Page 9 of Remade (Hillcroft Group #3)

THEIR PERSONAL HEAVEN

November 26th, 2024

Bo Beckett

“ A gain!” I yelled and blew the whistle.

All nine recruits sucked in some air before they went under the surface again.

Water quals were fun.

Decked out in jeans, long-sleeved tees, and boots, they’d spent the past three hours in the pool for an endurance drill that would last for however long they managed. Two junior operators on lifeguard duty, me with my pretty whistle, and Coach taking notes next to me.

“Keep an eye on Riley,” he muttered. “He stalls before touching the pad.”

I nodded in understanding. Rules were simple. Each recruit was to hold their breath for as long as they could, and when they resurfaced, they had to touch the yellow pads along the edge that logged their time.

We’d taken eleven stopwatch pads out of the supply closets last week, but then we’d lost two more recruits yesterday. Aaron had squirmed his way out by saying he’d changed his mind and wanted to become a firefighter instead, and Caleb had flunked out. His test scores hadn’t improved lately, and he’d opted to blame others.

Nine remained.

Thankfully, we felt good about all of them. They were strong, determined as fuck, and fast learners.

We’d officially reached the stage in training where the following dropouts would suck. Coach, Danny, and I saw potential in all of them. But we hadn’t gotten to the difficult parts yet.

“Operator Beckett!”

I glanced toward the doors and spotted Green, so I asked Coach to cover for me for a moment and limped over to her. She had her daughter with her today, so she’d offered to watch Alex after school too.

“Everything okay?” I asked.

“Oh yeah, the girls are watching a movie in the rec room,” she assured me. “Quinlan asked me to give you this.” She extended something—oh, fuck yeah, it was the check. Perfect.

“Thank you.” I’d been waiting for this. I verified the amount and nodded in satisfaction.

I’d had to jump through some hoops and talk to Quinlan directly, and he’d agreed with me. Of-fucking-course Leighton should be paid for the work he’d done in the field, whether he was a recruit or not. The cheap motherfuckers in accounting could choke on their hemming and hawing about regulations and rules.

“No problem. In other news, your grand order of pizza will be here in an hour,” Green added.

Perfect. “Great, thanks. They should’ve surrendered by then.”

She chuckled and shook her head. “Poor recruits.”

Eh, we’d all been there.

On the other side of the pool, Coach blew his own whistle and declared a ten-minute break—but the recruits weren’t allowed to leave the water, nor could they touch the edge or swim to the shallow end.

Once Green left again, I returned to the short end and Coach’s side, and the recruits did their best to float while they caught their breaths.

Careful.

I winced as the ache flared in my thigh. The crutches were gone, but it’d be a while before I could walk without a limp. My arm was healing a lot quicker.

Coach opened our cooler and made a show of enjoying a bottle of icy cold water.

I grabbed what was left of my potato chips and walked over to the edge.

“Just remember, you can quit whenever you want,” I said. “There’s water, soda, and snacks for everyone.” I stuck a couple chips in my mouth and made an appreciative sound. They were admittedly delicious.

“I’m too exhausted to flip you off, man,” Tanner said, out of breath. “Can someone do it for me?”

“Hold on,” Leighton panted. He actually managed to stay afloat, despite heavy clothes. “Am I doing it?”

I grinned. He was almost lifting his middle finger. Almost.

“It’s the thought that counts,” I said with my mouth full. “By the way, I have something for you. Operator Green just delivered it.” I pointed toward the other side of the deep end. “If you swim over there, I can show you what it is.”

He huffed a breath, cute and red-faced. Frustrated, exhausted, maybe a little annoyed too.

“Christ, sir,” Gabriella panted. “We appreciate you not showing favoritism, but you don’t gotta make shit harder for him.”

“Thank you!” Leighton exclaimed.

Whoa, what the hell? “It was just an offer. We can do it later too. Calm down.”

“I’m trying to stay calm!” My boy’s voice echoed. “But in case you haven’t noticed, we’ve been in here for over three hours now, we’ve missed lunch, we’ve held our breaths, you said jump, we didn’t even ask how high before we leaped?—”

“Don’t forget the laps,” Miguel grunted. “Fucking laps.”

“The damn laps—we’ve probably done two million of them,” Leighton grated out. “And diving for goddamn nickels…”

Coach and I exchanged an amused glance.

“Breathe more, talk less, Leighton,” I advised. “I’ll show you later.”

“No, I wanna know now,” he scoffed. He splashed around until he was on his stomach, and he started swimming toward the other side.

I grinned and shook my head?—

“I’ve reached my limit, goddammit! Are you sure I won’t fail if I stop now?” Shawn choked out between heavy breaths.

