Total pages in book: 71
Estimated words: 68369 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 342(@200wpm)___ 273(@250wpm)___ 228(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 68369 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 342(@200wpm)___ 273(@250wpm)___ 228(@300wpm)
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.