Free Johnny: #2 (Special Forces) by Madison Stevens Page B

around and says with a straight face, ‘Gas, sir.’ I thought he was going to rip him a new hole with how red he got.”
    Luca laughed hard and took another drink off his beer.
    Garrett looked between them with wide eyes. “So what happened?”
    Johnny set his empty beer down and sighed. “Restricted to the base for a while and the commander made us scrub down every brick and blade of grass outside, but that wasn’t the worst part.”
    Garrett raised a brow. “It wasn’t?”
    Johnny shook his head. “Nope. That damn paint was red, so for almost a month I looked like a damn baboon with my red ass.”
    The men all chuckled.
    Johnny leaned over to Trent.
    “I left my phone in your car,” he said quietly. “Can I get your keys?”
    Trent stared at him for a moment, and Johnny wondered if he’d guessed that he was waiting for a call.
    Just before they left, he ran over and placed a note on Maddy’s door so she would know that he hadn’t ditched her.
    Trent nodded and slapped his keys in his hand.
    Johnny stood quickly.
    “Be right back,” he said, but no one seemed to be paying much attention since Luca had moved on to a new story.
    He always was the one with a story to tell. If Johnny was ever going to have someone narrate his life, it would be Luca. He was glad his friend had decided to come along despite being pissed at him for leaving. It was one friendship he didn’t want to lose.
    Johnny jogged outside and out to the car. It was about half a block away from the bar, but an easy jog. He popped the lock on the car when he got there and found his phone easily enough. He shut the door and locked it as he checked the phone.
    No new messages.
    Johnny frowned. Maybe she was just studying late.
    He tried not to let it bother him that she hadn’t called or texted, but he worried that she would think he was blowing her off. After they got back to the house, he’d have to make sure things were okay between them.
    He turned to walk back to the bar but stopped when loud voices caught his ear. Always on alert, Johnny turned and watched as a man and woman struggled outside a restaurant. The blond woman slapped the man hard, but it only seemed to anger him when he gripped her with his other hand.
    It took a moment for him to realize what was happening, but when he did, Johnny sprinted toward them.
    “Hey,” he shouted.
    The man looked over to him, and it dawned on him just who was being shaken. Johnny was pissed a man would put his hands on a woman like that, but pure raged filled him when he realized who the blond woman was.
    His fist connected with David’s face a moment later, and the prick went down like a sack of potatoes.
    His fingers twitched, and he almost regretted not hitting him harder. He’d held back. It was one of the first things they taught you in the SEALs, restraint.
    His body was a weapon, and he knew he could do a lot of damage if he didn’t restrain himself. But it took yever damn ounce of him not to beat the ever loving shit out of the bastard. It was only luck that Trent hadn’t been with him. He doubted his friend would have been able to hold back seeing his sister treated like that.
    “You’ll be hearing from my lawyer,” David said as he wiped his bloody nose with the sleeve from his shirt.
    Johnny opened his mouth to reply but stopped when Maddy stepped in front of him.
    “And you’ll be hearing from mine. I’m sure the law school would love to know about someone with a record for leaving bruises on woman and assaulting them.”
    David’s face paled as he scrambled to stand. The small man glared over at Johnny.
    “To hell with both of you,” David said and backed down the side walk. “You and your thug boyfriend deserve each other, you bitch.”
    Johnny curled his fingers into fists and considered going after David again, but stilled at Maddy’s touch.
    The other man ran away.
    Johnny turned Maddy into his arms and sighed. The adrenaline still pumped hard through his veins.
    He