Free Dream of Me by Delilah Devlin Page A

the island, she’d be settling back into her old life, learning ways to cope, reconnecting with her friends and moving on.
    He’d be cruel to interrupt her again and dredge up the pain.
    “Should have called her, man.”
    Sam bit back a rude, “Fuck off.” Instead, he gave Jax his deadliest glare.
    Jax backed away with both arms raised. “Whoa. Sure I’m the one you’re pissed at?”
    His teammates all knew about Ash. At first, he’d railed at the mission, confiding in his friends about his blown chance, looking for any tips on how he could make things right. The longer he’d been stuck in the desert, frying in Kevlar and heavy equipment, the more sullen he’d become. By now, he no longer wanted their advice.
    In the cover of darkness, their mission had gone off without a hitch. ISIS fighters gave them hell, but they’d had their newest secret weapon watching their back—their ace sharpshooter, Wolf Kincaid. He’d tagged the men guarding the perimeter, one by one. A well-placed small brick of C-4 had splintered the thick wooden door on the exterior gate, and his team had spilled into the compound. They’d plucked off the fighters, stumbling from their sleeping quarters, and rushed the crude dwelling where hostages had been imprisoned.
    Thirteen ISIS bastards dead. Not a loss of life among the hostages—their high-value hostage returned to his family. All their team members came out relatively unscathed other than a through-and-through bullet to Deke Warrick’s upper arm. He’d already been sewn up and was awaiting transport with the rest of them in a hangar at Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan. At this moment, Sam was sitting in a lawn chair, wishing he was a few thousand miles closer to the source of his discontent.
    “Who’s the grumpy bear?” Deke said from his pallet a few feet away. “You don’t have to face Nicky with this,” he said, raising his shoulder and wincing.
    “She’s just gonna kiss it all better,” Jax said, his lips curving in a grin.
    Deke grimaced. “I already called her. Didn’t tell her about the injury, though. I’m gonna catch hell.”
    Wolf sauntered over and lowered himself into an empty chair. His cheeks were clean-shaven and white below tanned cheeks. They’d all taken advantage of real showers with clean water, and their uniforms had been laundered.
    “At least Piper won’t fall over dead from a whiff of my funk.” Wolf proceeded to open a packaged MRE.
    Sam eyed the meal with distaste, determined to starve before he ate another Meal, Ready-to-Eat. His belly growled in protest of the thought. He remembered his last dinner on the island. “Think Nicky can cook us up a batch of barjack?”
    Shaking his head, Deke snorted. “You are not flying home. I’ve already told Charter’s pilot to make a stop at New Orleans.”
    Sam dropped his gaze and drew a hand tight, bouncing it on his thigh. “Nothing for me there.”
    “Didn’t take you for a coward, dude,” Jax said, his tone mournful.
    His muscles tightened, and he shot Jax a dark look. “The last thing she’d want is me showing up on her doorstep.”
    “Never know unless you try. She looked pretty into you, man.”
    Sam leaned back in his lawn chair and gripped the aluminum arms. “She probably hates my guts now. I did something pretty fucking bleak.”
    “You kill her cat?” Jax asked.
    “She doesn’t have a cat.”
    “You leave the toilet seat up?” Deke said, with a weak grin.
    Sam rolled his eyes. “Just shut up.”
    “What did you do that was so damn bad?” Wolf asked, his expression still, eyes narrowed.
    “Thought you were the quiet man?”
    Wolf shrugged. “Just tryin’ to help out a teammate.”
    Sam’s quickly exhaled breath billowed his cheeks. “I didn’t give her Marc’s ring until I was standing in her door to stay goodbye.”
    Jax’s jaw fell, and he skated his gaze around the group. “She didn’t know he was gonna propose?”
    Sam pressed his lips together and shook his