Page 40 of Holding the Line
Marsh glanced down at his hands, flexed his fingers, then shook his head.“I forgot how to breathe when I saw you on the ground.I’ve been in fire zones, ambushes, hell on earth—but nothing, nothing has ever scared me like that.Like the idea of losing you.”
Eli reached for his hand, lacing their fingers together.“You can’t protect me from everything.None of us are making it out of life alive, Marsh.We don’t get forever, so we make the most of what we’ve got.Every second.”
That gave Eli a thought and had him exhaling before speaking again.“Yesterday ...when those mercs said my choices would get people hurt—that my friends’ fates were in my hands—I’ve been thinking about that.Obsessing, actually.”
Marsh turned to level a long look at him, eyes steady.“But I know you’re not dumb enough to think that running is your best option.So, what are you thinking?”
Eli blinked.“You don’t think I’m dumb?”
Marsh frowned.“Why would I?”
“The Colonel ...he used to say that.A lot.Called me his pretty idiot.”
Marsh’s jaw flexed.“He’s full of shit.You outsmarted him more than once.You figured out that the Colonel is an asshole, ran away from the prick, managed to get me to pull my head out of my own ass, and the true sign that you are a freakin’ genius—you let me love you.That might be the smartest thing anyone’s done.”
Eli swallowed hard.“You love me?”
Marsh smiled faintly.“Kinda hopelessly.”
Eli leaned over and pressed his lips to Marsh’s.“I love you, too, and, eww, you’re sweaty.”The two smiled at each other, then Eli shrugged.“To be fair, I have thought about setting myself up as bait or something, to try and bring them here.”
Marsh was already shaking his head, his expression darkening.“First of all, love, there is no way in hell I’m letting you play bait.That’s a hard no.My inner Alpha Male would riot, and I’d probably chain you to the damn bed to stop you.Secondly, we both know they’re not just coming—they’re close.I can feel it.Like pressure in the air before a storm.They’re going to hit fast, and soon.”
Eli nodded slowly, absorbing the weight of Marsh’s words.“Then we need to be smart.If they’re coming no matter what, we pick the battlefield.We control the terrain, set the rules.We make it ours before they even step onto it.”
Marsh’s grin cut through the tension like sunlight.“See?I told you—you’re smart as hell.That’s exactly the kind of thinking we need.”
Eli leaned into him, forehead brushing Marsh’s shoulder.“What about the therapy wing?It’s still under construction.If it gets trashed, we just rebuild.It gives us flexibility, and it keeps the Ridge itself out of the direct line of fire.”
Marsh hesitated, concern tightening his features.“You’d be okay with that?Seeing it torn up after all the work you’ve put in?”
“Yeah,” Eli said, surprised by the clarity of his conviction.“If sacrificing some time, sweat and tears means saving the lives of people I care about?That’s a price I’d pay every time.”
Marsh’s expression changed into one Eli had come to call his geek face, when he was planning something out in his head.“We rig it.Reinforce certain areas, sure—but we leave others weak.Create kill zones.Trap points.Force them into narrow channels where we control the high ground.If they breach, they’ll walk straight into a gauntlet.We turn the site into a tactical maze, not a building.And later, we rebuild it properly, with the specs we wanted.”
Marsh nodded.“It’s smart.We’ll run it by Bateman.”
They stood together, still close.Marsh leaned in, brushed a kiss to Eli’s temple.“You’re not alone in this.Never again.”
Eli smiled, warm and fierce.“Then come shower with me.You stink.”
Marsh laughed.“Only if you promise not to stare too hard.”
“I make no promises,” Eli grinned, and together they disappeared toward the locker rooms.