Free The Navy's Ghost (Bad Boys of Beta Squad) by Siobhan Muir Page A

energy or endurance to face the challenge at the moment. She closed her eyes and let the world shift away from her.
    Images swirled behind her eyelids and eventually resolved into a white arbor festooned with flowers. Todd and Jim stood beneath the cascading blooms in their dress blues, framing a man who looked like a chaplain. They all smiled at her and her SEALs each held a hand out to her as she closed in on their position. Chris reached for them and they pulled her up to the front, her white skirts tangling her feet a little.
    Hang on, am I at a wedding?
    The men beamed at her before facing the chaplain and Chris followed suit with bemusement. The chaplain resembled her granddad and he gave her an encouraging wink.
    “Repeat after me. I, Christiana Brickman, am not the most conventional woman.”
    She wasn’t sure who snorted with sarcasm, but a grin cracked the faces of her companions as she repeated the words. “ Joining the SEALs is a dead giveaway. I only wear dresses for special occasions, usually under duress, and I’d much rather hump a heavy pack twenty klicks through desert sand than attend the spa. And I can fieldstrip an automatic weapon in under thirty seconds.”
    These didn’t sound like any vows she’d ever heard before, but she dutifully repeated them. The men around her nodded with each statement. Her chaplain granddad winked at her.
    “I’m also not conventional in my sexual tastes…” Wait, had he just said that aloud? And he expected her to repeat it before God and country?
    Chris glanced at the men beside her and bit her lip. Magic’s expression had softened into thoughtfulness, but Retro wore shock like a bad Halloween mask.
    “Uh…”
    “I’m not gay or bi, but I’ve come to the conclusion I’m not traditional, either.” The chaplain held the only serenity in their little group while Chris just gaped. How the hell did he expect her to repeat this?
    “ I’m not gay or bi, but…uh, guys?”
    N either of them said a word, but both of their faces had drained of color. Intense emotion flickered behind their eyes and Chris’s gut tightened. Is it disgust or worry? Her face heated and she dropped her gaze to her feet.
    A hand pressed gently against her chin, lifting her head until she met the chaplain’s eyes. “Tell them how you really feel. They need to know.”
    “But—”
    “It’s important, Christiana.”
    Deep breath. Easier than Hell Week . She tightened her grip on the men’s hands. “I’ve been with you both for four years and you’re my best friends. The first people I think of when I wake up in the morning and the last people I think about before I hit the sack. The problem is I don’t want just one of you.” She fixed her gaze on Magic and hoped he’d understand. Please, God, let him be okay with sharing. “I’ve been trying to figure out which one of you I would choose to be in my happily-ever-after if SEALs ever get such a thing.”
    “ Ghost—” Chris squeezed Todd’s hand, interrupting him with a shake of her head.
    “Please, just hear me out. It’s traditional for a woman to choose only one man for the role, but I don’t want to. I love you both.” She turned her gaze to Retro. “Here, today, I’m declaring I want both of you in my life.”
    F or such different men, they wore the exact same expression. They both looked like they’d been poleaxed. The silence stretched after her statement, filling the space under the arbor with the hum of tension. It lasted so long she resisted the urge to squirm and sweat ran down the sides of her face. Why is it so hot here under the arbor?
    “I love you both ,” she croaked, her throat dry again. “Retro, for your quirky sense of humor and your steel-trap memory for useless knowledge—you know I’m never going to play trivia games with you.” Retro snorted softly, but he didn’t smile. “And Magic, I’ve never been so quiet and at peace as I am with you. Your steady strength and backup mean the