WOW! It's been a very long while since I've updated. Hope people are still reading this story. I'm working on the next chapter already. Enjoy.

Chapter 19

Braelyn waited patiently outside the men's change room. She had passed Sam on the way and he said that Ed was changing. Fair enough, but how long did it take?

When she heard ruffling, Braelyn got up. "About time!"

"About time for what, sexy?" Spike said.

Braelyn raised an eyebrow. "Sorry Spike, thought you were Ed."

"Oh the disappointment!" Spike said as he covered his hands across his heart and winced as if in pain.

"You should have been made a woman, what with all the drama you go around casting!" Braelyn said as she smiled.

"Drama! Come now, that's a little harsh. Besides, there's no one in the change room but me. Looks like Ed skipped on your little bet." Spike paused just long enough for the information to sink in. "See you later, sexy." Spike leaned in, gave Braelyn a quick kiss on the cheeks and walked off.

Braelyn didn't believe Spike. Ed wouldn't bail on their bet. He was an honourable man. Yet, enough was enough.

"I'm coming in so you better be descent Ed!" Braelyn waited a good five seconds before she walked into the change room. And there stood…

Parker.

Wearing a towel around his waist.

"Wow, you guys do keep in good shape!" Braelyn said as their eyes met.

"Is there a reason you're in here, cupcake?" Parker asked wryly as he quickly went about finding his boxers.

"I'm was looking for Ed, but now I get to look at you. Hmmm. Not a bad trade."

Parker's eyebrows went up. He forced himself not to blush. It was beginning to be difficult. Parker held up his boxers and said, "Do you mind?"

"Mind what exactly?"

Parker's eyes narrowed and his lips took on a very thin, straight line.

"Fine. But come on, it's not like I'm the first woman to see you undressed." Braelyn turned her back. "And it's not like you've got a bad looking body. I mean, sure you're not the youngest member on the team, but – "
"Really not helping my self esteem."

"But," Braelyn emphasized again, "you've got a great looking body. I'd love to see it all."

Parker sighed to himself. She was incorrigible so he chose to ignore her last statement and went with, "You can turn abound now. