Coming Undone

“I learned from the best,” Hunt said, and sighed inwardly. He wondered when his little brother had managed to add pop psychologist to his list of credentials. Ty had always had an insightful, almost sixth-sense kind of thing going on, sometimes eerily so.

You’re going to have to stop referring to him as your little brother. He’s twenty-five.

Only three years separated the two, and they did share some similarities. Although, the differences at times were so great that Hunt had to wonder where Ty’d come from. Ty had the same freewheeling spirit as their parents had, and he’d inherited their wanderlust and their openness. Their trusting natures.

Hunt enjoyed his travels with the SEALs, but always liked having someplace steady to hang his hat when he came home. Instability in two- to four-month stints in his job, he could handle. In his life, not so much.

Forget about trust. Hunt was always out of there long before any relationship reached that stage, and he never gave out enough personal information to worry. “What about you, Ty? Find the old ball and chain?”

Ty laughed a deep sound that bounced off the walls of the nearly empty diner and reverberated. The waitress smiled. Ty was infectious that way, always managing to pull everyone into his good time. “Not yet, but I’ll know her when I see her.”

“Still a romantic.”

“I guess so.” Ty put salt and ketchup on his eggs and began to chew like he hadn’t eaten in weeks. “This place is as good as I remembered. And a long ride always gets my appetite up.”

“Yeah, I know what you mean.” Hunt dug into his own breakfast.

“You busy today? I thought maybe we’d take a ride up the coast, check out a few bikes I’m looking into buying this morning,” Ty offered.

“Can we do it later on? There’s something I’ve got to take care of first.” Hunt had a few things that couldn’t be put off. He wasn’t going to complete the fantasy for Carly, but he did have his own ideas, plenty of them, and he planned to execute each and every one of them on her gorgeous, lithe body as soon as the time was right.

“Does it involve a woman?” his brother asked.

“None of your damned business.”

“That means yes, and that’s the only excuse I’ll accept.”

Hunt changed the subject, asked what he’d wanted to from the second he’d seen Ty. “Speaking of excuses, have you been doing what you’re supposed to have been doing?”

“I never do, bro. Thought you knew that by now.”

Purposeful avoidance. Hunt stared his brother down with his best cut-the-crap face, knowing he didn’t stand a chance.

He didn’t—Ty just laughed. “I’ll make the trip myself, that way you don’t have to rush whatever it is you’ve got to do. But we are going out tonight?”

“Wouldn’t miss it.”

“Maybe I’ll get to meet this mystery woman you’re ditching me for.”

“I’m not ditching you. And she’s not a mystery woman. I’m just doing her a favor.” And, oh yeah, he was going to make her work for that favor.

Except you’re the one who’s all worked up, dumbass.

He could handle it. He’d been through worse. What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. Besides, she wasn’t going to be able to resist him when he came calling, and he was going to come calling. He purposely left no way for her to get in touch with him. That would’ve been too easy for her, too convenient, as if she were pulling all the strings.

“Big surprise,” Ty muttered.

“What are you talking about?”

“Whenever you mention woman and favor in the same sentence, I know what you’ve done. Found yourself another fixer-upper.”

“Huh?”

“You know the phrase love ’em and leave ’em? Well, you’re fix ’em and leave ’em. Can’t you find a woman without problems? Someone who doesn’t need you so much?”

“Carly doesn’t have problems.” Just fantasies. Hunt took a gulp of juice and told himself that he was in control. He wanted her under his command and he would make sure it stayed that way. Or, that it at least worked out that way. He wasn’t going to let her know how hard she’d tumbled him. From the second she’d opened the door, in fact. “She just needs a date for a wedding, so I said I’d—”

“Help her out,” Ty finished, shaking his head, and Hunt wondered when he’d gone from big brother in charge to being lectured. “You know, it’s your responsibility to save the world on the job. In your own life, you’re allowed to enjoy. Let down your guard. Let someone cater to you every once in a while.”

Now that was a fantasy that Hunt couldn’t ever see himself allowing to happen. “It’ll be fun. This opportunity presented itself, and I never turn down an opportunity to hang out with a beautiful woman. You of all people should understand that.”

“I understand, man. I do. As long as we can spend some time together this week, it’s all good. And at least I know it’s a wild one.”

In a few hours, when the sun came up, Hunt would head over to Carly’s. He’d wait for her on the beach he was only just at, and see what happened next. “It’s gonna be a wild one for sure.”

“Speaking of wild, how was the action you caught recently?”

“Where’d you hear about that?” Hunt demanded, and his mind flashed, not pleasantly, to his most recent mission.

“You just told me.” His brother shrugged, and took a slug of coffee.

“I’m fine. Obviously.”

“Obviously,” Ty repeated. “As always.”

“Are we going to fight? Because I’d hate to have to kick your sorry butt tonight.” Hunt settled against the booth and Ty shook his head. “Besides,” Hunt said, “you’re not exactly forthcoming about your cross-country adventures.”

“I’ll fill you in on all the details, unless you’ve got somewhere else to be.”

“This ought to be good,” Hunt muttered. His brother laughed again, and things were back to normal.

THE BREAKFAST RUSH HAD just begun. The sound of plates being collected and tables freshened was a welcome distraction. Thanks to the rising smells of warm bread and hash browns from the kitchen, Ty Huntington’s appetite had come to life again. A good sign.

“More coffee, honey?” The waitress on the morning shift gave him a nice, easy smile as she set down what was technically his second order of the day.

“More everything would work for me,” he replied, smiling, because she was staring at him with a look he recognized well. And, if it weren’t so crowded, if it was even a month earlier, he might’ve whispered for her to meet him in the back of the restaurant. Because that would’ve been so simple to do. So easy. As it was, having his brother there had saved him from having to turn down the other waitress’s offer of a quick pick-me-up.

She waggled a finger at him, still flirting as she gave a mock pout. “You bad boys are all the same.”