“Of course you won’t fail,” Coach replied. “It’ll just tell us what kind of training you need.”

Such as more endurance training.

“Fuck it,” he wheezed out and swam over to the edge. “Throw me a damn energy bar, please. I’m done.”

Maxine looked ready to throw in the towel for the day too.

In the meantime, I rounded the pool to meet up with Leighton.

In my defense, this was no picnic for Coach and me either. It was very humid in here.

Did they show sympathy for that? Fuck no.

“I’m so fucking done too,” Leighton gasped. “Screw it.”

I opened my mouth to respond, but he was already grabbing on to the edge. So I signaled to Coach that Leighton was out, and I squatted down in front of him.

“Still a great job,” I said. Three hours of rough drills was not nothing. Everyone at this level was a high achiever. “Catch your breath, baby.”

“Yeah, and then I want a Snickers,” he panted.

I grinned. “I’ll get you all the Snickers you want.”

“ Hnnngh… ” He clung to the edge and dropped his cheek to it, and I gave him a few seconds to focus on his breathing.

It seemed Shawn’s surrender had triggered the lot of them, and after Leighton was done, Maxine and Tanner followed. We’d see how long the others lasted.

To be honest, it was nice to see Leighton finish second to last, for once. Only because I’d worried he was pushing himself too hard and refusing to accept defeat. That refusal was important in the field where he had no options, but during training, it was just as fundamental to know your limits and customize your training accordingly.

Riley, Zander, and Philip were next, leaving Miguel and Gabriella.

“Okay,” Leighton breathed. “What did Operator Green want? For the record…” He swallowed and blew out another heavy breath. “Her class is really fucking hard.”

I knew it was. She was one of our best in hostage rescue and escape and evade, and we’d only touched on strategy so far.

“This is unrelated to her class.” I retrieved the check from my pocket and unfolded it in front of him. “We don’t have your bank information yet, so I hope this works.”

He squinted and knitted his brows together. “What’s…”

“You may be a recruit, but you’ve earned a payday after Fredericksburg.”

His eyebrows lifted, and his gaze flickered between the check and me. “Um.”

I smiled.

“Are you sure that’s right?” He dropped his voice to a whisper. “It’s almost six grand.”

Compared to the operations he’d work on in the future, this was nothing.

“You earned every penny,” I said.

“Holy shit,” he laughed shakily. “I can pay back Aunt Laura the four hundred I borrowed in August.”

I’d noticed he lived frugally, and that was no surprise. Training was a full-time commitment, so most recruits lived off savings and assistance from family.

“I just have to make sure she accepts it,” he finished. “Fucking hell. That’s a lot of money. Six grand.”

Maybe we could finally get a proper date? We’d gone out a couple times with Alex, but he was only comfortable letting me pay when she was around, for some reason.

“A lot of Snickers,” I teased.

He grinned crookedly.

November 28th, 2024

Thanksgiving was shaping up to be a good day. Leighton spent the morning FaceTiming with a few of the Quinns, mostly Mary and the sisters, and apparently Willow was growing more comfortable. She wasn’t verbal yet, but she could laugh and be more relaxed in Leighton’s presence now.

After that, we swung by a bakery to pick up a cake before we headed out toward Emerson and Danny’s farm.

Leighton was in a good mood. Alex was busy with a new game on her phone—and she’d FaceTimed with family too. Ma was in San Diego again. Kat had invited her. The change of scenery seemed to work for our mother, and I couldn’t blame her. It was probably for the best she got out of the house.

Maybe she’d sell it eventually. Frankly, I wouldn’t mind it if she moved to the West Coast too. She’d have more loved ones surrounding her there, and Kat could use the babysitting help. Besides, what was Ma gonna do with that big old house? I’d only stayed there temporarily, and it seemed to remind her too much of our losses. She missed Dad. She missed Vince.

In addition, Alex was reaching a stage where friends mattered more than family in terms of who she wanted to chill with after school—or listen to, period. I’d expected some kind of reaction, for instance, when we’d told her Leighton and I were dating. She’d had a minute of curious wonder about my dating a guy, but that was all. She’d reacted more to Netflix removing one of her favorite movies. She was, however, thrilled to have her “Nugget” in the family now. Not that she wanted to spend that much time with him after school either. She was aggressively devoted to her group of tomboy buddies, Heather M, Kaley, and Anvi.

“Uncle Bo?”

“Yeah?” I met her gaze briefly in the rearview.

“Can we go to Nugget’s family for Christmas too? He’s going.”

