Jed blinked. He’d grown used to the way Max rattled off everything on his mind in one breath, but on days like today, he could only nod. He hadn’t forgotten his promise to take Max to the grocery store, but the impending sleepover had slipped his mind. He inclined his head to the front of the truck. “Get in.”
A little while later, he found himself in his own personal hell. America had changed since he’d last frequented a Walmart, and he gazed around the grotesquely large store in muted horror. Damned place was bigger than an aircraft hangar. The huge array of goods seemed vulgar to Jed, and for a moment he found himself missing the oppressive Arabian markets he’d grown to hate. Back there, he’d known the score. Here, in the warehouse-sized store, he felt adrift.
Max appeared beside him with a jumbo shopping cart. “Want to drive? Give you something to lean on?”
Jed grinned despite himself. “You think I should lean on something with wheels? That’s not gonna end well.”
“Good point.” Max called Flo to heel. “But if you’re not going to push this delinquent thing, then you have to pick out the pink shit for the bed and….”
Jed zoned out again. His senses heightened and his vision narrowed. He analyzed the people around them. Their faces seemed too close. Most were oblivious to his scrutiny, but a few cast curious glances at Flo in her purple harness. Jed stared hard at an unwitting man whose gaze lingered. What the fuck was his problem?
“Jed?”
The man pushed his cart in the opposite direction. Jed swiveled his gaze back to Max. “Which bed?”
“Mine,” Max said, though he shot Jed a strange look. “Tess doesn’t always sleep well, so I figured it might help if I made my room a bit more like home.”
“They can have my bed. I don’t sleep much at night anyway.”
It was true. While Max seemed to go to bed and get up at pretty much the same time each day, military life had conditioned Jed to snatch most of his rest in daylight. He hadn’t had a full night’s sleep in years.
Max shook his head. “Thanks, but Belle doesn’t like your room. She thinks the boogeyman can see through the giant window. It’s fine. I’ll sleep on the couch.”
Jed opened his mouth to offer Max the use of his own bed, but his attention was drawn to the shopping cart and the hodgepodge of goods Max had thrown in.Chickpeas and hot sauce?“What the hell are you cooking?”
“Bean burritos. It gets a bit messy, but they love them.”
“Really?” Jed was skeptical. From what he’d seen, both girls were finicky eaters and seemed to exist on fish sticks and tater tots.
Max leaned across him and snagged a can of black beans. Habit made Jed step back. It was never good to let someone into your personal space—it made them harder to fight. Then he saw a smudge of oil on the back of Max’s neck and found himself distracted by the smell of cut wood and fresh cotton. He felt a rush of unexpected heat, unsure if he wanted to wipe it away or rub it into Max’s skin.
Oblivious, Max dropped the can in the cart. “Really. They eat better when there’s nothing else—no candy, no junk. You’ll see.”
Jed supposed he would. Besides, Max was excited about the impending sleepover, and his bright mood washed over Jed like a summer breeze. He knew Max’s energy wasn’t always quite what it seemed, but he enjoyed Max’s sunny grin and verve. With a heavy PT session weighting Jed’s limbs, Max was a sight for sore eyes. He almost forgot about the harsh lights and plastic music that made his skin itch.
Almost.
They reached the home furnishings aisle. Jed glanced around, torn between the strange, alluring calm Max bestowed on him and the creeping unease of being stuck in a crowd without his gun. Blood rushed in his ears and his hands twitched as he fought the urge to spin around in a slow three-sixty.
Beside him, Max held up two sets of pink bed sheets for him to inspect. Jed stared. He knew Max had asked him a question, but for the life of him, he couldn’t think of an answer.
Max nudged him. “I’m rubbish at this stuff. Hearts or ponies?”
Jed swallowed heavily. He couldn’t bring himself to care, but he knew Max well enough to know he wouldn’t quit. “Ponies.”
Max tossed the pony-covered sheets into the cart. After doubling back to pick up green apples, he finally declared them done.
Relieved, Jed followed him to the checkout and swiped his card before Max could intercept him. Back at the truck, refusing the handful of bills Max shoved his way was a little more difficult. With a rueful grin, he split the cash in half and passed the excess back. Max scowled, but it was halfhearted. He seemed worried, and Jed was too tired to figure out why.
Back at the cabin, Jed pulled the truck to a stop and opened the driver’s door. He paused a moment, steeling himself to haul his aching body out. Max hovered, but something in Jed’s expression seemed to dissuade him from lingering long.
Just as well. Jed was tired, and his head was spinning from the Walmart experience. Put together with the inevitable rush of having Max so close to him, he was pretty sure he’d tumble them both to the ground, andnotin the good way.
Sometime later, he woke to find he’d passed out on his bed without ever making it to the shower. The afternoon had faded into night, and despite the ever present ache in his belly, he felt revived. A hot shower cleared his head, and once he felt steady enough, he dressed and ventured out of his room.
Barefoot, he padded the length of the cabin, but Max was nowhere to be found. His absence struck Jed as strange. Max was a creature of habit. Early evening usually found him foraging in the kitchen for his supper.
He didn’t know what to make of the warmth in his chest when he eventually found Max outside, tending to a rudimentary oven of bricks set over an open fire. The scene was familiar, like Jed had been there before in another life. Max’s soft grin hit him like a train, and for a moment he found himself frozen, his feet planted stubbornly on the icy ground.