Together Apart by Natalie K Martin Read Free Book Online

it. If he was going to get messy, he might as well do it properly. He took the glass, necked his shot and shuddered.
    ‘Good lad.’ Nick laughed before grabbing Adam’s hand and pulling him into a man hug, slapping him on the back.
    ‘Good to see you, mate,’ Adam said, trying not to gag at the aftertaste of the absinthe. It was a foul drink, but an obvious favourite to get the night started. He’d picked up a bottle of Jägermeister on the way over – they could keep the green fairy for themselves. As Matt and Jenny got the same treatment behind him, he wandered into the kitchen, where Carl was busy cracking open a can of lager. Music pounded from the speakers, filling the air around them with deep, frenetic bass lines.
    ‘Alright, mate,’ Carl said, offering Adam a can.
    Adam reached for the bottle of Jack Daniel’s. ‘I’m good, but I’m not on the beer tonight. I’m going to get messy.’
    ‘Did you bring the Jäger?’
    ‘Yep,’ Adam replied, putting the bottle down on the side. He nodded towards the group of guys in the living room. ‘Who are these lot?’
    ‘Nick’s mates. Some army, some not,’ Carl replied, looking over Adam’s shoulder. ‘Wakey, Tubs, Ryan, Jonesy and Dave. I don’t know the others – forgot their names. We’re just waiting on a couple more, I think.’
    ‘Pour me a JD, Ad,’ Jenny said as she joined them with Matt and Nick.
    ‘I thought this was meant to be a boys’ night,’ Nick said.
    Adam nodded. ‘It is. Jen’s one of the boys – you know that.’
    She never missed a night out, and in her loose vest, skin-tight jeans and high heels, she stood out in the testosterone-filled flat like a lighthouse in the dead of night.
    Jenny gave a lopsided smile. ‘I’m a special case.’
    ‘Never hurts to have some eye candy, I suppose.’ Nick grinned.
    ‘Clearly being at war hasn’t knocked the chauvinist out of you yet.’ She raised an eyebrow. ‘You’re about as smooth as a badger’s arse.’
    Nick winked. ‘You know you love it.’
    ‘In your dreams, G.I. Joe.’ She shook her head, but the grin nearly leapt off her face. Despite the way they bickered, it was no secret to any of them that she’d harboured a crush on Nick since they were teenagers.
    Matt handed Nick a can of lager. ‘So, how’ve you been?’
    ‘Not too bad, you know.’ Nick shrugged.
    When Nick enlisted for service at eighteen, Adam had been filled with intrigue. He didn’t know anyone in the army, and having grown up watching films like Apocalypse Now and Full Metal Jacket , it had sounded adventurous. So much so that he even thought about joining himself, until Nick was sent to Kosovo. Adam had nothing but admiration and respect for Nick, but he quickly realised that he preferred the safety of being a soldier on his Xbox instead of the real thing. Nick had changed, and it seemed to get more and more pronounced every time he came home. Carl and Nick had always looked alike. There were three years between them, but they were roughly the same height, same build and had the same shade of almost black hair. These days, Nick sported a typical military short-back-and-sides haircut, and his arms were covered in tattoos, but it was the air he carried about him that set him apart. Adam didn’t like to think about what he must have seen.
    ‘So, what’s the plan? Where are we going?’ Adam asked, keen to get moving before everyone got too comfortable or drunk to leave.
    Nick looked at his watch. ‘We were waiting for Iain to get here, but that tosser’s always late. We might as well get cracking. Line up some shots, Carl.’
    Carl put glasses on the side and poured out shots while Nick gathered his mates in the kitchen. It was bigger than average, but with twelve of them crammed in, it felt decidedly small.
    Nick rubbed his hands together. ‘Right lads, on me. Take a knee.’
    Adam looked at Carl with a frown. ‘Take a what?’
    ‘Take a knee. It means gather round. Listen up,’ Carl