Right. Leighton had shared the news yesterday while we’d had dinner in the cafeteria. I was happy for him, but Alex and I would likely fly out to San Diego.

“I’m not sure, mouse. Aunt Kat and Grandma probably want us in San Diego,” I answered.

She huffed.

I didn’t point out the obvious here. The fact that Leighton had been invited to Washington didn’t mean Alex and I were. It was his family. Leighton had expressed his happiness about going there for a few days, and then Alex had taken over the conversation by quizzing him about all the kids in the family. Mainly, she wanted to know if there were any girls her age.

Was it too soon to spend a holiday together? Not counting today. Em and Danny had a tradition of inviting operators who were far away from family. But Christmas was a big deal, and we’d only been dating two months.

I didn’t wanna put that pressure on him. Our top focus was still his training, and we had Alex too. The dating part ran quietly in the background until we had a moment to ourselves.

For the first time in my sorry life, the tables were turned, and I was the one itching for more.

I’d almost asked Doc for help to sort out my feelings last week. Because what the fuck did I know about love? I’d never felt anything remotely like this before. I was ready to move Alex in to Leighton’s room, to make that hers, and have him in my bed every night. As it was, we snuck around here and there while she was asleep. I fucking hated sleeping without him. Lunch was another meal I preferred to share with him, but I held back most of the time so he could sit with his friends and whatever. We had dinner. Dinner was ours, with Alex. Dinner had become sacred.

I side-eyed him as he peered out the window.

This was what I got for dating someone I worked with after swearing up and down to never date a coworker.

I wasn’t supposed to date anyone .

And now I was fucked.

It wasn’t my first Thanksgiving with the Paynes, and it wouldn’t be my last. Surrounded by fields and a smaller forest, their farm shone like a beacon, promising good food, beer on the porch, and countless dogs.

They knew how to take care of fellow operators. The Tenleys were here, though that had more to do with history than loneliness. They were family. Mathis had flown down from Boston, so it was nice to see him again. He’d quit the game years ago, but he stayed in touch. Wilde was here too, having just rotated back home after her first major op.

“Well, thank fuck!” Danny exclaimed. “I was worrying we wouldn’t have dessert.”

“I picked the cake, Uncle Danny!” Alex cheered. “I got our favorite!”

“Attagirl—I can count on you.”

While Alex dragged Leighton over to Shay, Danny, and River in the living room, I aimed for the kitchen, where I spotted Reese, Em, and none other than Kyle. At the risk of wounding Hyatt’s ego, Kyle Finlay was the best pilot I’d ever flown with. He’d saved my ass in Mogadishu when I hadn’t been able to leave without Vince’s body.

“Or you could tell your brother,” Reese was saying as I put the cake down on the packed counter. Everyone had brought something.

“Yeah, that’d be hysterical,” Kyle drawled. He nodded at me. “Hey, man. Good to see you.”

“I was about to say.” I shook his hand firmly. “It’s been a while. You still taking gigs at Hillcroft?”

He hadn’t been with us long, and he wasn’t a trained operator. Instead, he was a retired skid pilot with the Marines who was struggling to let go of the job.

He shrugged. “Here and there. I just flew Operator Wilde and her team outta Damascus.”

“Speaking of, lads,” Em said, opening the oven, “we’re not supposed to talk shop.”

Reese and I exchanged a smirk. We’d heard that before, but give the man a beer, and he’d be the one bringing up the glory days.

An hour or so later, the dining room table filled up with food and starving operators. Alex never missed a chance to sit with Danny, so I ended up between Reese and Leighton, giving me the great opportunity to introduce my boy to the Tenley cold-cut platter they brought every year. It was from some swanky restaurant on K Street and had thinly sliced roast beef, pastrami, prosciutto, grilled chicken, ham, and mortadella. And it came with toppings too, like horseradish dip, remoulade, and aioli.

It wasn’t the most traditional Thanksgiving table, but it was my favorite. Mathis had brought wings and a casserole. Wilde had made three kinds of potato dishes. Em always did the turkey and deviled eggs, with Danny picking up appetizers, and?—

“Can you two quit hoggin’ the horseradish dip?” Danny demanded.

“Get your own,” Reese said with his mouth full.

I pointed to Reese. What he said.

“You gotta try this, pup.” I smeared some of the dip on a slice of ham and handed it to Leighton.

He smiled and tried it.

He hadn’t said much yet, but I had a feeling it had to do with his family. Every time he talked to any of them, he grew introspective to process everything new in his life.

“Damn, that’s good,” he said. “Did you try the stuffed potato skins Kyle brought?”

I nodded and chewed around a mouthful of roast beef and remoulade. “His mom made ’em. Fuckin’ delicious.”

