Chapter 12

Meeting his new team members shouldn't make him so nervous, but he would rely on these guys to keep him alive. If everything went to shit, he would need these men to get him out of bad situations. His memory flashed to the men who'd been injured or lost forever. He hadn't been able to help them when they needed him most. Losing his team had cut deep.

The door opened, and his head whipped up. It had been a while since he'd been on a team. He longed for the camaraderie but wished this part, the meeting and introductions, was over with.

A short guy who looked like he wasn't strong enough to be a SEAL stepped in first, followed by two guys who had to be at least a foot taller than the first guy. The door hadn't even shut when another two guys stepped in. They seemed to know each other, and Sharp felt out of his depths. It was stupid of him to feel weird, but he hoped the men didn't think he was cursed.

"Hey, you must be James Douglas," the short guy said .

"I am. I go by Sharp." The guys chuckled, and it seemed like some of the tension released.

"I'm Squat," the short guy said. "You can probably guess why. Most people underestimate me. Name's Christopher Drake."

"Jesse Moore. I go by Jay," a big guy with brown hair said.

"Dwight Boone. I go by Shine."

"Avery Owens. They call me Apple."

The last guy had a thick beard and hairy arms. "I'm Justin Williamson. They call me Griz."

"I can guess why they call you Griz," Jay said.

Griz laughed. "Yeah. I look like Bigfoot when I'm out in the wild."

Shine chuckled. "Dang. I thought it, but you admit it."

Jay met Sharp's gaze and lifted his chin. "How long have you been in the Navy, and how long a SEAL?"

"Fourteen years Navy," Sharp said. "SEAL for eight."

Squat spoke next. "Eight years Navy. One a SEAL."

"Two years, Navy," Apple said. "I just graduated from BUDs six months ago."

"Damn, you're young," Griz said. "I've been a SEAL for seven years, in the Navy for fifteen."

"So you and Sharp are the old men of the group," Shine said.

"Yeah. I've been stationed in Hawaii and then Virginia. This is my first time in Coronado."

"How long have you been in, Shine?" Jay asked.

"Two years as a SEAL and eight years in. What about you?" Shine asked.

Jay cracked a huge smile. "Almost three years as a SEAL and six years in the Navy."

"My last team had a bunch of older guys, and they all retired," Shine said .

"I've not been a member of a team yet," Apple said.

"My old team aged out, too," Griz said.

Jay nodded. "Same. I'm glad I was placed on a team and not shuffled around for too long."

"Two guys from my team medicaled out," Squat said. "They decided to move the other guys around."

They all turned to Sharp, and he didn't want to say it. It still hurt to talk about the guys from his team. Every one of them was in the ground, except Thario and Jinx. Losing three buddies had been tough. Jinx had gotten the worst end of the whole thing. Not only had he lost parts of his body, his mind wasn't all there. Thario had his mind, which was better than just being a shell. He needed to stop by and see Thario soon.

Guilt stirred inside. He had escaped damage by some miracle. It had been a total shit show that day. No matter what other people said, he knew he could have done something different to change the outcome. Looking back, it was easy to see that they all could have done something different. But once a bomb went off, you couldn't go back and redo the actions that led up to the disaster.

"You were on the mission in Chad, right?" Griz asked.

Sharp nodded, not wanting to show just how upset he still was. He didn't need to be pitied, and he didn't want to be treated differently. Being able to get past horrible atrocities was expected, but he couldn't just walk away and never think about the guys and what they'd suffered.

"That's a tough break," Jay said. "I knew a few of the guys."

"We aren't them," Squat said. "But we're going to work at becoming family. I know it fucking sucks what you went through."

"Yeah," Griz said .

"We'll make sure they're proud of what you do," Shine said.

His eyes started to burn. The last thing he needed to do was cry. As he looked around the group, none of them were judging him. There'd been a few looks from guys on other teams, the ones who whispered behind his back saying he must have done something to cheat death, but none of these guys seemed to be in that camp.

"Thanks, guys," he said after a moment.

"How about we do a round of PT. Something easy?" Griz asked.

Sharp wanted to groan, but Griz was right. They needed to learn to work together. They would swap stories about what they were good at, but right now, they needed to come together with physical exertion.

He was still wrecked from PT with Wild and his team, so he knew this would be difficult. Griz suggested three workouts they all knew, and everyone agreed. Sharp wasn't looking to break any records. He wasn't going to hold back, but he knew he wouldn't impress any of them. The time in Russia had been invaluable, but he'd lost strength. Now, he was dealing with the effects.

The guys encouraged each other, and none of them were so hard on him that he felt awful. They pushed for excellence but accepted him where he was. They worked well together and hung out, becoming friends. It would take time to get to know each other, but he was looking forward to becoming closer. This team might just save him.