Saved by the SEAL by Diana Gardin Read Free Book Online Page A

because I have a feeling Lawson “Sleuth” Snyder is going to ferret out the meaning behind the words I didn’t say.
    I groan and turn away as a slow, suspicious smile dawns over his face. “So you didn’t go grab waffles with us because you ‘ran into a friend.’ And that same friend kept you busy for most of the day, and then again after dark. So I’m assuming this friend is hot, and you had her panties lying on the floor by the end of the night.”
    I whip back around. Anger builds up inside me until I imagine I look like a cartoon character with steam pouring out of my ears. “I said she’s a friend. Get your fucking mind out of the gutter.”
    Lawson drops the weights and holds up his hands in defense. “Whoa, whoa, whoa, Ghost. I didn’t mean any disrespect. Does your friend have a name?”
    I blow out easy breaths through my mouth as I bring my heartbeat back down to a more normal pace. “Her name’s Greta. She used to room with that girl I told you about…Berkeley. I hadn’t seen Greta for a while, that’s all. We were catching up.”
    “I bet you were,” mutters Lawson. When he catches my death glare, he picks his weights up again with a chuckle. “Sorry. If she’s just your friend, then I guess she can come hang out with the guys this weekend at your barbecue.”
    Shit. That’s right. This weekend is a long one, ending in Labor Day on Monday. I’d told my buddies we would do the end of summer up right and celebrate the fact that we’d all come back from Syria alive and well. They’d be ready to deploy again early next year, but I’d likely be sending them off without me for the first time since we’d been a unit. My leg can only take me so far from this point on. My SEAL days are over.
    An overwhelming feeling of sadness and anxiety washes over me at the thought.
    “You gonna bring her?” asks Lawson with another sly smile.
    “I said we’re just friends, L. I might ask her and her roommate to stop by. Berkeley and Dare are coming, so I don’t want her to find out about it from them.”
    Lawson scrutinizes my face as he finishes his third set. His normally cinnamon-brown face is morphing into a dark shade of red, and he hisses out a breath as he lets the weights drop to the ground. “Yeah. Act all nonchalant if you want to, Ghost. But I see it in your eyes. You want this chick to be there. So ask her to be there.”
    I pretend to think about it. Then, moving quicker than Lawson expects, I snap his bare chest with my towel and take off, running as fast as my fake leg will allow me to go before he can give chase. Our workout ends with him cursing me as he follows me to the showers, while I howl with laughter.
      
    I sit in the Jeep, my parents’ enormous Lone Sands home looming like a majestic beacon before me. It’s been months since I’ve been here. My mother flew to Germany when I was hurt. She stayed with me during my month-long hospital stay, and the entire time we were together, I could forget about my father and the way we’d left things the last time I’d seen him. She was there for me and me alone, and that felt good. For once.
    But when we flew home, there he was. Back in control, trying to manage my medical situation professionally. He was sure he could still make a desk job at the base happen, and all of my protests fell on deaf ears. It was when my CO came to me with the transfer papers that I finally lost my mind and told my father exactly where he could shove his meddling manipulations.
    So, sitting here now in the hot, late-August sunshine doesn’t feel too good. It feels wrong. But I know I have to go inside and at least invite them to my barbecue.
    They’re my family. The only family I have. Regardless of the way I feel about their marriage and the way my father’s control issues have fucked up my life, I won’t ever stop trying to be there for my mother.
    Ever.
    I shove the Jeep door open and climb out. Before I reach the bottom of the impressive staircase