The Suicide Project (Rebirth Book 1) (30 page)

I quickly assumed my poker face when the sergeant suddenly pivoted to address us again. “Alright guys, give me one mile. I want y’all to alternate laps between sprinting and jogging. Don’t look at me like that Sam, I know you can handle 4 laps.”

Both mine and Gideon’s heads whipped in Sam’s direction to see his woebegone expression. Exhaling on a drawn-out dramatic sigh, he said, “Okay. When you put it like that, I feel almost guilty for complaining. It’s just that I hate running.”

“We know,” Sergeant Ramsey, Gideon, and I all acknowledged in unison.

“Come on guys, let’s turn this into a game and our warm-up will be over before we know it! Race ya!”

“That’s the spirit!” Sergeant Ramsey nodded his head approvingly at me for once as he decided right then and there to sweeten the pot. “We’ll make it a race. As the reward, the winner will get to request their favorite comfort food for Amos to add to tonight’s dinner buffet. I’m sure y’all might be missing or craving a certain food item from your past that you’d love to eat again. Just think about it— pizza, lasagna, Chinese food, hamburgers and fries…Thai food.” Sergeant Ramsey raised an eyebrow at me when he mentioned Thai food, and instantly my mouth started watering for the taste of Pad Thai again.

“In any case, Amos is starting to get bored in the kitchen and wants to exercise his culinary abilities. This is like killin’ two birds with one stone! I love it when that happens.” He rubbed his hands together with relish as he instructed the three of us to get into position on the track. As we all began hurriedly doing quick stretching exercises, I saw Doc Duffy and Jamie approaching out of the corner of my eye.

“Ready…..Set……Go!”

Just like that we were off. I couldn’t help the smile of exhilaration that spread across my lips as I realized that both Gideon and Sam were clearly as gung-ho about the race as I was. The three of us were evenly matched as we completed our first lap, and I laughed out loud when none of us slowed down to a jog for the next lap. Regardless of Sergeant Ramsey’s instructions, I had fully intended to sprint all four laps but clearly, both Sam and Gideon had the same idea.

As we were segueing into our third lap, I laughed again when Sergeant Ramsey cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted as we passed, “Y’ALL WERE SUPPOSED TA JOG!!” I saw broad smiles on Jamie and Doc Duffy’s faces as they flashed by in my peripheral, so I knew we weren’t really in trouble or anything.

The heat from the sun up above was blazing down on us even though it was still early in the morning, but I pushed myself to sprint faster as we entered our fourth and final lap. To my surprise and delight, Sam was
still
nose to nose with me and Gideon, and I was overwhelmed with a feeling of pride for him.
He must really miss lasagna!
As I tried to blink a trickle of sweat out of my eye, my attention was caught by the cheering that suddenly erupted from the sidelines, and I saw that Amos and Sergeants’ Honda and Kami had both joined the others. To my discomfort, I spied Wyatt and Angelo standing off in the background, quietly observing the race with their arms crossed over their chests.
What the heck are they doing here?
I could practically feel the glittering green of Wyatt’s intense gaze burning a hole into me, and with an effort I focused my sights on the finish line looming ahead.

Leaning forward, I dug my sneakers into the asphalt as I sprinted my hardest the last few yards. Just when I was beginning to suspect that the race was probably going to end in a 3-way tie, Gideon put on an extra burst of speed at the last second and won the race by a nose. The three of us slowed to a stop, trying to catch our breaths. I beamed a huge smile at Gideon as I congratulated him on his victory. Even though I had lost, I was still exhilarated by the race and proud of the guys because they had come a long way in regards to their level of physical fitness.

As we jogged back to the starting line where the others waited, I noticed that Sergeant Ramsey was attempting to keep his scowl in place although the corner of his mouth was twitching. “You guys were supposed to alternate between sprinting and jogging.”

“Oh come on, Sarge! You said this was a
race
. And you were dangling our favorite foods in front of our faces as a reward to the winner so did you really think any of us were going to slow down in this race?”

Sergeant Ramsey turned to cast a look of query at Amos and the others, but Amos just shrugged his shoulders as he replied, “Well, you can’t really argue with her logic can you?”

