Navy Blue - A Second Chance Romance (Complete)

Navy Blue: Chapter 8

Finn slammed the door to the common room. The door didn't reverberate with enough force to satisfy the ire brewing in his chest. Two hours at that law firm, forced to talk, rehash the crash, the details of his life. To her.

Emily was a mystery to him. Once upon a time, no one had known Emily Montgomery better. She'd shared all of herself with him, an open book. Where once Emily was the light in the room, full of curiosity, all eyes drawn towards her effervescent, joyful personality, now she seemed muted, a pale version of the woman he'd loved.

Lance Simpson seemed a decent enough fellow but Finn didn't know him and he'd liked answering his questions even less. Each one wound him up tighter than a snake sleeping in the sun. It was like this at every meeting with his superior, every interview.

The cab ride back to the base had lacked air conditioning and the late afternoon heat had his shirt sticking to him. Finn unbuttoned the stiff garment and peeled it off, intending on changing into sweats. A workout at the gym with Max was definitely in order. He needed to punch something.

A head of closely cropped hair poked up from the couch and whistled in a low tone. "Dude, what did that door ever do to you?"

Despite his current mood, Finn's lips turn north. "Campbell. What're you doing here?" He feigned looking around the room currently occupied only by his long-time friend. "Cindi kick you out already?"

"No." The bulky man stretched his muscled arms up over his head before dropping them down again as if in defeat. "Paperwork."

Finn and Campbell mock groaned together. Even in the military, you couldn't escape paperwork. Everything had to be detailed, documented, scanned and filed.

"I thought I'd stick around and we could watch the game." One of the only perks of being stateside was getting to watch hockey in real-time. Finn adored hockey, but for some reason, streaming the action hours after that fact when he returned from a mission didn't hold the same thrill as catching it live.

"Who're they playing?"

"Maple Leafs. We're set to break Toronto's winning streak tonight." Campbell picked up the remote, pressed a button and the large screen TV sprang to life.

"If you say so." Living close to the boarder, Finn and his brother had been fans of the Toronto team as kids and Campbell loved to mock him for cheering for a team that hadn't won the cup since 1967. "Wanna beer?"

Without checking for confirmation, Finn pulled two dark brown bottles out of the fridge and headed back to the sitting area. He tossed one to his friend, sank into the other end of the couch and stared at the T.V.

He scrolled through his phone, pausing on a text from Simon asking if he was available to watch the game tonight. Finn typed back "busy" and closed the app. After a good ten minutes of silence broken only by the guzzling of beer, Campbell cleared his throat. "Soooo. What crawled up your butt?"

Finn gnawed at the inside of his cheek internally cursing the man for knowing him so well.

Barrett Campbell was more than Finn's army buddy. The bond they had extended beyond friendship and respect, saving each other's lives on numerous occasions. The tally started when they first met in basic training. Campbell had recognized a similar anger in Finn and made it his mission to ensure the cadet didn't damage himself before the enemy even had a chance to take a shot at him. Campbell claimed it was his way of saving himself, having someone else to look out for.

Whatever the reason, Finn sure needed it. When he had arrived at the base for basic training eight years ago, he'd been a mess. A hot, angry at the world mess with a hair-trigger temper and a chip on his shoulder threatening to make Atlas jealous.