“Can anyone say something they’re thankful for?” Em suggested.

Danny blew him a kiss. “I’m thankful for you, honey.”

“I’m thankful for these wings.” Kyle was going to town on them, and it made me want a few too.

I nudged Leighton, and he grabbed us some.

“I’m thankful for Emerson’s patience and you hosting this dinner,” Shay offered.

Well, damn. He was all serious and shit.

Reese furrowed his brow. “Why’re you kissin’ ass, baby?”

“I’m being nice ,” Shay laughed. “What the fuck?”

That was how the back-and-forth started between Reese, Danny, Mathis, and Shay, with Em trying to play ref, so it was easy to tune it all out and focus on Leighton. And the food.

I draped an arm across the top of his chair and kissed his temple. “Everything good?”

He nodded and licked hot sauce from his hand. “I didn’t realize how hungry I was till I sat down.” He chomped down on a bread roll and reached for the bowl of mashed potatoes.

I chuckled.

“By the way,” he said, swallowing his food. “If you notice I’m quiet, I’m just processing talking to Mary and Elise today. They shared a bunch of memories about Dad, and…yeah.”

I smiled and squeezed his leg under the table. “I figured it was something like that.”

He looked a little timid as he wiped his mouth, and he inched closer. “And maybe it’s something else too. Can we talk outside?”

I lifted my brows. “Now? Sure.”

He nodded and scooted out his chair.

All right, so right now. Very well.

I hoped everything was okay.

I put my napkin next to my plate and told Reese to keep an eye out. I didn’t need Danny stealing my roast beef.

“Where are you going, Uncle Bo?” Alex called.

“We’re gonna discuss your wish list for Christmas,” I replied. “We’ll be right back.”

She fist-pumped the air.

Kids were so gullible.

Once in the hallway, I stuck my feet into my boots and followed Leighton out on the porch. The cold felt damn good, and I took a deep breath. The darkness and the silence were nice too.

I exhaled and joined Leighton next to the railing and leaned back against it.

Had something come up during his talk with the Quinns today? I’d been busy at the time. Alex had asked me to…to…braid her hair.

Four YouTube tutorials later, I’d convinced her to opt for pigtails. Pigtails, I could do.

“Have I been reading you wrong today?” I asked. “I thought you looked peaceful in the truck.”

His good mood had improved my own. He had that effect.

He shook his head and chewed on the inside of his cheek. “No, I’m happy.”

But…?

He let out a breath and shifted toward me. “Mary’s pretty clear about wanting me to move to Washington—and…I mean, I don’t want that. This is my home.”

Thank fuck he’d continued right away, ’cause if he’d stopped somewhere in the middle, I would’ve had to brace myself.

“I have a good poker face, but I’m happy to hear it,” I admitted.

He quirked a little smirk and peered up at me. “Funny you should mention. You’re kinda hard to read lately.”

“Huh?” I was an open fucking book around this guy.

He pushed away from the railing and positioned himself in front of me instead. “Okay, it’s like this. Before we hooked up, I wasn’t really paying attention to your expressions and stuff. I guess I was focused on the fact that you’re so easy to talk to.”

“’Cause I can’t quit runnin’ my mouth around you,” I chuckled.

Amusement lit up in his eyes. “Dude, same. But I’m…you know, trying to navigate my first real relationship or whatever I’m supposed to call it?—”

“No, that’s the word,” I stated. “Relationship. You’re stuck with me now.”

He better not back out. I’d flip my shit after all the mental gymnastics he’d forced me through—and he didn’t even know. He had no idea how my brain spun circles around me at night these days. I’d thought about past relationships, my sexuality, expectations, vulnerability, and the future.

I wasn’t sure I had any answers, except…I was crazy about this guy, and he had the ability to bring me to my knees.

“Okay,” he said, rubbing the back of his neck. “In that case…I’m gonna be honest. I don’t know if it’s too early to go there, but I was kinda bummed when you said you and Alex are probably going to San Diego for the holidays.”

Oh. Well, hell, if he wanted us in Washington with him, I’d make that happen with a phone call?—

“I was gonna invite you tomorrow after I found the balls,” he finished.

I let out a breath in half a chuckle, and I scrubbed a hand over my mouth. Poor kid—no wonder he was holding back if he couldn’t read me. I may talk a fuck-ton around him, but body language was important too.

I owed Leighton. He’d been brave enough to take the initiative before, first expressing he wanted more with me, and now this.

It was my turn.

I hooked two fingers behind his belt and tugged him closer, between my legs. “These past few weeks, I’ve been focusing on two things. Not fucking up this thing between us, and…not fucking up your training.”

