Page 29 of Men of Fort Dale: The Complete Series

Ricardo snorted softly, taking a sip from his beer. “What makes you say that?”

Ricardo followed his gaze. “Give him a break. You know he hasn’t been sleeping.”

Ricardo shrugged. “Doesn’t really talk to anyone except Matt.”

“Yeah, Nick was talking about it the other day.”

Sean sighed. “That’s probably why he’s not sleeping well. He always slept better around Matt.”

As much as the two men drove him crazy sometimes, Sean wouldn’t deny the bond between Matt and Nick.

They really were just like brothers, and sometimes that meant relying on each other in a way they didn’t rely on the rest of the team.

Sean wasn’t sure why Nick was so insistent on sleeping on his own now.

Sure, General Winter had ensured the team members had their own places in the base housing, but it seemed pointless for Nick to use his apartment if he was comfortable elsewhere.

“Between them fighting all the time and Nick staying at his place, I’m getting a little worried,” Sean admitted.

“Do you want me to talk to them?” Ricardo asked.

Sean shook his head. “If anyone, it should be me.”

“You really in the best place to be doing it?”

Sean frowned. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Ricardo winced. “C’mon Sean, don’t make me say it, you know what I mean.”

“Is this about Aidan?”

“Not just about Aidan.”

“But enough for me to call bullshit.”

Ricardo sighed. “It’s not bullshit. You two have been at each other’s throats for two weeks now, and haven’t let up in the slightest.”

“I need him to learn how to operate as part of this team, and if that means I have to teach him some respect first, then so be it,” Sean said through gritted teeth.

“Really? Because you put up with everything the rest of us do, but you’re treating him like the unwanted stepchild.”

“Are you saying he hasn’t been an absolute ass?”

“Do I think he could be a little easier on you? Yeah, and I’ve told him that. But I think you could be easier on him too. I know you’re not happy about him being here.”

“And you are?”

Ricardo frowned. “I never said I was, but being here isn’t his fault. You ask me, he’s as bitter about being here as you are.”

“I’m not bitter!”

“Right, you’re being an asshole to him for no good reason.”

“Very good reason.”

Ricardo rolled his eyes. “Christ, trying to talk to either of you is like trying to bang my head against a brick wall. You’re both so stubborn about this, and I don’t even know why.”

“Because he shouldn’t be here,” Sean growled, taking a deep drink of his beer.

“But he is, and he’s a part of this team now whether you like it or not. So maybe you could get your head out of your ass, out of the clouds, or wherever the hell you have it stuck at the moment and be the team leader we all need right now,” Ricardo snapped.

Sean leaned back against the booth, wide-eyed. “W-what?”

Ricardo’s dark eyes flashed. “You’ve been angry for weeks, not just since Aidan showed up.

And I get it, I really do. None of us have been ourselves lately.

This shit has been hard. But the truth is, you’ve been taking our problems out on Aidan, and everyone, including Aidan, can see that.

No wonder he’s acting like a complete shithead while you’re marching around like some tyrant! ”

It was the most emotion he’d heard out of Ricardo’s mouth in months, and Sean didn’t know how to respond at first.

“So either tell him to fuck off and go argue with General Winter, tell him Aidan can’t fit in our team, or get whatever the hell is going on in your head out of the way and deal with him being here.

Do whatever it takes because you’re not doing any of us a favor like this,” Ricardo said, pushing himself out of the booth to stand up.

“Wait, hold on, don’t go stomping off,” Sean began, mind kicking back into gear.

“I’m leaving, and I’m taking Nick with me,” Ricardo growled.

“Don’t tell me off about Aidan of all people and then leave,” Sean said.

Ricardo turned to him. “Are you my team leader right now or my friend?”

Sean frowned, unsure what Ricardo meant. “We’re not in the field or training. Why the hell would I be your team leader?”

“Then, as your friend, I’m telling you to kiss my ass because I’m going home and taking my very drunk friend to his friend’s house,” Ricardo said, reaching out to jostle Nick gently.

Nick picked his head up, looking around at them sleepily. “What’s going on?”

