Page 67 of Specter Bred

“Hayes has it bad,” Cutter chucked.

“Painfully bad,” Alvarez agreed.

Cutter shook his head before turning toward me. “What about you, Grizzly? Do you really think Farm Boy has a shot with her?”

I took another drink. “Saw them together today. Teacup’s definitely finding uses for him.”

Cutter’s mouth curled into a knowing grin. “You seem awfully interested in who Archer’s making use of, Grizzly.”

I cut him a warning look. “Careful.”

His grin only widened.

Alvarez snorted. “I don’t buy it anyway. Hayes wants to take care of her. You can see it every time he looks at her.”

Cutter nodded solemnly. “And Archer looks like she’d bite his hand off the second he tried.”

“Probably beat him with it afterward,” Alvarez added.

The table erupted in laughter.

"That's probably the most accurate thing you've said all week," Cutter said.

"Enough about what she does in her spare time. What do you think about Archer's performance?" I said casually.

Alvarez considered it for a moment.

"I think you were right all along that Archer is exactly the type of recruit that causes problems, even if she's top of the rankings."

Cutter raised an eyebrow.

"Meaning?" I prompted.

"Meaning, she should focus on training, not collecting followers."

"Collecting followers?" I asked with a frown.

"Come on. Hayes follows her around like a lost puppy. Half the class is obsessed with proving her wrong. Especially Redwood. The other half can't stop watching the train wreck. Regardless, they're all following what she's doing," Alvarez clarified.

Cutter nodded in agreement.

"The woman walks into a room and somehow becomes everyone's problem." Alvarez added, taking a drink. "Or everyone's favorite topic."

I smirked.

“She's definitely... something,” I grunted.

“Something?” Alvarez snorted. “She’s stubborn, argumentative, reckless, impossible to manage, and somehow still one of the strongest recruits we’ve got.”

“So what, Alvarez? You saying you want her for your unit?” Cutter asked.

A surge of possessiveness hit me so fast that I didn’t have time to hide it.

“Absolutely fucking not.”

The words came out as a growl.

I set my beer down harder than intended, the bottle crashing against the table hard enough that I was surprised it didn’t break. Both men turned toward me, their amusement disappearing as they stared at me in confusion.