His mouth twisted into a rueful smile. “Let the record reflect that I still find your lunch rule dumb.”

I knew he did, but it was important to me. “You need to be the best operator you can be. I’m already gonna be worried sick when you graduate and start taking on fieldwork. We can have lunch together when you’re an operator. For now, I want you to study and create bonds with your fellow recruits. Some of them will become your colleagues. A few will even be part of your extended family.”

He nodded with a dip of his chin, thankfully taking this seriously. “I hear you.”

“Good.” I cleared my throat and pressed forward. “I reckon this is a good lesson for us too. The further you get in your training—you’ll become more unreadable too. So we gotta be real open and honest with each other. And I’m saying this mostly to myself now, because you’ve been braver than me in that department.”

He tilted his head, puzzled. “You haven’t been honest?”

“I sure as shit haven’t lied,” I was quick to say. “But you remember the day I snapped at everyone and closed myself in the gym for four hours?”

Something in his gaze softened, and he nodded. “The anniversary of Vince’s death.”

“Right. I should’ve told you about it before I let the day drag me down.”

It wasn’t in my nature to share shit like that—and much less in a preemptive strike before it could cause problems. Case in point, a few minutes ago inside, at the table, when Leighton had said, “If you notice I’m quiet…”

“I’ll get better at that,” I promised. “Starting right now, by saying…when you said you were going to Washington for Christmas, of course I wanted to cuff you to me and tell you you’re not leaving my side.”

That made him grin, and it was a good look on him. Downright fucking adorable.

I slipped my hands around his hips and gave his ass a squeeze. “I’m fucking crazy about you, Leighton. I wanna be with you all the time. But I’m a dumbass. I figured, if you wanted us to tag along, you’d invite us—and you didn’t. But it never occurred to me that something in my behavior might hold you back. And since you’re always the one taking that first step, it’s my turn now.”

He turned a bit sheepish and draped his arms around my neck. “I’m listening. Tell me more about how crazy you are about me.”

I chuckled and nipped at his chin. “So crazy that I considered ranting to Doc about it.”

“Why would you need that?”

Here we go, I guess.

Even though I wasn’t particularly worried, I still felt my stomach tighten with nerves. Talk about uncharted waters for me.

“Because I’ve never loved anyone outside family.” I kissed his jaw. “And I think that’s changin’.”

He shivered and pulled back enough to lock eyes, and the hope was unmistakable.

I was going to hate the day he learned how to mask his emotions, because I knew it was gonna become his default setting. It happened to all of us.

“Yeah?”

I smiled. “Yeah.”

He kissed me with the cutest fucking grin, and he pressed himself as close to me as I wanted him.

“It’s changing for me too,” he mumbled into the kiss. “I feel it every day.”

Fuck me. I stood up and squeezed him to me, and I deepened the kiss.

We needed more of this. Time for just him and me. Of-fucking-course Alex had to be my priority, and I kinda loved having her in my life these days, responsibilities included, but I hadn’t taken advantage of the babysitting offers much lately. At most, she spent a few hours with Ma after school in case I wasn’t done working yet.

Unable to help myself, I backed Leighton into a dark corner of the porch, where I could kiss him silly and knock the air out of his lungs. Those were the moments he let his guard down and became my needy boy, clinging to me, acting all desperate.

I planted a hand on the wall behind him, kissed him hard, and squeezed his ass with my other hand. Meanwhile, he tried to climb me like a tree, and I was here for it. So was my cock. Maybe we could?—

The door suddenly flung open, and we froze.

Someone came out—it was Wilde. She was on the phone, speaking in a hushed voice.

“Don’t you dare tell anyone else,” she whisper-shouted. “It’s bad enough you told Uncle Em.”

My eyebrows flew up, and I met Leighton’s wild stare. Uncle Em? Were she and Emerson fucking related? Or was it like Alex calling them Uncle Em and Uncle Danny?

I cleared my throat loudly enough for her to hear me, and I slowly took a step away from Leighton. Wilde spun around, eyes wide, and immediately ended her call.

“Operator Beckett. Leighton.”

“You okay?” I asked.

She nodded jerkily, full of crap. “Yessir. I mean, yeah. Yeah, I’m fine. Just my brother—he’s an idiot.”

All right, noted.

She flushed in the faint light from the window, then promptly went back inside.

“We could’ve eavesdropped way longer,” Leighton whispered.

I chuckled and adjusted my cock. “We don’t eavesdrop on colleagues, you nut. Come on—let’s get back inside. We need more energy for the plans I have for you later.”