“I need to go to bed, and I’m taking you to Matt’s,” Ricardo told him, guiding him out of the booth.

Nick frowned, standing unsteadily. “I’m okay. I can go home.”

“You’re going to Matt’s, and you’re sleeping at his place, and you’re not going to fucking argue with me,” Ricardo growled.

Nick allowed himself to be led out with a murmured, “Damn, okay. Yessir.”

“Damn straight,” came Ricardo’s retort before he pushed his way out the door with Nick in tow.

Sean was left to stare at the closing door, gaping in pure shock.

Did Ricardo think Sean was being unfair to Aidan?

In what universe was he the bad guy in this situation?

Maybe he could have been a little easier on Aidan, but the guy hadn’t exactly tried to do anything to make the situation easier for anyone.

Sean wasn’t simply going to roll over and let Aidan do what he wanted just because he was the new guy.

Sean raised a hand, ordering another beer. “And a whiskey while you’re at it.”

Despite having drunk more than he had in over a year, Sean found he wasn’t nearly as drunk as he wished.

In fact, he would only go so far as to call himself a little tipsy.

He was certainly feeling warm, and his head was buzzing a bit in the background, but there was a distinct lack of sluggish thoughts or the sought-after lack of care about his problems.

“Pretty sure this stuff is watered down,” he muttered to himself as he looked at the bottle in front of him.

“Talking to yourself while drinking? Probably not a good sign.”

The familiar voice tightened the muscles of Sean’s shoulders, and he froze, staring at the tabletop.

When he finally forced himself to look up, he was met with the sight of Aidan standing a few feet away.

Where Sean had opted for a simple t-shirt and jeans, Aidan had gone a little beyond that, choosing a deep purple button-up shirt with the sleeves rolled past his elbows and a pair of faded but form-fitting jeans.

“Oh, God. What the hell do you want?” Sean asked.

Aidan snorted. “I see your pleasant personality is still intact. That’s nice.”

“Just fuck off,” Sean grumbled.

“I’m trying to figure out if you should have more or less to drink.”

“I’m not drunk, though right now, I wish I was. More than I did thirty seconds ago anyway.”

Aidan chuckled. “Yeah, I have that effect on people, or so I’ve been told.”

Sean groaned. “What are you doing here?”

“If you mean what am I doing out, I’m trying to get laid because I need it. If you mean why am I in here, it’s because I like bars since they have cheaper drinks than clubs.”

Sean looked around at the other patrons. “You’re going to get laid in here?”

“No, I’m going to pre-game and get my starter drinks cheaper in here. Then I planned to go to one of those expensive clubs, so I don’t have to pay an arm and a leg to get drunk.”

Sean grunted. “Smart.”

“I have my moments.”

Sean looked up. “Then why are you talking to me? Trying to get laid still?”

Aidan’s eyes glittered in amusement. “So, you do have a sense of humor.”

“Aidan,” Sean growled.

Aidan sighed. “Maybe I saw you sitting here, by yourself, drinking, and I thought, wow, that’s not a good sign. And maybe I thought I would see how you were doing in case you needed help or something.”

“This is your idea of helping someone?” Sean demanded.

Aidan squinted. “What?”

Sean rolled his eyes. “You are the most ridiculously frustrating person I have ever had to deal with. This is not how you help someone. This is how you continue to frustrate them like you’ve been doing for two weeks now.”

Aidan sighed. “No, this is how I try to lighten the mood. A mood you keep trying to bring down every time you talk to me.”

Sean closed his eyes, and a pang of guilt, followed swiftly by pain, shot through him.

It reminded him too much of Ricardo’s outburst. Sean knew he’d been difficult to deal with for everyone during the past few months.

He’d done his best to keep the growing anger locked inside, and sometimes, he was a little too cranky and irritable for anyone to handle.

And maybe that did make him unpleasant to be around, but damn it, his team was still by his side, and he didn’t need Aidan rubbing more salt in his wounds.

Sean looked up, looking Aidan over. “Well, you did your good deed.”

