“Yes. Sure. Thank you. I didn’t expect—”

“You said you wanted food, drinks, and company. You found the two”—he motions to Nix and Nix just smirks—“so I figured the least I could do was help your date along with the third.”

“Funny,” I say and roll my eyes as Nix belts out a laugh, slapping the counter.

“Dare I ask what the two of you are talking about down here?” he asks as he takes a sip of a beer himself.

“I told Nix that you were taking me on a date tomorrow and—”

“I am, am I?” he asks, tossing the towel onto his shoulder and crossing his arms as his eyes hold mine.

“Yes. You are,” I state matter-of-factly. “And so, I was taking suggestions on what he thinks we should do.”

“I know exactly what we should do,” Gunner says with a suggestive smirk.

I stand from my seat and motion for him to come closer, leaning across the counter to whisper in his ear. “While I’m all for jumping in, sometimes a little foreplay is appreciated.”

Nix laughs and smacks the counter again, drawing attention back on us. “Goddamn, I like her, Gunny.”

Gunner twists his lips as he stares at me. “I do too,” he says. “So you were asking Nix about the best foreplay, were you?”

“Something like that,” I reply.

“I’ve heard a lot of stories from and about Nix over the years,” Gunner says, “so if you’re into tipping cows for foreplay, then he’s your man.”

“Hey. That was low,” Nix says but their grins are wide, and the pretzel on the bar that Nix throws at him is batted away with a laugh.

“So is stealing my girl,” Gunner says as he flashes me a grin before heading down to where Aubrey is waiting for him with a drink order.

“Fucker,” Nix says to his friend’s back.

“And yet you still come here regularly to put up with his abuse.” It’s more of a statement rather than a question. An acknowledgment of how strong their friendship is.

“Always,” he says, his voice softening as he looks down to where his thumbs are running over the label on his bottle before meeting my eyes again. “I was there, Chase. I was trapped in a corner, out of ammo, shot in the hip, scared to fucking death, and praying he’d be able to save me. He was my only hope. Then I was there trying to use quick clot in his wounds to save him, because the medic was worse off than him. I was there at his Medal of Honor ceremony. And I’ll always be here for him because without him, five of us wouldn’t be here right now.”

I stare at this gruff-looking man with a standoffish posture and a sarcastic mouth and see true loyalty and gratitude when he looks at Gunner.