Page 17 of Marvelous

Carter – .......

Garrick – Yeah. Y’all know he goes from university to university teaching about science and shit. Guest speaker.

Carter – Shit. Forgot.

Ethan – How’d I forget about that?

Talia – I’m still on the teaching thing.

I made a mental note to send Garrick a package as soon as I could that had all the makings of the Sidecar in it... excuse me... The Charger.

See, when Garrick first met Tatum at Carter and Harlee’s house, he had been making a drink. And when he told Tatum about it, she asked if it didn’t have cognac or bourbon in it, was it really called a Sidecar?

Garrick had shaken his head, and so, Tatum, being Tatum, she renamed it,The Charger, after Garrick’s 1967 Charger.

It was fitting.

I closed out my screen.

Thankful as fuck that I had remembered to change the settings on my phone to show that a text was delivered and not read.

Then I powered it back off and closed my eyes.

Three more days.

Three more days and I would be back home.

A shower.

My bed.

A steak.

A puss... no.

Not yet.

***

“You ready?” Wolf asked.

I lifted my chin.

I tagged my bag, slung it over my shoulder, and exited the barracks. Or rather, what justified as the barracks.

The sweltering heat, the dryness in the air, the way sand seemed to lodge itself into every pore, the very moment the wind blew by... I hated it.

The rest of my team was waiting for me.

Apparently, they didn’t like that I had left to get a breather for a bit.

They all were sticking close.

The moment we entered the tent, I heard a woman ask in a nasally sort of way, “Umm. Why is he here?”

Every single member of my team rolled their eyes.

And then... thirty minutes later, after I had the information we needed, she was looking a little pale.