Page 28 of Men of Fort Dale: The Complete Series

Instead, he wanted to hit him again. He had promised Ricardo he would get them to the medbay if the man stayed behind and continued running the Gauntlet with the rest of the team. As much as he desperately wanted to deck Aidan, he was a man of his word.

They remained silent as they limped through the clinic's front doors and into the air-conditioned interior. They were met with a long hallway stretching out in front of them, lined with curtained treatment cubicles. From one of the rooms emerged Troy, one of the medics.

Troy frowned. “Staff Sergeant? What the hell happened to you?”

“A training incident,” Aidan added.

Sean jerked his head toward Aidan, growling. “Where someone shot me.”

Troy jerked upright. “Shot? You were using live ammo?”

Aidan snorted. “It was a bean bag round. He’s just being a baby.”

“It was a rubber bullet, fired from close range. That’s not being a baby,” Sean shot back.

“And I told you it was a goddamn accident! But I’m starting to wish it hadn’t been, so at least I could enjoy pissing you off so much after you’ve been such a royal fucking prick!”

Sean’s jaw tightened. “Don’t try that shit. I need to know what you’re capable of going through. You’re the one taking it personally.”

Aidan rounded on him, dark eyes flashing. “Bullshit, absolute bullshit. You’ve had it in for me from the moment I showed up and told you the orders. Don’t try to make this about me; this is on you.”

“Right, because you haven’t been a disrespectful little shit from the day you showed up!”

Troy glanced between them. “Guys?”

Aidan scoffed. “Seriously? You call that disrespectful? That’s called having a sense of humor and not stomping around like I’ve got a stick shoved so far up my ass you can practically see it in my throat, unlike you.”

“You don’t get to show up on my damn team and pretend like you own the place, like you can say whatever the hell you want. You’re the new guy here, not me. Learn your place.”

Aidan’s eyes widened. “My place? Excuse me? Who the fuck do you think you are?”

“Your team leader!”

“Then try acting like it!”

Troy backed up. “Right, I’ll just...I’ll be right back.”

Sean stepped forward. “I am acting like a team leader. But you’re so goddamn insistent on things going your way that you can’t handle it.”

“The only thing I can’t handle is the child I’ve been forced to serve under!”

A new voice cropped up. “What the hell is wrong with you two?”

Sean’s head snapped toward the voice, finding the other medic, Dean, standing halfway down the hallway, glaring at them.

Sean blinked, turning to look at Aidan, who was standing half a foot away, not having backed down when Sean advanced on him.

His chest was rising and falling, his face smeared with dirt, and there was an ugly bruise forming on his cheek.

He looked like he’d gone through hell and back but was still ready to fight tooth and nail, no matter what it took.

Shit, that was kind of hot.

Sean jerked his head away. “We’re here for treatment. There was a training injury.”

“Really? Because it sounds like you two are trying to kill each other,” Dean said.

“Is that permitted?” Aidan asked dryly.

Sean growled. “Oh, sweet Jesus, shut your mouth for once.”

Dean held up one hand. “How about both of you shut up? You’re in my clinic, and you’re in my care. This isn’t the place for you two to work out your sexual tension. You can do that on your own time.”

Sean sputtered. “Sexual what?”

Aidan laughed. “I like him.”

Dean pointed at Aidan. “You. Get your ass in one of the rooms, and I’ll make sure nothing’s broken.”

“It was a bit of training. I’m sure he’s fine,” Sean said, glaring at Aidan.

Dean turned to him. “And you, shut the hell up and get in another room, so Troy can look you over. If I hear one more argument out of the two of you, I’ll knock you both out and leave you in a ditch somewhere.”

Sean knew better than to argue with a doc, and from Aidan’s silence, so did he.

There were a handful of people on any base that you didn’t piss off, the personal assistant or second in command to the general, the military police, and the docs.

It wasn’t like the docs wouldn’t treat you even if you pissed them off, but they could certainly make your life hell while they were doing it.

