“Don’t ‘wait’ me,” she growled. “Turn that off,now.”
“I can explain!” he cried, and I winced when his foot caught on something and he hit the ground with a cry that sounded more like dismay than pain. “I swear!”
“Save it,” she said with a roll of her eyes. “That is Reno, whoshouldbe fixing his truck before Xander realizes it’s still in the bay rather than outside so the outpost vehicles are on hand in case we get a call.”
“Hello,” I said, snorting as he pawed at the remote before turning the TV off. “Didn’t mean to interrupt.”
“I, uh,” he began, his face burning red. “Hey, you must be the new guy, the medic?”
“Colin,” I said, eyeing his hands as he got closer. “Uh, no offense, but?—”
“Oh,” he said, looking down at his hand and wincing. “I wasn’t…I was taking a nap. I swear, clothes were on, hands weren’t in my pants.”
Snorting, I took his hand as a show of good faith. Plus, it wasn’t like it was the first time I’d had contact with another guy's dick, directly or indirectly. I was getting a good look at him, and he wasn’t sputtering and stumbling all over the place; I had to admit I wouldn’t mind more direct contact with his dick. I mean, he was cute, bordering on hot even with his boyish looks, but it was the brightness of his green eyes that appealed. Much like Jake appealed because, on top of looking good in wet clothes stuck to him, his goofy attitude and bright smile had been appealing.
Hmm, probably best not to let my eyes linger or my thoughts drift about the guys I was going to be spending weeks, if not months, in close quarters with. Not that I was worried about being outed or anything, but I doubted they wanted to be ogled by me. Wasn’t my fault that the first two guys I ran into happened to be good-looking.
“Colin,” I repeated. “Heard your name already, but…good to meet you.”
“I swear you’re not going to wake up to me whacking it to porn,” he said with a wince. “Promise…and yeah, I’m Reno.”
“Wake up…” I began, but shook my head as Cait gave a low growl. “Uh?—”
“Yeah, I heard you,” Reno said with a wince. “I’m going, I’m going, I swear…and if I clean your office, will you not tell anyone what you saw?”
“I’m desperate to forget it,” she said, glancing at me. “Might wanna take it up with him, but you can still clean my office.”
“Damn it,” Reno said, hanging his head. “New guy, please don’t mention this to anyone, at least not until we figure out if there’s some way I can convince you to keep quiet.”
Was it still blackmail if the other person was offering something to keep you quiet? Probably, but I knew the value of casual, harmless blackmail as well, so I snorted, nodding. “Don’tworry, I’ll keep quiet, but I’m definitely gonna wanna hear what you did that wasn’t what it looked like.”
“Uh,” he said, and I saw his eyes dart away before returning to my face and then nodding. “Uh, sure.”
I wasn’t sure whatthatwas about, but I figured it wasn’t the time for it, mostly because Cait was still glaring at him. He squeezed out of the room with a wince as Jake walked past, singing to himself again and bumping Reno, laughing when Reno cursed as he fell again. “Drink some more, Reno.”
“We’ll see how I feel when I get your ass back, asshole,” Reno muttered, his foot lashing out and sending Jake sprawling to the floor when his foot hit the back of his knee and sent him to the ground. “Like that.”
“Ow! I’m trying to deliver the new guy’s stuff!” Jake complained from the floor.
“I’m sure you’re used to idiots after being in the Navy,” Cait said with a shake of her head.
“I was a corpsman attached to a few groups of Marines; this is uh…practically philosophical debate and scientific progress compared to what I’ve seen,” I assured her. I thought about adding that I had participated in my fair share of stupidity in the past. Cait at least seemed to believe I was reasonably intelligent and capable; I didn’t want to tarnish that image by telling her about the past.
If I was going to ruin my budding reputation, I’d prefer to earn it in the present.
“Get moving,” Cait told Jake, shoving at his side with her sneaker. “He’s going to want to shower and change.”
“And what about me?” Jake asked with a wide-eyed stare. “I’m wet and cold too!”
“Good, then show him to his room and where the showers are, got it?” she asked with a huff. “I’ll talk to him later.”
“That was quick,” I noted as Jake got up.
She jammed a finger toward where we’d come. “Hear that?”
Now I was listening, I could hear trilling. “Call coming in?”
“Non emergency, so don’t worry your pretty head over it,” she said with a smile. “But it’s still important for me. So get cleaned up, Xander will figure out you’re here and stomp over at some point. Word of advice? Don’t push him, but don’t take him too seriously either.”