Despite It All by Reese Knightley

 

Greene

He stayed put when most of the group trampled inside the motel room, out of the rain, away from the drizzle. He figured they had about another hour before the sky really opened up.

Dave’s request weighed heavy on his mind. Personally guard Forest or let one of the other guys handle it. The only thing was he didn’t think the other guys could handle Forest Taylor, not like he could.

Liam wanted an answer, he could see the impatience building in the colonel’s eyes. Fuck it, he should just bail. He’d done his job and he’d retrieved Forest for the SOD.

He slanted a glance to his left and was reminded of why he was out there in the fucking rain. It wasn’t because he was a goddamned rain lover.

Forest hadn’t gone inside after the others.

Instead, the man stood deep in thought with a hand tucked inside his coat, rubbing at his stomach. The clean lines of his profile gazing out at the parking lot, lean shoulders rounded as if the weight of the world was on his shoulders. He had to be hella worried over his friend Summer, but he held it together, way more than many he’d seen before.

He’d looked Forest over during the SUV ride to the motel, but couldn’t find any visible signs of injury on the man other than the slight glimpse of black material around the base of his left thumb. Of course, the sleeves of the wool coat pretty much covered him up.

“You like the rain?”

Forest shot him a blank look and then shrugged. “No, I hate the cold.”

“No ice cream for you then.”

“Now wait a minute.” Amusement swept through those blues. “I thought we were talking about the weather.”

“So, you do like ice cream.”

The corners of Forest’s lips turned upward. “Trying to cheer me up?”

“Is it working?”

It took a second, but then Forest nodded and he figured he’d done his good deed for the day. Everyone needed to be cheered up when they were blue.

“Thank you, Joshua.”

It took him a moment to register those softly spoken words. He couldn’t ignore the way his stomach tightened at the use of his first name, and it didn’t have anything to do with that punch to the solar plexus.

It wasn’t the first time Forest had called him Joshua. He remembered that day as clear as a bell.

“Pour me a double.”

He pointed to a bottle of whiskey and tapped one thick finger on the bar and gave a silent thanks that Dave and Liam had stocked alcohol for the occasion.

They were all gathered in General Luke Rhine and Dillon Thorne’s Bel Air estate home to celebrate the taking down of the Chambers brothers after six months of chasing those mother fucking terrorists.

The bartender hurriedly poured the liquid into the glass. He studied the warm color and gave a silent thanks. Yeah, he was thankful for a lot these days, but mainly for this here drink because he was parched.

“Joshua?”

That fucking voice. Even though soft spoken, Agent Forest Taylor of the FBI Counterterrorism Division carried his authority like a glove.

Call him ridiculous, but he’d been listening for any chance to hear that sexy voice on base for the past six months.

He turned, the height difference between them was immediate.

And he drank in the man looking so goddamned sexy in a black suit that he thought he’d bust a nut.His eyes snapped further downward, blinking at neon green colored sneakers before sweeping upward to lock on Forest’s attractive face.

“Nobody calls me Joshua.”

If he could have sounded anymore absurd, he’d have won a fucking award.

“I just did.”

Those words sounded promising, but then the guy ruined it by jerking his head to the glass of liquid in his hand. “You think that’s a good idea?”

He glared at Forest. Did Forest think he had a problem? What business was it of his what the fuck he drank? Since when did people have a right to butt into his troubles?

Couldn’t a man drink in goddamned peace?

“You think you can mind your own damn business?”

Something flashed in those blue eyes, but it was gone too quickly to decipher. It looked like surprise but he probably imagined that. With a smile curving those kissable lips, Forest turned and walked away from him. Shoulders straight and confident.

He’d tossed back the drink before slamming the glass on the counter.

“Another one?” the bartender asked.

“Or should I call you, Greene?” Forest’s voice pulled him back to the drizzle outside of the salmon-colored motel and the wind picked up, blowing a lone piece of newspaper across the cracked and cratered asphalt.

They were crazy for standing out there and getting wet when there was a perfectly warm room nearby. But that room was filled with soldiers and right here, right now, was only Forest and vanilla.

“Nothing to say?” Lean fingers waved in the air before they tucked away inside a black wool coat. It was one of those sexy kind of coats that fell to the top of Forest’s thighs.

“I say plenty when I have something to say. You of all people should know that.”

“So, Joshua or Greene?”

