Page 36 of Protection for Asher (Safeguarded By The SEAL #4)

On Saturday morning Squat joined the guys for a run.

It felt good going out with his team. He didn’t want to lose this yet.

Eventually he would be too old to keep up.

This injury made him think about how that would feel.

He liked being a SEAL, but he wasn’t dumb enough to think he could stay a SEAL forever.

After the run, they headed to Sharp's house, where their women had made some food. The smell was amazing, and he found Asher with Nichole in the kitchen. He wrapped his arms around her from behind, noticing that she stiffened for a second before she relaxed.

“Hey, how are you?” he whispered in her ear.

“I'm good.” She spun in his arms and hugged him back. “Did you enjoy your run?”

“So much. It was good to be back out there.”

She sighed and leaned against him. “I bet it was good.”

“What did you make to eat?”

Asher’s smile grew wide. “I made a vegetable breakfast pizza.”

“And I made a quiche,” Nichole said.

Danika opened a plastic container. “I made muffins.”

“I want one,” Jay said.

Griz chuckled. “I think we all do.”

Rowan laughed. “I hope you all are hungry. I made an egg, potato, and sausage casserole.”

Apple took a bite from one of the muffins and moaned. “So good. You all are spoiling us.”

“Hardly,” Danika said.

“Yeah, we all wanted to eat this stuff, so we decided to use you all working out as an excuse to have some good food.”

“Asher made some of her good olive bread,” Nichole said.

“Nice,” Squat said.

Shine grunted. “I heard about that bread from Thario. He said it was amazing.”

Asher chuckled. “I enjoy making it. It’s calming.”

They started cutting into the bread, and it was gone in minutes. Asher pulled out another loaf.

“Luckily, I brought another loaf.”

“But we get some first,” Nichole said as she elbowed her way past the guys.

They all laughed and cut some bread, giving it to their women first before they grabbed more for their plates. The guys ate a lot of food, and she was glad they’d made so much.

Hanging out with the gang was refreshing. She loved these people, and she could say without hesitation that she’d fallen in love with Squat. It was refreshing to feel love, and not just anxiety. She knew Squat loved her back because he showed it in so many ways.

After they finished eating, the guys cleaned up and then started talking about when they were meeting at Thario's place.

Asher wanted to ask questions, but she knew they were talking about something they couldn’t reveal. Something had gone down on their last mission that was more than Squat getting shot. After they cleaned up, she left with Squat.

He showered then dressed in clean clothes before meeting her in the kitchen. She wrapped her arms around his waist, hugging him tight.

“When do you think you’ll be home tonight?”

He kissed the end of her nose. “By ten.”

She nodded. “Good.”

He brushed his lips over hers and then rested his forehead against hers. “I want to spend all day with you, but this is important.”

“I know it is. I don’t know exactly what happened, but I know whatever happened was bad. You have to do this.”

“Yes. I have to do this. It will make a difference.”

“Good. I’ll see you when you get home.” She cupped his cheek as she stared into his eyes. “I care deeply for you. I’ve fallen in love with you.”

His lips found hers, and she melted against him. The kiss made her heart speed up as she held onto him. When the kiss ended, he didn't pull away.

“I love you, Asher. I want us to be together for a long time.”

“Same. I like what we have now, but I know it will grow.” She gave him a peck on the cheek then stepped back. “I know you need to go.”

“I do. I’ll be back later.”

She watched him leave, then moved to the computer and started researching which classes she would need to take. She'd received an email back saying she'd been accepted to attend classes at the local community college, but now she needed to really think about what she wanted to do.

There were so many opportunities, and cutting it down to one thing was hard. She wanted to do more than just work, she wanted to have something in her life she had a passion for.

Her email pinged, and she pulled it up, seeing the most recent email didn’t have a subject. She didn’t recognize the email address, either. She clicked it, seeing big block letters on the screen that said, You’ve been warned. I’m coming for you .

Asher clicked the window closed and pushed her chair away from the desk.

Who had sent that? Was someone really coming for her, or was that spam?

She didn’t want to bother Squat with a possibly fake email while they were busy.

She could talk to him about it later. She was safe, and no one was coming for her.

That had to have been a joke, not something real.