Page 4 of Love at First Rep

“You know you’re my best friend, right?” Garrett asked.

“Of course I know it. And you’re mine.”

It was impossible to miss the way Garrett’s eyes dipped to Rafe’s lips for an instant. Garrett squeezed Rafe’s hand, and Rafe’s entire body heated.

He’d always been attracted to Garrett, but they’d never crossed the line because he thought Garrett was completely straight, just like Garrett thought Rafe was. Rafe had been with women over the years, and it had been fine, but it was nothing like the passion he’d seen in movies or read in books, or even like his friends talked about.

When they were sixteen, Garrett walked into Sea Cadets and smoked every other member in their cohort. Rafe remembered how he felt when Garrett jumped onto a pullup bar. He stood there gaping as Garrett’s muscles flexed with each pullup. Rafe was mesmerized by the flex of his back muscles under his tight gray shirt. After Garrett demolished the facility’s pullup record, Rafe approached him and made him his best friend.

The heat continued to simmer through the years as he grew alongside Garrett, and they both continued to enjoy women when they could, although they never managed anything too serious.

Since the U.S. had a don’t ask, don’t tell policy, Rafe figured it was something he could worry about once they’d both retired from active duty. Still, he never once thought Garrett had returned his desire. But the way he looked at Rafe now…

Rafe reached over and settled his hand on Garrett’s cheek. Garrett leaned in to the touch, and Rafe pulled him forward until their foreheads rested against each other. It was something they’d done for years when they needed to gather their strength to go on, whether it be physical or mental. They’d always had each other’s backs.

“Do you ever wonder about what we’ll do when we’re outta here?” Garrett whispered, and Rafe nearly jolted as his words mirrored some of his thoughts.

“Sometimes,” he replied, because he couldn’t manage anything else.

“Do you think your plans will include me?”

Rafe’s breath stuttered. He would have loved to promise Garrett they could be together once they left active duty. He’d dreamed about it throughout the years.

He wanted to say yes. God, how he wanted to.

The only problem was he’d be gone after tonight, with no knowledge about when or if he’d ever see Garrett again.

What kind of promise could he make to Garrett that wouldn’t break his heart later tonight?

It killed him when the obvious hit him. He couldn’t.

He refused to dangle love in front of Garrett’s face and rip it away so violently.

Instead, he had to make sure Garrett had no regrets about their time together.

Rafe steeled himself, knowing he was about to lie to the greatest man he’d ever known.

“Absolutely. We should get houses next door to each other, and one day our wives will be best friends and our kids can grow up together. We can coach their little league teams or help them sell cookies for the scouts. We’ll have the white picket fences and everything.”

Garrett’s jaw pulsed against Rafe’s hand. He didn’t want to think about what was going on in Garrett’s head. Rafe was afraid it would break him.

“Right,” Garrett said, his voice cracking. “Sounds like a good plan. Besties for life.”

“Besties for life.”

That night, Rafe entered the predetermined house he was meant to probe alone, finding two officers who led him through an underground tunnel to exit on the other side of a large rocky hill, where a truck sat waiting for him.

He jumped at a loud blast, turning to see a cloud of smoke and fire on the other side of the hill, likely a bomb triggered by one of his new friends to fake his death.

Before he could climb into the truck, he heard Garrett screaming on the other side of the hill where Rafe left him, and he had to step away to throw up in a nearby bush.

Once his stomach was empty, he got in the truck and ventured toward his new life, already missing his Garrett and wondering if he’d ever get the chance to see him again. Then and there, he made a vow to himself to do whatever he could to come back to him, no matter how long it took.

3

Present day…

GARRETT SLAMMED ON THE brakes and spun to face the man who had haunted him for nearly two decades. “Fuck! Rafe, what the hell are you doing here?” he barked, and Rafe had the nerve to smile at him.