Chapter Forty-Nine: Collision
"Ethan tried to kiss me," I said in a rush. Then I shook my head at myself and amended, "No. He did. I just didn't kiss him back."
Willis stood there a moment without saying anything, and it was the first time in a long time that I couldn't read his expression. All I could do was stand silently waiting for his response as my heart hammered in my chest. I'd wanted to tell him what had happened for a while now - needed to - but I also needed him to understand that it had been a one-way interaction only.
Finally, he settled on a carefully neutral tone as he asked, "When?"
"A few weeks ago, when the assault began. Will, I swear to you I did nothing to invite it. I stopped working with him as soon as it happened, and I - "
"I believe you."
That stopped me mid-sentence. "What?"
"I said I believe you. You told me you wanted nothing from him, and I said I trusted you. I meant that, Natalie." His hazel eyes narrowed. "The person I don't trust, and never will, is him. And I can fully believe he'd pull something like that with you. The fucking bastard."
I watched as the ire returned to his face, making his eyes smolder. Then he glanced back at me again, meeting my gaze.
"Where is he?"
"On his way here with Delaney's battalion," I answered, then quickly stepped closer to grab his arm. "But Willis, please don't - "
He let out a mirthless laugh and gently shrugged me off. "Oh, no. He's going to get what's coming to him. Again. I won't let him do that shit to you, Cooper."
"I appreciate that, but I can handle it." I blew out a breath, exasperated. "And I'm not asking for his sake, believe me. I'm asking for yours. I don't want this ruining your career, especially now that you're commander of - "
If ever there was an award for being at the wrong place at the wrong time, my ex would take it, hands down. Ethan suddenly appeared in the street on his own, holding his helmet in one hand, obviously searching for me. His eyes brightened when he saw me, but then he noticed Willis, too, and a brief look of surprise crossed his face. Although, since it was Ethan, he covered it very quickly - and well - with a smug grin, continuing to approach.
Willis immediately stepped between us and curled up his fists at his sides, looking even angrier than I'd seen him at LP Alpha. "Did you kiss my wife?"
"What's the matter, Hawk? Can't stand a little healthy competition?"
"I'm not going to ask again, you little prick. Answer me."
"Yeah, I did," Ethan replied. "What of it?"
My husband was a blur of motion and before I could stop it, he'd lunged for Ethan, grabbing hold of his shoulders with both hands before rearing his right fist for a devastating blow to Ethan's jaw. I heard the crunching hit and my ex's loud groan, but Ethan was fast too and recovered quickly. He dove beneath Willis's next swing and rammed into his side, shoving him backwards into the grass and punching him back as he landed on top of him.
I snapped out of my shocked paralysis then and shouted, "What the hell are you two doing? Stop!"
But there was nothing stopping them this time. They wrestled for a moment on the ground until Willis punched Ethan in the side of the head and got the upper hand once more, straddling him as he reached for his throat to pin him down.
"Willis! For God's sake, stop!" I yelled out, but in the next moment Ethan had managed to hit him hard in the leg, causing my husband to howl and Ethan to gear back up in the fight. My ex sat up and rolled out of the way, standing before Willis had recovered and landing a sickening crack on his face. Willis's hands went up to his nose, now streaming with blood, and I saw his expression go dark as he retaliated by kicking Ethan in the balls with his boot. That ended the fighting quick, with Ethan dropping down into the grass with a moan, holding himself with both hands.
In the meantime Willis stood fully now, still holding onto his bleeding nose, and stood over him. He had one fist raised for more, but Ethan just shook his head. I saw the anger still blazing in my husband's eyes, but I knew he knew not to take things too far. Breathing heavy, he let up and relaxed his stance, finally letting it go.
"Are we done here?" Willis asked, voice raspy from the fistfight. He wiped the blood under his nose with his sleeve. "Or do you need me to teach you another lesson to stay the fuck away from her?"
Ethan finally pushed himself up on the ground with an elbow, keeping his other hand firmly below the belt. "All right, Willis. You win." He paused to suck in a deep breath of air, his jaw already red from my husband's initial hit, and the side of his lip split and bleeding. "You win," he repeated. "Again."
"You won't go near Natalie anymore?" Willis pressed.
"Yes, okay? I won't."
"Good. Now get the fuck out of here."
