Total pages in book: 89
Estimated words: 84607 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 423(@200wpm)___ 338(@250wpm)___ 282(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 84607 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 423(@200wpm)___ 338(@250wpm)___ 282(@300wpm)
So I could run my mouth some more and get another reward? No thanks.
“Yessir,” I said instead.
The cafeteria was crowded when I got there, and I spotted Beckett at a table toward the back. Breakfast was clearly a busy time here. I estimated some forty people were eating.
It was a fast-moving line, thankfully, and I grabbed a tray. One bowl of oatmeal and an apple, before I eyed the selection of eggs and bacon on the hot-plate station.
“Can I get two over-easy, please?” I asked.
“Sure thing.” The lady extended a small plate with two eggs.
“Thank you, ma’am.” I piled on some bacon too, then went to get my water and coffee.
I appreciated real creamer, not the powdered one I’d gotten used to. And three sugars… I hesitated. Oh, whatever. I only had one cup a day. Four sugars.
When I reached Beckett’s table, I sat down across from him and saw he was making notes in the binder he and Coach were always carrying around.
“You’re getting moved today too,” he said without looking up. “All the recruit dorms need to be inspected for water damage.”
Suh-weet.
“Okay.” I started shoveling oatmeal into my mouth.
“Unfortunately, we’re running out of studio units, so three of you will share a one-bedroom, and you will stay at my place.”
Uh, say again? I knitted my brows. Had I heard that right?
He glanced over at me. “I won’t be there,” he clarified. “I’m staying at my mother’s at the moment anyway.”
Oh. Now, why was that disappointing?
“Is she sick or something?” I wondered, biting into my apple.
“That’s one way of putting it.” He made one more note in the binder before closing it. “After these two intro weeks are over, do you have a place to stay?”
I shrugged and chewed. “I have a guest room at my aunt’s place.” And only two fucking ferrets left, so yay. The other two had died of old age. Sadly, Biter wasn’t one of them. “I was kinda hoping to stay here a while longer, though.” Despite the bunk beds.
He waved that off, dismissive. “That’s no problem. You can have my place until the plumbers are happy with the dorms again. Some recruits stay throughout their training, and some don’t wanna be here outside school hours at all.”
I belonged in the former category. It helped me stay focused. In the Army, I’d heard of so many buddies who’d itched to get married so they could move in to a house on base with their spouse, and I’d never seen the appeal. I actually hadn’t minded the barracks, aside from when some assholes couldn’t keep quiet in the middle of the night.
“Did you stay here when you went through your training?” I asked curiously.
He finished the last of his scrambled eggs. “No, I, uh…I crashed with my brother.”
“Oh, right. He’s an operator here too. Is he hiding on some secret floor, or will I get to meet him?”
He blew out a breath and leaned back in his seat, and he folded his arms over his chest. He and Operator Rose had definitely been deprogrammed over the years. Like, they could whip it out if the situation called for it, but just by looking at them, nobody could guess they had military careers in their background.
“He was killed last year.”
Oh shit. Oh fuck. “Oh damn. I’m sorry, man.” That fucking sucked. “I’m sorry for bringing it up. I won’t ask.” Even though I wondered.
He shook his head and rubbed the side of his neck. “I’m supposed to talk about it. It’s just rough.”
Yeah, no shit. “I get it. Took me a while to open up about my mom.” It’d taken a surprisingly nice NCO to convince me. Plus, remembering Beckett’s advice about talking to my chaplain. “I used to walk around with one of my mom’s collector’s coins from a national park to feel closer to her. I also chucked it at the wall whenever I got mad at her for being dead.” And for lying to me. “It was much easier than talking about her.”
Beckett grinned faintly. “I walk around with a pack of smokes because of my brother. He smoked that brand. I stole maybe one or two here and there but never bought my own. And now I can’t leave the house without the pack.”
I got it. It was the little things that brought comfort when we tried to move on.
I folded a strip of bacon and crammed it into my mouth.
“Hey, did you ever find your dad’s family?”
Aw, man. We didn’t have to talk about that, did we?
“Kinda.” The bacon went down like a lead balloon. “I mean…yeah. Yeah—I know who they are. I just… I haven’t reached out or anything.”
He furrowed his brow. “Why not? I thought that was the point.”
Yeah, well. I cleared my throat. “I don’t wanna stir up problems. They seem like a happy family.”