The Suicide Project (Rebirth Book 1) (28 page)

Sam and Gideon came up beside us and the four of us started heading towards the men’s dorm before I halted in my tracks when I heard Mercer’s whining. He had lingered behind and was standing at Sergeant Ramsey’s side as he gazed at me with a doleful expression. Glancing at Gideon, I asked, “Do you think you can handle him being in your room? Maybe if he stays on Sam’s side of the room?” He just stared apprehensively back at Mercer for a moment before finally nodding his head yes, even though I knew he wanted to shake his head no.

The second I whistled for Mercer he bounded happily to my side, wedging himself in between me and Gideon. Gideon practically crashed into the wall in his haste to get away from Mercer, but I just tugged the puppy to my other side and followed Sam down the hall. Gideon was the last to enter the room and his eyes flicked all over the place before he noticed that Mercer was safely curled up on the floor beside Sam’s bed.

I saw that Kyrie had made herself comfortable on the small couch in front of the gaming console as Sam sat cross legged on the floor. They were getting ready to play a racing game, and I listened to them chatter on about choosing colors and styles of their cars before they actually started their game. Gideon was sitting stiffly in a small cushioned armchair, watching the screen and trying to pretend there wasn’t a dog in his room. His jaw was tightly clenched and I saw a small muscle twitching in his lower cheek.

Chuckling, I crossed the room to stand behind Gideon’s chair. Leaning down, I hugged him tightly from behind in a show of comfort and support. “It’ll get better Giddy, I promise”. I felt and heard him exhale a shaky breath before he nodded his head and reached up to squeeze one of my hands in his. After a minute, he slowly started to relax so I left him to amble over to Sam’s side of the room. Glancing at the small pile of packages on the floor, I rubbed my hands together and got started assembling his bed. In no time at all, I had his new bed made up with fresh sheets and his fluffy new duvet cover. It looked better in person than it did on the computer. As I stood back to admire my creation, I heard Sam squeal as he launched himself at his bed and snuggled the pillow that was shaped like the smiling cloud.

Kyrie came over briefly to admire the bedding before racing back to the couch to challenge Gideon to a game. Whether or not she knew it, Kyrie was doing an excellent job of putting Gideon at ease in regards to the Mercer situation. I grinned at them before heading over to Gideon’s side of the room, tackling the packages that held his new bedding. After assembling his bed, I fluffed his pillows and felt his presence as he came to stand next to me.

“Climb into your bed!” I urged. “You won’t believe how fluffy it is!” I looked over at Sam who was now snuggled beneath his comforter, and looked on the verge of passing out right then and there. His eyes were already halfway closed as he smiled back at me.

Good naturedly, Gideon toed off his sneakers and climbed beneath his new duvet. He yawned loudly as he announced, “It’s like laying in a fluffy cloud of softness! This is great! I’m glad we listened to you Teagan. Thanks for helping us choose our bedding!”

I turned my head when I heard another yawn and saw that Kyrie was struggling to keep her eyes open.
Sheesh…it’s like everyone got hit with the sleepy stick all at once.
Grinning at her, I said, “Come on kiddo, time for bed.” I crouched on the floor and indicated for Kyrie to climb on piggy-back style. She giggled as she climbed on, looping her arms loosely over my shoulders before laying her head down on my upper back.

“G’night guys! See you tomorrow morning!” I whispered softly before dimming the lights and calling for Mercer to come with me. The hallway was silent when we left the guys’ room, but I heard a distant bouncing noise coming from the direction of the Mess Hall. It was a noise I recognized well.
Someone was playing ping pong.

As we turned the corner, I saw that there was a small crowd of military personnel congregated around the ping pong table. A couple of heads turned our way at my approach, and to my surprise there were two new faces I hadn’t seen before. The newbies were currently playing ping pong as the sergeants watched on, but when they saw me standing there with Kyrie on my back, they stopped playing. Judging from the sound of her breathing and lack of reaction, I had guessed that Kyrie had probably fallen asleep.
Wow…that didn’t take long!

The first thing I noticed about the two new guys were their eyes — they were the altered feline eyes that proved they had already received their third injection.
Who are they?
They both seemed to be in their mid to late twenties, and they were wearing similar military fatigues that the sergeants all wore. I also noticed the dog tags that hung around their necks.
Hmm… they must be from Sergeant Quartermaine’s unit.

