I moved back to the U.S. and joined the military at eighteen. On a range day six months later, I impressed one of the visiting colonels. I was sent straight to sniper school and became part of Delta Force not long after. I was one of the youngest who had ever been hand-picked for Delta.
The skills I learned in training suit my bodyguard job perfectly. Being stealthy while guarding someone like Harley was a must some days. Harley was always surprised when I popped up right next to him, but if he knew me even a little bit, he’d know I could stand in a room with him and he’d never even know I was there.
I tilted my head to the side and heard Harley getting in the shower. My dick hardened at the thought of his body slicked with soap—what I could do to that body. I squeezed my eyes shut and took a deep breath. I’d always been gay, I knew it at the age of thirteen when I was checking out the local boys on the beach. My parents didn’t even bat an eyelash when I told them. Once I joined the military, a whole new world opened up to me and I found out that a lot of guys were gay. They just kept it quiet. My first boyfriend was actually my spotter. We spent countless hours together and ended up kissing one night. Brian and I were together for two years before the night that he was taken from me.
I balled my fist and squeezed my eyes shut. I’d lost him that day in Ramadi when all hell had broken loose. I took a deep, calming breath and opened my eyes, staring into the orange and blue flames of the fire. Three years later and I could still smell the gunpowder in the air, the sounds of screaming, and the fierce burn of multiple bullets entering me. I tried so hard to protect the guys around me, still firing off rounds with most of my right arm hanging by a thread. Then the Apache helicopter swooped in and decimated everything in sight.
I had woken up in a hospital in Germany four months later with my parents at my side. When my time was up, I got out. Then I met Mac Collins; he was the owner of Collins Security. A former Master Sergeant in the Navy, Mac hired guys such as me to run his business. Between bodyguards and assassins, Mac had a go-to business, it seemed.
I came on as a bodyguard, mostly because I’d seen enough death in my time. I saw a shrink to help me deal with my time in the military and what had happened to me. I still had nights when I woke up a sweaty mess, but they were few and far between at this point. I could understand Paul Vincent, the band’s old manager and former guitarist, a little better now. He’d gone through a car crash with Gareth Wolf and Ransom Fox, and the result was a damaged hand, PTSD and clinical depression. Paul grew up with the guys and they formed Skull Blasters together. When Gareth came out, Paul took that opportunity to send Gareth threatening letters and tried to scare him out of the band.
I still remember flying across the room when Paul had pulled a gun on Gareth. I had been too late, though, and the gun went off, shooting Axel Blaze. Paul was currently in a mental hospital getting help. I smiled thinking about Axel. His babysitting job turned into something more, and he and Gareth were now married.
The water shut off in the other room and I closed my eyes. I could almost see Harley climbing into bed. I hadn’t been with anyone for a long time, and now I was starting to feel something for Harley. I didn’t know what it was about him. He could be infuriating, reckless and irresponsible, but he was also very loving and caring with the rest of the band. Then there was the way he looked. He was shorter than me by a few inches, but he was quite built. His smile was what drew me to him immediately, that and his eyes.
Harley was so full of life, it pained me to know he wasn’t truly living it. He was stuck in the past and tried to extract love from two people who should have been giving it freely. I knew what it was like to be fractured, to have shards of yourself lying this way and that, and it took a strong person to glue himself back together. I knew Harley could do it. He just had to want it bad enough.
I leaned back against the couch and sighed. Tomorrow would be another day. Another day of watching Harley fly apart on the inside, pieces of him slowly dropping off until there was no more.
I wasn’t going to let that happen.
~*~
My eyes sprang open and I checked my watch. I’d slept for four hours, which was plenty for me. It was still dark outside as I crept into the kitchen and started making coffee. I checked on Harley and found him asleep on his back, one hand behind his head. He looked so peaceful just then, like everything that was raging inside him was quiet for the moment. Just watching him, I knew that I was there for a reason. That it was no accident I was chosen to watch over Harley. I’d always believed in fate and destiny, and Harley was mine.