Chapter 35

Jay was tired of Apple’s attitude. He wasn’t doing anything to harm their unit, but he was being a jerk. When they got off work, instead of going home, he followed Apple and parked in his driveway.

Apple had moved into a small duplex not too far from Jay. When he’d first moved in, they’d been excited that they were so close. Now, it just felt weird.

He’d blocked Apple in, and the second the door to Apple’s truck opened, Jay could tell he was hot. They were going to have strong words. Hopefully, they wouldn’t get into a fight.

“What the fuck are you doing?” Apple yelled as he stalked back to Jay’s car.

Jay stepped out and closed the door. “We need to talk.”

“You need to get your ass out of my life.”

Jay shook his head. “No, because you’re the one who is putting me front and center by being such an asshole about Nichole.”

Apple shook his head. “She’s going to fuck you over. You’re just too pussy whipped to see that she’s using you.”

“What makes you think she isn’t into me?”

“Please. Why would some superstar reporter want you?”

Jay swallowed over the anger, not wanting to react badly. Apple was already hot enough for both of them.

“We had a connection, and now we’re exploring it. Right now, she’s in Chicago getting her stuff. She’s moving in with me.”

“What?” Apple’s mouth fell open like he couldn’t believe that Nichole wanted him enough to give up her life in Chicago and move here.

“I trust her. I love her. She isn’t going to fuck me over. Nichole is a good person.”

“What happens when she starts digging for information?”

“Listen, Apple, I know what happened in your past is clouding your view of what Nichole is to me.”

Apple snorted. “Pasts, now, whatever.”

Jay paused, stopping the words he was ready to say. Something was off. “Wait. Is she in contact with you again?”

Apple frowned. He said nothing, but his expression said enough. The guy wasn’t just dealing with something from his past. He was dealing with it right now.

“I know Griz came by to talk, and you told him to fuck off. Apple, tell me what’s going on?”

Apple closed his eyes, and Jay glanced around. They’d attracted the interest of a few of Apple’s neighbors.

Jay lowered his voice. “Can we go inside?”

Apple frowned and glanced around. He nodded and turned to head in. Jay locked his car before following.

Once inside, Apple grabbed two beers and set them on the table. “Sit. It’s a lot.”

Jay took a seat and cracked open the beer. He would rather stand, but he didn’t want to appear confrontational to Apple. The man was going through something and he didn’t want to antagonize him.

Jay blew out a heavy sigh as he sat, then opened the beer, drinking half. Jay thought Apple was going to start talking, but he shook his head. Jay wanted to prompt him, but he knew Apple wouldn’t talk until he was ready.

It took another minute or so before he started in on his story. “I thought she loved me. She said she did. I’d been seeing someone, but they weren’t ready for commitment. Then Tara came into my life. She was hot and heavy from the get-go. She made me feel great, took care of me, did everything girlfriends are supposed to do. It was intense. I really thought she was the one. But she never cared about me.”

Jay didn’t know if he should say something. Telling Apple that Nichole wasn’t anything like that didn’t seem to work. She wasn’t this Tara woman Apple had run into. Heck, he’d never even heard of Tara before this all came up. He needed more information, but Apple hadn’t been forthcoming.

“She only wanted me to use me. She was going to expose something. It wasn’t a big deal. The Navy was already working on fixing the issue. I know the Navy doesn’t get everything perfect, I’ve seen it, but this woman used me. And I allowed it.”

“I’m sure you didn’t allow it.”

“Fuck, man, I let her—fuck. I fucked up and—” Apple hit him with a hard stare. “You’re fucking up, too, allowing a reporter into your life. She’ll want information, and you won’t be able to say no.”

“Apple, I love you like a brother, but you are one hundred percent wrong about Nichole.”

Apple threw up his hands. “How can you know? I didn’t know. She only fucked me to steal my keys and break into the base.”

Apple’s words hit hard. “She did what?”

“She broke in and stole paperwork from my office. She almost ended my career. If my CO hadn’t been as good, I would be in prison with her. She fucked me over.”

Jay shook his head. “Man, that sucks.”

“She contacted me a few weeks ago. She wants me to come to the prison where she is and talk.”

Jay narrowed his gaze. “Wait, you aren’t going to meet with her, are you?”

Apple shrugged. “I want to hear her apologize so I can tell her to fuck off.”

“Have you gotten counseling about this?”

Apple rolled his eyes. “No. I don’t need counseling.”

“Maybe you do. You’re still very pissed off about this. I don’t think it’s good for you.”

Apple’s chair screeched as he stood. “I’m fine.”

“Dude, you’re agitated, and it’s showing.”

Apple shut his eyes, his jaw twitching as he clenched his teeth. “I’m fine.”

“No, man, you’re not. I’ll go with you, and we can talk about Nichole. Which, you’re going to come to my place this weekend and eat a meal with us.”

“Fuck.” Apple’s lips thinned as he stared at Jay, shaking his head. “What if I don’t want to?”

“You need to get over this thing. Nichole isn’t this Tara woman. She’s not like that at all. You need to separate the two. Nichole isn’t going to betray me.”

Apple snorted. “That’s what I thought about Tara.”

Anger rose, but he tamped it down. “Please find someone to talk to, and you are coming over. That’s non-negotiable. You need to spend time with Nichole and get to know her.”

“I don’t trust her.”

“Well, that’s because you don’t know her.”

Apple shook his head. “She lied so easily.”

“She was protecting us. And if you knew her, you could have seen that her lie wasn’t easy. She did it to protect us. She didn’t want some random woman taking photos of us and sharing them around on social media, telling everyone we were the SEAL team who rescued her.”

Apple shook his head. “This is all fucked up.”

“Yeah, but we’re going to un-fuck it. And you’re going to get to know Nichole. She isn’t Tara.”

Apple drank the last of his beer, not looking fully convinced, but he wasn’t arguing about having dinner with Nichole. Maybe he was being too simple-minded about what the outcome could be, but he really thought that once Apple knew Nichole, everything would get better.

Now, he just had to plan the perfect menu to make sure he could referee between the pair if it came to that. He wanted them to have time, but he didn’t want her left alone for too long.