Seeking to come to my rescue even though I was fairly certain I didn’t need rescuing, Wyatt stepped forward. “No, Teagan’s right. You did say it was a race.” His gaze was intense as he stepped closer to me and let his eyes caress my form from head to toe. His expression was almost possessive and it made me feel uncomfortable in the presence of Sam and Gideon since I was pretty sure neither of them had officially met the members of Sergeant Quartermaine’s unit yet.

Flicking my eyes quickly in Sam and Gideon’s direction, my suspicions were confirmed when they stared at Wyatt skeptically. Gideon went one step further by flinging his arm around my shoulders and tugging me in between him and Sam in an over-protective manner.

My attention flew back to Sergeant Ramsey when he cleared his throat. Rolling his eyes sarcastically at the other military staff before turning to address us, he joked, “Alright, I get it. I can take a hint. Y’all are on Team Teagan.”

To my relief, Wyatt stepped back to join the others although he was now smiling ruefully as he studied the arm that Gideon still had around my shoulders. Angelo winked at me as he came forward to stand next to Wyatt.

Amos approached us to congratulate Gideon on his win, and I took that opportunity to wiggle my way out from beneath his arm. “I’m all sweaty, remember?”

Even though Amos was standing
right there,
Gideon grinned suggestively at me as he appraised me in one sweeping glance. “Mmm hmm. Have I ever told you how good you look sweaty?” I felt my mouth pop open as my eyebrows shot to my hairline in shocked surprise. In my peripheral vision, I caught the motion as Wyatt’s head whipped back in our direction as he obviously caught what Gideon had said. Feeling my cheeks starting to burn in embarrassment, I looked at Sam to gauge his reaction to Gideon’s comment. To my dismay, his only response was to bob his eyebrows at me suggestively.
Okay…no help there.
I was thankful that at least Amos covered his mouth in an effort to muffle his laughter as he watched the byplay between us all.
Geez!

I knew Gideon had a crush on me but up until now, he had never said anything outrageously flirtatious like that…and in the presence of others, no less! Uncomfortable with all the attention, I took off stomping in the direction of Jamie and Sergeant Kami while I ranted to myself under my breath. “Oh God… too much testosterone. Get me out of here!” Even though I was careful to keep my voice really quiet, Doc Duffy and Sergeants Honda and Ramsey still heard my ranting and guffawed loudly. Even Angelo joined in, although Wyatt was still staring at Gideon—apparently sizing him up as potential competition.

Once I reached Jamie’s side, I looped one arm through hers and the other through Sergeant Kami, forcing them to speed-walk with me in the direction of the Gym. For her part, Jamie was trying hard to smother her grin but when she caught my eye, she said, “See? I told you you’re a catch!” The urge to shake her was strong, but somehow I resisted.

Just then, I heard something that brought me to an abrupt standstill. In the background, I had heard Amos asking Gideon what he wanted to eat for dinner and there was no hesitation on Gideon’s part when he answered, “Pad Thai.” I pivoted on my heel as I let go of Jamie and Sergeant Kami. Confronting them from over 50 yards away, I retorted, “Hey! That’s not
your
favorite food. You love to eat bacon double cheeseburgers and fries – I remember!”

Breaking eye contact with me, Gideon turned back to Amos and insisted, “I won the race and I want you to make Pad Thai.” As I stared back at him in disbelief, I clearly saw Sergeant Ramsey turn to Doc Duffy and snort, “Well, if that aint love I dunno what is.” At that moment, Gideon’s cheeks flushed a bright red and it made me wonder if there was some validity to the sergeant’s words.

Flustered and confused, I mumbled again to myself under my breath, “Oh Dear God, help me! What’s going on?!”

Both Nurse Jamie and Sergeant Kami didn’t bother censoring their amusement this time as they both hooted with laughter.

Once we entered the Gym and I was certain the guys were all too far away to hear, I spoke quickly and urgently. “I just wondered… the smaller barracks had a swimming pool and it was a great place for me to float and think in peace and quiet. Do we have a pool here? And can I take some of the other girls swimming with me later on before we retire for bed? I need some “Girl Time”, which loosely translates to “No Boys Allowed”.

They glanced at each other briefly before Sergeant Kami asked, “Would you be opposed to us joining you? That way Jamie and I can enforce the “No Boys Allowed” rule. Besides, I don’t know about Jamie but I could definitely go for a nighttime swim. It’s a good way to relax and unwind at the end of the day, and it would be nice to do some female bonding.”

