At Her SEAL's Command (SEALs of Roseville, Book One) by Selena Blake Page B

leaving the club has nothing to do with you.”
    “I know.” Carlos studied him for several moments. “It didn't take a rocket scientist to see that you enjoyed your time here, you liked the control, but you didn't need it.”
    His friends' observation surprised him. He'd never thought much of anyone else watching him that closely, seeing that deeply. But Carlos was a good five years older, a self-made business man from an early age. He was no slouch in the observation department and years as a Dom had made him extremely detail oriented.
    “I needed it...” He left the sentence dangling. Becoming a SEAL had been beyond tough. Every single day he'd been tested to his limits and more often than not, the instructors made him feel like shit beneath their shoes. He'd needed to control something during his off time, even if the only thing he had power over was his sex life.
    “A long time ago, maybe. Back when you were in boot camp. But you're a different man now.”
    Carlos was so spot on; it was chilling, so Dylan nodded.
    “So tell me about your new girl,” Carlos said, leaning back, stretching an arm along the back of the booth as if he hadn't a care in the world.
    For a moment Dylan wondered how Carlos knew about Reya, but then, Carlos made it his business to know things.
    “She's my best friend's little sister. I've known her for fifteen years.”
    Carlos stared at him a minute before he leaned back in, bracing his forearms against the table. He shot a glance toward the bartender.
    “Hey, Jesse. Can we get a couple of cold ones?” he asked, then turned his attention back to Dylan. “So what's the problem?”
    Dylan didn't want to talk about his problems much less his feelings. He’d already done enough of that today. But Carlos was one of his oldest friends; he'd taught Dylan so much about life. Teo had never been in a committed relationship. Joe had recently found Baby. And while Carlos didn't know all the shit Dylan had been through, he knew enough. If anyone would understand, it'd be him.
    So what exactly was the problem? Why was his tongue tied when it came to telling Reya about the past?
    “Everything.” His lack of direction for the first time in twenty years, the pain in his leg that still haunted him on occasion, the fact that Reya was...Reya.
    “I'm gonna need more than that,” he said as Jesse slid two bottles of an Atlanta brew across the gleaming tabletop. “Thanks.”
    “Appreciate it,” Dylan added. “Indecision sucks. And she overheard us talking the other day... She didn't know about my life as a Dom.”
    He'd been trying to put himself in her shoes to figure out why that had upset her. Surely she had some secrets he didn't know about. That was okay with him. Wasn't that what a relationship was about, getting to know each other? Continuing to know each other?
    “Start with the indecision.”
    Dylan took a long sip of his beer and relished the icy cold sliding down his throat. “It's a weird place to be. No path. No direction.”
    “You always liked having a road map.”
    Dylan nodded. Going with the flow had been hard for him before he'd learned to improvise with the SEALs. There were best laid plans, usually guaranteed to go to shit.
    Dylan's thoughts drifted and then refocused. “I just feel like I'm trying to diffuse a land mine. She's not a girl I met at the club. I've known her half her life. My hands are shaky and I feel sweaty and keep thinking 'don't fuck this up.'“
    “You won't.”
    Dylan glanced into Carlos's dark eyes and saw unwavering faith and support. “How do you know?”
    “You're a Navy SEAL. You guys don't fuck up. You train and train until you breathe your mission.”
    “But there's no training for this.”
    “Sure there is. You took care of your grandmother from halfway around the world in a war zone. You understand friendship and love. You were smart enough to tell me to go for it with Shoshanna. She said yes by the way. You know exactly how to be all in,