That and there were few people who had the respect of everyone in the field than the medics, and it was an unspoken rule that you didn’t fuck with your resident doc.

Troy snorted, nodding toward one of the nearby cubicles. “C’mon, Staff Sergeant, I’ll check you out.”

Sean went where Troy indicated, glad he wasn’t the one who had to be looked over by Dean. The man was smaller than everyone in the room, but his temper was apparently the largest. Aidan followed after Dean, a little meekly, as they walked down the hallway to another room.

Sean heaved himself up onto the examination table. “I’m sure I’m fine, just hurts like hell.”

Troy shook his head, approaching Sean to look him over. “What the hell were you guys doing out there that you ended up being shot with bean bag rounds?”

“They were rubber bullets,” Sean reminded him.

“A dense object fired out of a gun meant to hurt but not kill. You’re arguing semantics.”

“We were having a training exercise.”

Troy lifted Sean’s arm, turning it over to examine it. “Which doesn’t explain how the hell you ended up shooting each other.”

“He’s new to the team, and I’ve been trying to test him out, see what he’s made of. Today he got a little pissed off and ended up shooting me during a Gauntlet run.”

Troy looked up, raising a brow. “On purpose?”

Sean hesitated, wanting to say yes, just as he had to Aidan, but part of him wondered.

When the gun had gone off, Sean had been distracted by the sudden flare of pain in his side to pay much attention to Aidan.

Still, the way the man had reacted afterward, with genuine outrage at the suggestion he’d done it on purpose, Sean was left to wonder.

Troy snorted. “Doesn’t sound like you’re too sure.”

“It was still a rookie mistake. He shouldn’t have had his finger on the trigger unless he was prepared to use it,” Sean said, summoning his retort with confidence.

Troy looked up, raising a brow. “No offense, but he looks like he’s been through the wringer a little more than you have today. Maybe he just fucked up?”

“He can’t afford to fuck up, not if he’s going to be on the team. What if that had been a real bullet?”

Troy leaned over, picked up a tablet, and brought something up on the screen. “Let’s see, Aidan Harris, Sergeant, and Intel, interesting. Came back from overseas a couple of weeks ago, was back at his base in California for all of a day and a half, and then immediately brought over here.”

Sean hadn’t known the exact timeline, but he shrugged. “Yeah, and?”

“And if you’ve been, uh, testing him, do you really think he’s at his best? Fresh from the field, thrown into one time zone, and then ripped over into another. Then he goes and gets dragged around here.”

“I haven’t been dragging him.”

Troy clicked his tongue, setting the tablet aside. “Look, whatever is between you two, you’re going to have to figure it out. I’m guessing General Winter is the one who assigned him to your team, and he’s not going to be happy if you two prove him wrong in whatever faith he has in you.”

“I’m having a hard time seeing any ‘faith’ from him putting that on my team,” Sean said, nodding his head toward Aidan and Dean.

“Well, maybe you need to stop being stubborn and think about it,” Troy said.

Dean’s head poked between the curtains. “Hey, having any luck?”

Troy shrugged. “Hard to tell, he’s a bit uh, covered.”

“Anything vital?”

“Nothing that can’t wait.”

Dean nodded, turning his attention to Aidan.

“You two are absolutely filthy, and it’s impossible to check you over while you’re covered head to toe in mud.

So do us a favor, there’s a shower room at the back of the building.

There’s not much in the way of stalls, so I’m going to remind you to behave. ”

Sean blinked. “Behave?”

“Yeah, there’s not much to keep you separated. And you both need to be clean,” Dean explained.

“Oh,” Sean said, realizing he was being told he and Aidan were essentially going to bathe together.

“So remember your promise about behaving yourselves.”

Sean curled his lip but nodded. “I’ll behave.”

“Good, he said the same. Now limp your way down to the showers and get yourself clean so we can make sure there’s nothing serious.”