Ethan looked up at him with contempt, but slowly started to rise, stopping once to wince before lying back down for a moment, then trying again. When he was finally on his feet, he walked away sluggishly, still holding onto that precious spot. I wondered, half amused, how he was going to explain his injuries.
And I thought the same for Willis, who stood beside me now clutching his still-bleeding nose.
"Come here," I said, having him stop in front of me. I gingerly put my hands on either side of his face to look him over and he winced. I didn't know why, but I found it kind of endearing. "You don't need to go around fighting to defend my honor, you know. But it is pretty damn cute."
"I just want that asshole to know his place," he responded roughly, but his expression softened when our eyes met. "I love you, Cooper."
I pressed my lips gently to his. "I love you, too, honey, but you're not exactly a cage fighter. We should go see Doc about your nose. It looks like it might be broken."
"That fucker. I'm glad I got him back." He smirked a little. "He'll be hurting for days."
I made a face. "That's...not something I want to think about. Let's just go get you checked out real quick."
When we entered the large medtent in the staging camp, I almost hated coming in to have my husband looked over for very avoidable injuries. The place wasn't as full as it had been a few days after the battle had ended, but it was still fairly busy. I hoped we'd be able to get Reynolds to do the once-over, but there was no telling who might be available to handle the request. I could have used my rank to get him to see us right away, but it didn't feel right given the nature of the injuries, so I didn't.
Thankfully, the medic saw us on our way in - and oddly, approached us with a knowing grin.
"Good to see you, ma'am, sir," he said, then looked at Willis. "Let me guess, sir - you fell, right?"
Willis frowned, the motion making him wince again. "What?"
"That's what the last guy said when he came in. Lieutenant Commander Ackerson. Looks like you both fell in very similar and very interesting fashions. Come on," he went on, sweeping his arm towards a partitioned area. "I'll get you looked at."
When we stepped inside Willis sat down on the cot, hands gripping the sides by his knees, while I stood next to him in the cramped space, arms folded across my chest. Doc Reynolds moved between us and pulled up a chair, sitting in front of my husband to assess him.
"Well, you must've taken a good tumble, Major," Reynolds said, peering at his face. "That's a broken nose all right." His grin returned. "But at least it wasn't your junk like your buddy, am I right?"
"He's not my friend," Willis bit out, and I rolled my eyes at both of them.
"Doc, lay off the jokes. I'm not in the mood today. Please just look him over and we'll be out of your hair."
Reynolds held up his hands. "Yes, ma'am. Sorry."
After providing Willis with some gauze and an ice pack to hold over his nose, the medic produced a penlight from his pocket and checked both of his eyes, one by one. After that he checked his head for injuries and pressed on his sore side, where Willis indicated he'd "fallen particularly hard"...onto Ethan's fist. Reynolds said the spot would be tender for a few days and probably bruise, but otherwise was nothing to worry about.
"Thanks, Michael," I said as we were leaving. "For checking my husband for his terrible fall."
A corner of his lips twitched. "You're welcome, ma'am. Anytime."
With that I let out a sigh of relief. Knowing Ethan, I knew he could have easily blown the incident out of proportion to meet his needs, putting the blame somehow on Willis and using it to try to ruin him. But he hadn't. Instead, he'd covered for the both of them, whether or not Reynolds actually believed it, saving them both from any disciplinary action. It made me pause. The old Ethan wouldn't have done that.
"Natalie? What are you thinking?"
I looked over at Willis to find him staring at me, curious. I shrugged. "Nothing."
"Don't do that," he said softly.
Finally, I sighed. "Okay. I was just thinking that Ethan didn't have to do what he did back there. Make up a story instead of turn you in."
He snorted. "It served him well to cover up the fight, too, not just me."
"I know, but I expected him to - nevermind." I shook my head. "I was just worried since you'd just gotten your wings back not too long ago, and now you're in charge. I'm glad nothing's going to come of this."
"Me, too." He reached out and put his arm around my shoulders - briefly, because we were now out in the square. "But you're more important to me than that."
A feeling of warmth settled in my chest at his words, and I wanted to kiss right then and there. Yet I couldn't. Instead I grasped his hand between us and squeezed. "You know, what Ethan did wasn't the only news I wanted to give you when I saw you today."
He furrowed his eyebrows at me. "Yeah? What else has been going on since you left orbit?"
"I've been feeling a little...under the weather this past week," I said, giving him a tentative glance before meeting his eyes. "I think I might be pregnant."