He stared at Forest, wondering if clamping his hand over the guy’s mouth would shut him up. He didn’t want to choose, and why should he choose in the first place? If Forest wanted to call him Joshua, he wouldn’t stop the guy, but he wasn’t going to tell him.

“It’s called common courtesy to answer when someone asks you a question.” Blond eyebrows lifted.

“Well, it’s not the first damned time someone’s said I don’t have manners.”

He figured it wouldn’t be the last damned time either. Manners were fine when the situation warranted, but Forest was trying to get a rise out of him. If the guy thought he could use his words to get at him, he was badly mistaken. He’d been called every name under the fucking sun since he was a little boy and no smart mouthed agent was going to make him lose his temper by questioning his common courtesy. What it did was make him want to try another tactic to get Forest to shut up.

The guy’s mouth suddenly had all his attention.

Forest’s breath hitched and he took a step back.

He took a step forward.

“You guys coming?”

When had Holden opened the door?

He silently dared Forest to stay, but he got an eyeful of blond hair when he turned his back and stepped into the room after Holden. On second thought, maybe the coat wasn’t that sexy after all since it blocked the man’s ass.

He followed the pair into the room. Kicking the door shut, he advanced to the table, determined to get the chair next to Forest.

He wondered what the others saw when they looked at Forest. He knew what he saw, messy curls, bright eyes, and a face that looked way too fucking young to be doing this job.

Yet, he now suspected differently.

He rubbed at his chest where the slight ache remained. His Spidey senses were tingling, and he never ignored them. They made him want to dig deeper into what made Forest Taylor tick.

Because one thing was for certain, the guy was trouble or his vibes were all off.

Maybe it was time to call it quits again. After this job, he could put in his discharge papers. Liam told him it was his choice to stay or not. He’d given it a year and a half already.

And then do what?

Sit at his mother’s house and watch her do crystal meth at the table while he drank himself into a stupor like last time? He rubbed at the burn in his sternum.

“You in, Greene?”

Eagle jogged him from going down pity lane and he curled his lips. “Only if you want to get wiped on the floor.”

“You keep bragging about your skills, Greene, but we haven’t seen any yet,” Eagle shuffled the cards. It was true, he’d lost more times than he cared to admit, but that didn’t mean he was losing tonight.

Grabbing a chair next to Forest, he shucked off his jacket and hung it on the back.

“Let Forest deal the cards.”

He rubbed his hands together, settling back in his chair. They’d found a table big enough to fit them all in Liam’s room and some had carried chairs from other rooms to give everyone a seat.

“Why?”

“He’s less likely to cheat.”

“Am I?” Forest took the offered cards, and flicked a gaze to his across the table. “You think you know me that well?”

He couldn’t think of a damned thing to say and every person at the table broke out with laughter. He leaned his chair back on two legs and scratched at his shorter beard.

“Guess I don’t.”

“Stick around, kid.” Forest suddenly had an accent with a slow, twangy drawl and everyone paused with what they were doing.

“You from down south?” he asked.

“I was born in Texas, but moved to California when I was eight, then Montana when I was twelve. So sometimes it comes out.”

Forest flipped the deck of cards and completed a few box shuffles by laying them on the table and lifting a chunk over another. Quickly, he pulled the deck apart and dropped thick groups of cards over each other, brought them back together, and tapped them on the table with a loud crack. He then turned the deck over until it was nice and tidy before passing it to Holden, who picked them up.

“Shuffle for me?”

Shit. He’d completely forgotten about the guy’s hand and felt like a fucking fool. He glanced at the sleeves of Forest’s suit jacket, but they fell long over his wrists, keeping the wrist hidden. Liam said it was only a broken wrist, but how bad was it? Like crushed broken or snapped bones? Plate and screw or just the brace?

Holden seemed glad to shuffle and made a production by taking the cards with a flourish and a smile for Forest that made him grind his teeth.

Yeah, he needed to step aside and let someone else be in charge of Forest Taylor.

When Forest got the deck back, he did a thick shuffle, then swished the cards out in a messy shuffle on the table.

“Don’t worry. I may not be the best shuffler, but I can kick all of your asses.”

That smile Forest gave was awfully smug and he had a suspicion the guy just might be a card shark. One of those guys who probably played poker for sport. An expert, and he had a feeling they might have all been played.

“Well, I’ll be damned.” Eagle snickered, thinking the same damned thing.

“Uh oh, Eagle, you’re gonna get wiped.” Link snagged a handful of potato chips and ate them like he hadn’t just wolfed down three cheeseburgers.