Since I seemed to have caught their attention, I trudged forward the last few yards until I came to a stop at the edge of the circle. The faint tinkling sound of Mercer’s name tag jingled as he stayed glued to my side. With an effort, I hiked Kyrie up my back higher before reaching out to shake the hand of the soldier nearest to me. It was tricky balancing Kyrie with one arm behind my back, but somehow I was able to manage her dead weight. “Hello, I’m Teagan.” His eyes were a beautiful light green color with slanted amber irises, and he had thick dark brown lashes.
Not fair! Why do guys always have the thickest lashes?
The corners of his mouth quirked up in an amused grin as he extended his own hand to shake.

“We know who you are, and it’s nice to finally meet you, Teagan. I’m Wyatt, and this here is Angelo.” He held my hand longer than necessary for a standard handshake and it almost seemed as if he was reluctant to release me. Finally, he did so before gesturing to his companion, but his gaze lingered appreciatively on my face. Little electric tingles of attraction started to sizzle and pop all along my spine as I stared mutely at Wyatt. The moment felt way too intimate somehow, and I felt my face heat up as I started feeling slightly flustered. Wyatt was majorly hot, and his masculine presence made me aware of myself as a woman.
Yowza!!

Realizing that Sergeant Ramsey and everyone else was watching me closely for some reason, I quickly switched my attention to the guy named Angelo. Angelo happened to be watching Wyatt, and I could clearly tell by his expression that he found Wyatt’s undivided attention to me entertaining. Shooting Wyatt a grin, he finally turned to me and held out his hand for me to shake. “Very nice to meet you, Teagan.” Taking me by surprise, he raised my hand up for a brief kiss just as Wyatt elbowed him sharply in the ribs with a glare.
Okay, there’s definitely something weird going on here…

My attention jerked to Sergeant Ramsey as he pointed his finger at me and outright laughed. Laughed!
Rude!
I suspected that it was probably due to the perplexed expression I must’ve had pasted on my face. I knew my mouth was hanging open, so I forced myself to snap it shut. A few of the others laughed too but I knew it was in response to Sergeant Ramsey’s unexpected bark of laughter. Feeling unnerved by the entire situation, I decided to haul my ass out of there while I still had my wits about me. Shooting a quick glare in Sergeant Ramsey’s direction, I announced, “Well, it’s been a long day so I’m going to bed now. It was nice meeting you guys. I’m sure I’ll run into you again in the near future. Maybe then I’ll get to meet the third member of your unit. Okay, nighty night!” I was aware I was babbling but couldn’t seem to stop myself.

I felt Kyrie sliding down my back again, so I hiked her up once more before pivoting to speed-walk out of the Mess Hall with Mercer hot on my heels. I had almost reached the corridor to the ladies wing when I heard a couple of footsteps scurrying towards me. Glancing briefly over my shoulder as I walked, I saw Jamie and Sergeant Ramsey approaching. Beyond them, everyone else was still standing there grinning and watching me as I vanished around the corner.
What the hell!!

Jamie came up beside me and winked as she gave me a knowing grin. “I’ll help you put Kyrie to bed.”

Sergeant Ramsey jogged to my other side to apologize for his rude outburst of laughter a few minutes ago. “Sorry darlin’, I couldn’t help myself. It’s just that I get a huge kick out of your facial expressions. They crack me up every time.”

Casting a glare at him out of the corner of my eye, I demanded, “Why in the H-E-double-hockey-sticks do I get the feeling that you guys are always laughing at me for some reason?!”

Sergeant Ramsey chortled in approval at my chosen word substitution for a swear word but I just continued scowling at him as I waited impatiently for a reply.

As we came to a stop in front of my door, Jamie placed her palm on the scanner and the door clicked unlocked. She held it open for me as I carried Kyrie over to her bed and laid her gently down. Almost immediately, she curled up in a ball on her side. Crossing my arms stubbornly over my chest, I turned to confront the other two.

Seeking to placate me, Jamie was quick to explain, “We’re always smiling at you because you’re so cute!” As I scoffed in reply and was about to argue that she was just blowing me off, she held up her hand to start again. “We smile at you all the time because we’re proud of you. You’re headstrong and you’re not afraid to speak your mind or stand up for those who need protection. You’re firm in your convictions, and you always display sound logic and a deep moral fiber. You’re a brave, tenacious, and loyal person, all wrapped up in a beautiful package. Why would it come as a surprise to you that some of the guys here would be interested in you in a romantic sense?”