Seeing Aidan in civilian clothes was a little bizarre, and with the same look of outrage and anger Sean had seen flash over the man’s handsome face ever since the last Gauntlet run.

Sean felt another jolt of guilt as it occurred to him that Aidan was out by himself, out trying to have a night to himself, to have a good time.

“You know what, you’re absolutely right, Sean. I’ll just fuck off,” Aidan said, turning away and making for the door.

Sean closed his eyes, rubbing his forehead as he tried not to let his guilt get the better of him.

There had been no need for Aidan to approach him like that, especially considering they weren’t even close to being friends.

The more Sean thought about it, the more Ricardo’s angry words came back to him.

Had Aidan been trying to make a friendly gesture?

“Damn it,” Sean growled, pushing himself out of the booth to hurry after Aidan.

“Hey!” the bartender yelled at him.

“You’ve got my card. I’ll be back,” Sean snapped at him as he hurried out onto the street.

Glancing around, he searched for Aidan, not even sure what he was doing.

It wasn’t like he and Aidan would ever be friends.

The two of them seemed to mix like water and oil.

But, either because Ricardo had primed Sean to feel guilty or because some part of him believed Aidan had been trying, even for that one moment, to reach out, he couldn’t let things stay the way they were.

He spotted the man walking down the sidewalk and hurried toward him. “Aidan!”

Aidan stopped at the mouth of an alley, turning on one heel to stare at Sean.

“What the hell do you want now, Sean? You wanted me to fuck off, so that’s what I’m doing.

Or is this your way of getting me to have another fistfight with you?

Is that what you want? Well, there’s a nice dark alley over here we can have it out in; no one has to know. ”

Sean watched him walk past the mouth of the alley and gesture around dramatically. Sean groaned, following after him, wondering why Aidan had to make everything so damn difficult.

Aidan scoffed. “Jesus, seriously?”

“Would you shut up for one goddamn minute?” Sean asked, temper bubbling.

Aidan gave an ugly snort. “Really? You’re the one who wanted me gone. You’re the one who’s wanted me gone this whole damn time. Now you’ve chased me down the street after trying to run me into the ground repeatedly. What the fuck am I supposed to think, Sean?”

“That’s not what this...just listen to me,” Sean said, struggling.

Aidan’s eyes flashed, nostrils flaring. “Or what? You’ll run me through the Gauntlet carrying two people’s equipment? You’ll make me do push-ups until my arms fall off? You’ll get pissed off and hit me over another accident? What?”

Sean’s control weakened, his temper boiling to the surface, and he surged forward. Taking hold of Aidan’s shirt collar, he shoved the man back, slamming him against the wall. Aidan grunted, holding his hands against the wall and keeping them there as he stared back at Sean.

“Not like that, huh?” Aidan asked in a low voice.

“It’s...not.”

Aidan tilted his head back, exposing the side of his neck as he looked up at Sean with arrogant disbelief.

Sean had accidentally popped a couple of the top buttons on Aidan’s shirt when he shoved him, exposing the sun-kissed skin beneath and the muscles that rose and fell with every heavy breath.

Sean had seen Aidan’s naked body covered in water before, but somehow, the sight of his partially exposed chest and the stretch of his neck was even more arousing.

“It’s not,” Sean repeated.

He was hard, so hard he could feel his cock straining against the front of his jeans and pressing against Aidan’s hips.

Sean could smell the scent of cologne coming off Aidan, something a little spicy but infinitely rich, and Sean drew in the erotic scent with a deep breath.

Aidan shifted his body, eyes widening as he moved his hips forward, feeling Sean’s cock.

“Oh shit, are you…” Aidan began, licking his bottom lip unconsciously.

Sean froze, even as his brain screamed that he needed to get away.

He needed to let go of Aidan, walk away, and pretend it never happened.

He needed to walk back into the bar, finish his drink, and maybe order enough to forget anything like this had ever happened.

Then he could pass out back at his apartment, waking up the next day and going on with his life as though he had never pinned Aidan against the brick wall of a bar and got turned on.

Instead, he yanked Aidan toward him and kissed him hard.