“Unless he’s bluffing,” Zane said.

“Anybody want out?” Forest locked those blue eyes on him as if he’d back away from a challenge.

“Just deal the cards, agent man.” He leaned forward.

Forest laughed, slapped the deck in front of him, and tapped the top card.

“Cut.”

He smirked and cut the deck. Forest took back the cards.

“Make sure he’s not false cutting.”

He gave Eagle the finger. “I don’t need to cheat to whoop your ass.”

“Big words.” Eagle gnashed his teeth and took a swallow from a plastic water bottle.

Forest took their talking shit to each other all in stride and lifted the deck.

“I’d suggest Texas Hold ’em, but since I’m from there, y’all might wanna choose a different game.”

God damned that drawl.

That soft, slow speaking drawl that sounded like ball draining sex, not the hardcore kind, but the slow, rich kind that made a man dream of dark, sweaty nights and sunshine days. Christ, now he sounded like a fucking whimsical junky. Stop that poetic shit. He was a soldier, a fucking warrior, he fucked and left it at that. Forest wasn’t that type of man anyway. He tried to join in the laughter, but he was too busy adjusting his junk under the table.

“Let’s just do five card draw poker.” Link glanced around the table and pretty much everyone nodded.

“Count me out, guys.” Liam cracked a cherry flavored sparkling water on his way to one of the queen beds.

“Aww, man,” Isaac said.

“I have work.”

“All work and no play…” Eagle snorted.

“My play is waiting for me at home.” Liam yawned and leaned back against the headboard, holding his laptop.

“What are we playing for?” Forest asked.

“These!”

Zane produced a massive bag of peanut M&M’s and after Isaac took a handful, he pushed it into the middle of the table.

When the bag reached him, he grabbed a fistful and started sorting the bright colors on the table in front of him.

“That’s not fair, my hand isn’t as big as yours,” Forest informed him and for a second, he wasn’t sure what to say about that very fact because indeed, his hand was bigger than Forest’s and he’d bet that maybe his dick was too.

“I have a feeling that’s not going to matter.”

He wasn’t sure if he meant the number of peanut candies or their dicks. His body grew tight and because those blue eyes were looking at him all expectant like, he took out a handful of candy and placed it in front of Forest.

“Awww, ain’t that cute,” Eagle piped up like normal.

“I’ll show you fuckin’ cute.” He lunged for Eagle’s candies, but the guy was quick and rounded his arms on the table, guarding his stash.

Forest laughed and those long fingers caressed over the red standard bicycle deck before he began dealing the cards to each of them. After a few hands, it was easy to see that Forest was good, but the guy had a tell. It was a slight one, but when he had a good hand, he crossed his arms.

He, on the other hand, only had a tell when he wanted people to think he had one.

Two hours later, Forest figured him out like the card shark he suspected.

“I’m out!” Eagle slapped his cards down in disgust.

“Me too.” Link proceeded to scoop up both piles of candies.

Zane and Isaac had already bailed an hour ago and disappeared back to their room.

Scratching at his scruff, he pushed ten of his candies into the middle.

“I raise you ten.”

“You’re slick.” Forest slanted him a glance. “But I’ll see your ten and raise you fifteen.”

“I’m all in and I’ll raise you a pair of red shoes.”

“My shoes? What the hell do you want my shoes for?”

“You got a shoe fetish, Greene?” Link laughed.

He didn’t care about the teasing, his focus was on Forest. Did the guy have the balls to take the bet?

“I’d like to hang them from my rearview mirror.”

“My feet aren’t small enough for that!”

The frown on Forest’s face almost had him cracking a smile. He’d seen the small set of shoes on the guy’s keyring. He wanted that, and he pretty much always got what he wanted.

“Your feet are a hell of a lot smaller than mine.”

“It’s not my problem you have giant sized feet.” Forest eyed the cards in his hands.

“Afraid you’ll lose?”

“No.” Blue eyes looked him over. “What do I get if I win? And don’t say your stinky shoes.”

Holden snickered, his head like a ping pong going back and forth.

“Whatever you want.” The answer was true and more accurate than Forest probably realized.

“That’s brave.” Forest tipped his head just an inch to the side and slid that pretty blue gaze over his face, focusing on his hair. Fuck! Forest was going to have him shave his beard! Crap. Wasn’t cropping it close enough? He clenched his teeth.

“Quit smoking.” The man’s chin tipped. “For one week.”