Troy chuckled, getting out of Sean’s way. “And don’t think Dean won’t follow through on his threat either.”

Sean had no doubt that the doc would do just that and wasn’t going to tempt fate.

Heaving himself off the table, he winced as he landed on his ankle, which was still tender from having rolled it.

Limping his way down the hallway, he kept going until he found a door where he could hear running water.

Thinking Aidan must already be in the shower, Sean began undressing.

Getting his boots off took the longest, followed by his pants and underwear.

The rest came off with a slight wince as he heaped them along the wall and stepped into the next room.

It was built like a smaller version of the communal showers in the barracks.

Unlike them, though, little half-walls separated each showerhead, giving a measure of privacy that was relatively unknown in the military.

Aidan had claimed a corner stall, the water running down his body as he washed himself off.

Sean jerked his attention away, refusing to acknowledge his presence in an attempt to keep his word to Dean.

Making his way to the nearest showerhead, he fiddled with the water until it began to flow at a temperature he could stand.

Bars of soap and a small shampoo bottle were provided, so Sean set to wash as thoroughly as he could.

His side still ached, making bending over and washing his lower body hard.

The rest was far easier, so long as he didn’t have to bend his arms too far one way.

But as the water went from a muddy brown to clear, running down the drain, he found his body relaxing under the heat.

From the other side of the room came a deep, low groan. The sound shivered from Sean’s ears and down his spine before curling in his gut. He’d never heard such pleasure from Aidan, and his eyes snapped open to see what was happening.

His heart pounded as he took in the sight of Aidan standing beneath the stream of water. He’d managed to clean himself from the looks of it and simply stood under the shower, his head bowed forward and letting the water pound against his toned shoulders.

With the way Aidan was standing, Sean couldn’t see everything, as the half-wall dividing the stalls kept the front of his lower body hidden. But Sean watched as the small rivers of water ran over Aidan’s shoulders, down his muscular back, and over the curve of his ass.

When Aidan moved, Sean jerked his attention back to his shower, clamping his eyes shut.

He heard Aidan turn the water off and step across the room with soft slaps of his feet against the wet tiled floor.

Sean’s heart pounded as he waited to hear the footsteps retreat as Aidan left the room, giving Sean a measure of peace.

After waiting several minutes, he turned, looking over his shoulder with a nervousness he hated. His eyes widened, heart thudding harder when he found Aidan standing in the doorway, towel in hand. The man’s dark blue eyes were locked on Sean, and Sean would swear the man looked just as startled.

Aidan blinked. “There’s a towel on the bench out here if you need one.”

Sean nodded, straining to keep his eyes on Aidan’s face.

If they moved any further south, he’d be unable to stop visually exploring the planes of Aidan’s body.

The man had already proven himself in good shape and capable of keeping up with the rest of them.

Undoubtedly, the front of his body was as impressive and pleasing as the rest, but Sean really did not want to have to deal with the blood rushing to his groin again, not while Aidan was watching.

Damn, how long had it been since he’d gotten laid if he was getting turned on by Aidan?

“Yeah, alright,” Sean grunted, tearing his eyes away from Aidan to pretend he was still working on getting himself clean.

There was another long pause, almost a full minute, until he heard Aidan stepping out of the shower area. Sean waited another minute before turning around to check, breathing a sigh of relief when he saw the empty doorway.

Taking a deep, soothing breath, Sean turned his shower off as the heat of the water began to dwindle.

He had to admit if things were different, and Aidan wasn’t.

..well, Aidan, Sean would have found the man attractive.

The fact that the man was insufferable, frustrating beyond belief, and someone who Sean swore he wouldn’t miss if he never saw him again was merely a sign that his body’s reaction to Aidan’s naked body was an indication of how long it had been since he’d had sex. That was all.

He was not attracted to Aidan.

Snatching the towel from the bench outside the showers, he busied himself with drying off his body, repeating the vow over and over in his head.