Page 40 of Jay Bird

Jay Bird sighed. “Willow.”

“I mean it. Riley. Mia. You. Whoever bought everything in that bedroom. Now Derek and this Tink person—”

“Nobody’s keeping score.”

Her eyes met his, and he could see tears forming. “People don’t do things like this for nothing.”

That sentence told him more about the last three years than she probably realized.

Jay Bird's voice softened. “These people do. I swear, Willow.”

She looked down at her water. A few seconds passed before she looked back up at him.

“Okay. Now, you said that Derek is your commander. Are you in the military?”

He nodded. “I am.”

“What branch?”

“Navy.”

Willow’s eyebrows rose slightly, and then she grinned.

“What?” he asked, wondering why she looked amused.

“I’m just trying to picture you in one of those little white sailor hats.”

Now it was Jay Bird’s eyebrows that shot upward. “Please don’t ever say that again. And just for the record, I don’t wear one of those. I’m a Chief.”

A giggle escaped her. “I’m sorry. I couldn’t resist.”

He shook his head, though a slight grin pulled at his lips. “But there is something else you need to know about my job.”

“What’s that?”

“I’m a SEAL.”

All the humor disappeared from Willow’s expression as she looked at him as if trying to figure out if he was joking.

“You’re a SEAL?”

“Yeah.”

“As in the Navy SEALs?”

“There’s only one kind.”

“I know that.” She rolled her eyes again, then caught herself doing it and smiled faintly. “I just wasn’t expecting that. I don’t know a lot about it, just what you hear on the news.”

Now it was Jay Bird who rolled his eyes. Yeah, the fucking news. He wished they wouldn’t air shit when the military was involved because all it did was make their jobs more difficult and dangerous.

“If you have general questions, I can answer them.”

She seemed to think about it, then asked, “What exactly does your job entail? Like a general description.”

“First, our official titles are Special Operators. My team handles specialized operations like counterterrorism, reconnaissance, hostage rescue, things like that.”

Her expression sobered. “So, dangerous things.”