“Oh, oh, oh, Greene, you got owned,” Eagle laughed loudly, leaning against the wall near the door. Like Link, Eagle had stayed to see the outcome of the game.

He cleared his throat and swallowed. It didn’t matter that he never backed away from a challenge because he had a winning hand. Forest had used his poker tells a few times too many. That novelty keychain was as good as his. The guy was going down, minus his shoes.

“All right, one week, but I get to pick the time.”

“As long as it’s not a year from now.”

“Call,” he ordered the smug hottie.

Forest laid down a straight flush, his lips curving upward.

Damn it! He placed down his full house.

Forest laughed and reached over with both hands, pulling the candy across the table.

He plucked a yellow M&M from Forest’s pile, popped it into his mouth, and reached for another. Forest laughed, fighting his hand and the candy on the table, but he managed to get more. He tossed a red covered peanut into his mouth, holding those blue eyes.

“You’re going to owe me more,” Forest said.

“I don’t like to lose.”

“Ya think?”

“You two carry on the game. I’m out,” Holden said and left the room with Link and Eagle.

“I think I’ll quit while I’m ahead,” he drawled, trying to imitate Forest’s accent.

Forest tossed him an amused glance, scooped the candy into his dress shirt, and carried it over to dump on the spare queen bed.

“Scared I’ll steal it?”

“Yes.”

Tossing a candy in the air, he caught it in his mouth under the man’s watchful gaze.

“Let’s clear the chairs,” Forest suggested, and he jumped at the chance for a few more minutes.

Carrying the chairs back to their respective rooms, he stood outside of Forest’s room and lit up a smoke. When he leaned back against the motel’s stucco, Forest, back in his wool coat, leaned beside him. He shifted and cracked his neck before taking another drag, trying to keep the smoke from Forest.

“That was fun,” Forest said.

“We usually have a game once a week.”

“With peanut M&Ms?”

“Sometimes. Once we raided the snack machine in the mess hall.”

“I’ll raise you a Doritos?”

“I’ll see your Doritos and raise you two Cheetos,” he agreed.

“I don’t normally get the chance to be around that many people.” Forest grinned and those damned dimples popped.

“You don’t have an FBI team?”

“I used to when I was in charge of a division, but now it’s just me unless I call on agents.”

“Didn’t Parish just assign you an agent?”

“Yes,” he laughed. “But that’s not the normal. Hardier is just a hothead.”

“You won’t need to worry about Hardier, I’ll take care of him.”

“What do you mean?”

“I’m going to be your shadow.”

The air changed on a fucking dime. One minute all was well and the next he was under fire, and Forest was doing a pretty good job of glaring a hole through his head. Good luck with that, he’d been under fire from fiercer men and come out unfazed.

“Dave wants me to watch your back.”

Forest’s nostrils flared, a muscle ticked in his jaw, and he couldn’t help but admire the flush spreading over pale skin.

“Don’t worry, I won’t get in your way.” His voice dropped a couple of octaves, and he cleared his throat. He touched the edge of Forest’s black wool coat, fingers lingering on the collar, trying to convey his need to help.

Forest’s head snapped up, his eyes like blue ice, narrowed and fierce. He quickly dropped his hand, wondering what the fuck he was doing.

“What, are you a psychic?” Forest hissed.

“Um no.” He jerked up straight.

“You’re what?” Forest tilted his head. “Six foot four?”

“Five,” he said through his teeth. Nothing wrong with being tall.

“Well then, excuse me if I don’t believe you. You’ll be in my way.”

He scowled, crushed his smoke beneath his boot, and loomed over Forest. Was this guy for real? Ungrateful little shit. Forest wasn’t intimidated at all. In fact, the guy took a step forward, fists clenched, chin tipped.

“Well, I guess we’ll see, won’t we?”

“I guess we will,” Forest snapped.

Heat surged through his chest, and his own hands clenched. He had a job to do and if the agent had a problem with that? Well, he didn’t give two shits.

Forest was damned touchy about help. Perhaps, the guy just didn’t like help, or maybe he was just used to going it alone. Maybe it was about the accident or maybe it was because of him. He rubbed at the heartburn starting behind his sternum.

“Word of advice, don’t get in my way.” Forest pressed his lips flat, turned away from him, and let himself into Liam’s room. The door closed with a soft snap.

Well, fuck.

Don’t get in my way.

Fuck that.

He was going to be all in the guy’s way because Forest had made his decision easy. He’d be the one to guard the man’s body.

Even though it might just come back and bite him in the ass.