

His mouth quirks, not quite a smile, but close. “As much as I’d like to keep practicing, there’s no way in hell I’m sleeping in this bed tonight. So if we’re finished, let’s get dressed and hit the road. Rain’s stopped.”

I glance around the room—cracked ceiling, stained walls, a mattress that’s seen better centuries. Yeah, fair point. No matter how much I want to go again, I’ve also got standards, and this place fails on all counts.

CHAPTER26

PHARO

“...andthat’s how Brandt’s mom’s rosebush caught fire,” West finishes explaining.

Brandt rolls his eyes at the absurdity, but a ghost of a smile tugs at his lips.

“It was an accident. I swear!” West insists.

“She asked me to leave you at home next time.”

West grins like he’s won the lottery. “Well, that’s a damn shame. My loss, I guess.”

RiggssuggestedinsistedI not sit beside Jax today, so I chose a seat next to West, which technically puts me next to share. But since I never have before, Riggs skips over me.

“Rhett?” he asks, his voice softening on his partner’s name.

“Hold up. I’ve got something to say.” My fingers rub over the cardboard heart pinned to my chest. It's covered with pink glittery hearts and reads:

“We're not fighting today. Ask us how!”

Jax is wearing an identical one.

He already has specks of pink glitter dotting his face because he touched it, then rubbed his eye. Now he’s blinking like a confused raccoon who just discovered a highlighter.

The Bitches thought this was a suitable punishment for fighting in group.

They weren’t wrong.

All eyes turn to me, including Jax’s. The words press against my throat. My palms sweat. I’ve imagined speaking up a hundred times, but now that it’s real, it feels like stepping off a ledge.

“I’ve been quiet because I didn’t think it mattered,” I say, voice low but steady. “But it does. At least, it does to me.”

Jax’s gaze sharpens—like he’s trying to read between the lines, like he already knows where this is going.

I take a breath and keep going.

“I didn’t come here to make friends, or to talk, or to… feel anything, really.” My voice wavers, just slightly, but I push through it. “But something shifted. And I think I’ve been pretending not to notice.”

A few people glance at each other, but I don’t turn away from Jax. He’s still watching me—still unreadable, except for the way his jaw tightens.

“I keep telling myself it’s easier to stay quiet. Safer.” I swallow hard. “But silence isn’t safety. It’s just another kind of hiding. And Jax and I agreed we weren’t doing that anymore.”

The guys swap looks, maybe guessing what I’m going to say. They have no idea what’s coming.

“Four years ago, I was a different man. A master sergeant. Confident. Not scared of anything. Cocky.”

Jax snorts and murmurs, “Thought you said you were different.”

Ignoring his snark, I take another deep breath for courage and continue. “Jax was under my command, and so was his friend, Jordan.”

Jax’s eyes darken, not just with emotion, but pain.

“He was in a bad place, and his recklessness and my lack of intervention got him killed. And now, the only thing that scares me is losing someone I’m responsible for.”