Crave (Talon Security #1)(5)

Due to the nature of their jobs, all the guys had to stay in military shape. They ate like predators and trained like beasts.

Travis rolled his eyes at me good-naturedly. “Ten bucks says you don’t make it the next five steps without dropping something. And it better not be the cookies.”

I flipped him the bird and in doing so nearly spilled my coffee.

He laughed, shaking his head at my antics. “You’re late.”

“I know, sorry.” I apologized. “I got distracted.” I dropped the Tupperware on the nearest desk.

His brow rose as a slow grin spread across his face. “With…?”

He was teasing me as usual.

Travis was type A through and through. He was driven, meticulous, and impeccably neat. In short, everything I wasn’t. Despite our differences and the occasional dustup over how protective he could be, we’d always been close.

“With life.” I shrugged, looking over at their receptionist, Sarah, and offering her a smile in greeting. I turned back to my brother, giving him a big hug. “Glad you’re back safe,” I murmured in his ear, squeezing before letting go. He’d been overseas six weeks. Sid had been gone twice that long and I bit my tongue, forcing myself not to ask about him.

Sid had been surprisingly angry by my decision to move out, and had been assigned overseas shortly thereafter. We hadn’t spoken in months. I missed him like hell.

“Do I get one of those?” a loud jovial voice boomed from the back of the office. Theo, one of my brother’s partners and another former SEAL, came striding out with a grin on his handsome face.

“A cookie?” I asked coyly.

“A hug,” he replied with a playful glint in his eye.

Theo had always flirted with me, but it was all in good fun. The man only had eyes for Sarah—he just didn’t know it yet.

“Afraid you’re getting a gut? Have a fucking cookie, dude,” Travis grumbled.

Theo patted his ripped stomach thoughtfully. “I think I’m okay in that department,” he mused, grabbing me in a one-armed hug. “Pink, huh?” He continued, tugging on a strand of my hair.

As a natural blonde, I liked to keep things interesting and often died the tips of my shoulder-length hair different colors.

I shrugged. “For this week.”

“Looks good.” He nodded, giving me a final friendly squeeze before stepping away.

“All right, all right—let’s go,” Travis ordered, losing patience with Theo’s flirting. It was a wonder I’d ever been able to date with Mr. Pitbull for a big brother.

We drove to a nearby deli and found a sunny spot near the window.

“How are you really?” he asked without preamble, his intelligent brown eyes regarding me shrewdly.

I shrugged. “I’m fine.”

“I don’t want you to just be fine.” He shook his head. “I want you to be happy.”

That right there—that was the pure heart and soul of my brother.

I clasped his hand briefly by way of answer. I couldn’t tell him I was happy, not really, and I’d never been able to lie to him. “How about you? I know you’ve been overseas for a little while, but have you met anyone?” I asked hopefully, changing the subject.

“Christ, Sam. You sound like Ma,” he complained.

I cocked a brow, surprised that our mother would spend the time to nag him about his love life. Conversations with her were typically all one-sided—when they happened at all.

Our parents were still married after thirty years and had recently retired. They’d always been like lovesick teenagers. While on the one hand it was great that our parents were still so in love, it was fair to say they took it to the extreme. I knew they loved us both, but they’d always been more focused on each other. They’d been more than happy when Trav and I were old enough to head out on our own and out of their house.

“They still traveling around the country in that RV they rented?” I asked.

“Last I heard.” He nodded.

I looked at him expectantly, waiting for him to answer my earlier question about his love life.

“No, I haven’t met anyone. Don’t have time for that shit,” he grumbled impatiently.

“Trav, you worry about everyone else but yourself. At some point you need to put yourself first, you know?” I coaxed, knowing my words fell on deaf ears.

I debated pushing him—I rarely did. After a moment, I pressed on. “You’re the toughest guy I know. But you also have the biggest heart. Don’t be afraid of that part of yourself.”

He eyed me intently. “I could say the same to you.”

That’s what I got for pushing him.

“So, if you’re not gonna give me an answer about how you are, how about a brief on what you’ve been doing?” he asked, changing the subject as our sandwiches were put in front of us, complete with the huge dill pickle I loved.