“Yes, I think that’s an
excellent
idea!” Jamie added. “You’ve done an amazing job with Marisol and I’ve already noticed a difference in her in the short time you’ve been working with her. It’ll be good for Marisol to have some Girl Time too. I’ll swing by your room to pick you and Kyrie up around 8pm, okay?”

I smiled gratefully at them just as the outer door opened and Sergeant Ramsey re-entered with the guys. To my relief, Wyatt and Angelo were absent and I slowly exhaled a long drawn out breath as my anxiety level dropped significantly. I couldn’t pinpoint what exactly it was about Wyatt that unnerved me. It’s possible I was intimidated by his extreme hotness, although I had been around really hot guys before in the past and never reacted the way I did when I was around him. My palms got all sweaty and I couldn’t help feeling breathless and lightheaded around him.

Absently, I chewed on my lower lip while I silently pondered the enigma that was Wyatt. Everything about him just seemed so…intense. Almost
too
intense. Undeniably, he was one hunky specimen of a man but my internal voice of reason pointed out that it would be a mistake to judge a book by its cover. Nope…. I needed to discover what other qualities he possessed to determine whether or not he was even worthy of dating. Being nothing but eye-candy wasn’t enough to engage my interest in
any
type of relationship.
A girl’s gotta have standards!
I remembered Sergeant Ramsey saying that the others didn’t know about Sergeant Quartermaine’s unit yet, so I pondered how I could possibly get Harper and Allegra’s opinion on the situation if Wyatt was supposed to be a secret. I made a mental note to ask Jamie if we could let the cat out of the bag with the “secret unit”. Guiltily, I came crashing back to the present when I realized that Gideon had stopped in front of me and was snapping his fingers in front of my face in an effort to get my attention.

“Hell-oooo! Earth to Teagan!” He crossed his arms and I saw that there was a slightly accusatory look in his eyes as he frowned at me.

“Sorry!! Did you say something?” Sam was standing behind Gideon off to the side, and he was openly smirking at me. I did a double-take and raised an eyebrow at him as I made a mental note to have a private chat with him later. I felt slightly mollified when I saw Sam’s smile slip.

“I was asking how you knew those two guys outside!” There was a determined gleam in Gideon’s eyes as he grilled me for answers, and I was stunned when I realized he was jealous again. What was more surprising to me was that he was openly displaying his jealousy to those around us. I flicked a nervous look in Sergeant Ramsey’s direction before clearing my throat and answering.

“Umm…I ran into them while they were playing ping pong in the Mess Hall after I left your room last night. All of the military staff was there too.”

“Yep, we sure were son.” Sergeant Ramsey butted into our conversation. “It was all a very innocent chance meeting. No need for you to go defendin’ Teagan’s honor or any such nonsense.” He grinned at us all as if he was enjoying this little confrontation.

Gideon’s face flushed a dull red as he realized how he must’ve sounded to all of us. Defensively, he said, “It’s just that I didn’t like the way he was looking at her.” Turning back to face me, he went on to say, “It’s like he was undressing you with his eyes or something. There’s nothing wrong with wanting to protect you from some big lecherous pervert if his attention is unwanted.” At that, he paused and quirked his eyebrows at me as if waiting to see if I’d refute his claim or admit that I actually welcomed Wyatt’s attentions. At a loss, I floundered for something to say but my mind kept drawing a blank.

Sam took that opportunity to add his two cents to the conversation, although he didn’t really help the situation. In my opinion, I think he made it worse by getting Gideon worked up even more. “That guy was looking at you like you were a big juicy steak and he was starving for a taste or something!”

“Whoa!! Not helping Sam!” I shook my head at him in exasperation. He just shrugged and lamely finished by adding, “Well it’s true. I saw the way he was looking at you too.” I was discomfited to realize that Sam was right though. He had hit the nail right on the head with his observation. That’s
exactly
how Wyatt looked at me. With
hunger
in his eyes. Since he was technically still a stranger, he had no right to look at me that way.

I ignored Jamie and Sergeant Kami’s twittering laughter in the background as I looked Gideon squarely in the eye and tried to find the words to let him down gently. “Thank you so much for being concerned and overprotective of me Gideon. As much as I appreciate it, just remember that I’m an adult and I can handle guys like that on my own. Remember…I have a black belt in martial arts. But I promise that if a situation does comes up where I
do
need help, know that I’ll come running to you and Sam in a heartbeat. After all, we’re a team remember?”