Once again, I felt my mouth flop open at Jamie’s candid explanation and I felt my face burning in embarrassment to my dismay. I was flattered as she hinted that some people saw me that way, but was uncomfortable discussing the topic of possible romantic relationships. I mean, hello…. Sergeant Ramsey was standing right there!

Shaking my head in discouragement, I announced, “If anyone mentions or even hints at showing an interest in me, you’ll just have to dissuade them and explain that I’m not available.”

“Yer seein’ someone already girly?” Sergeant Ramsey quirked an eyebrow at me and I felt my cheeks flaming hotter. Fanning my face with my hand, I demanded, “Okay, seriously??
Why
in the world are we discussing my love-life? Huh?!” He just chuckled at me in amazement as he commented, “Yer such a saucy lil’ baggage, it confounds me that you still have the ability to blush! Who woulda thought
that
was possible?”

Ignoring his asinine comment, I turned to Jamie and explained, “I’m not available because I’m not in the market for a relationship. I-I’m damaged inside. I’m still jaded and bitter from my last relationship. If there’s one thing I’ve learned about relationships, it’s the fact that you can never fully trust the one you’re with, because in the end they’ll always end up breaking your heart. I don’t have the strength in me right now to go through that again.” I’m sure the pain in my eyes reflected the pain I was still feeling in my chest as I remembered my failed engagement to Kyle.
Asshole!
I swallowed the lump in my throat as I stared back at Jamie, trying to convey with a look that the topic was over and I didn’t want to talk about it any further.

She nodded her head in understanding before walking over to rub my shoulder. “Time will heal all wounds, and eventually you’ll see that it’ll be worth it to open up your heart and learn to trust again. You can’t lump all guys into the same category because not all guys are the same. Besides, your ex-fiancé was a Grade-A schmuck. Not all guys are jerks. You’re such a vibrant young lady, it seems a shame for you to close yourself off to all the possibilities waiting for you out there.”

Grinning wryly at her, I snorted, “You mean possibilities like Wyatt? Seriously…what was up with that introduction anyways?” I was totally fishing for information, and like always, Sergeant Ramsey saw through my ruse as he smirked at me and said, “I’m sure I have no idea what yer talkin’ about darlin’.”

“Aarggh! Fine! Be that way! Out with you then, it’s past my bedtime!” I grumbled as I pointed him to the door.

He chuckled as he held up his hands in surrender. “See you tomorrow morning Teagan, and don’t be late!” he warned, waving to me as he headed out the doorway. Vaguely, I remembered that tomorrow was going to be a big day since all the military staff decided to forgo wearing their human-eye contacts. It would be interesting to see everyone else’s reaction to their altered features.

With an effort, Jamie and I woke Kyrie up just long enough to get her to brush her teeth and wash her face before dressing in pajamas. She was asleep again before her head hit the pillow. Mercer was already passed out on his doggy bed that I had placed at the foot of my bed on the floor. Once Jamie left, I got myself ready for bed and instantly fell into a dreamless sleep.

All too soon I heard shuffling around the room followed by the faint scent of peaches, and I blearily peeked one eye open to see Kyrie hovering over my bed. The sight of her standing there staring at me intently was unexpected, and I yelped in surprise. She just giggled and pointed out, “You said we were going to wake up extra early today so that we’d be the first ones in the Mess Hall! Wakey, wakey!” I groaned and felt like tugging my comforter over my head to drift back to sleep, but before I had the chance, she yanked my duvet to the bottom of the bed and out of my reach. It seemed like Kyrie’s energy level was re-charged back to full power. Knowing I didn’t stand a snowball’s chance in hell of going back to sleep, I sighed as I grudgingly got up and stumbled my way to the shower.

From behind me, I heard Kyrie call out that she was going outside for a minute to take Mercer out for his morning potty. I mumbled some sort of approval as I shut the bathroom door and tried to wake myself up fully.

Twenty minutes later I was showered, dressed, and ready to tackle the day with gusto. My new workout clothes had arrived so I was currently sporting a pair of stretchy black capri leggings and a loose-fitting, neon orange racer back tank top. Beneath my tank top, I was wearing a bright pink sports bra/top that I could dress down to if I decided to remove my tank top. I had also donned my new sneakers, and I bounced lightly on the balls of my feet to test the cushioning while I finished twisting my hair up into a tight bun.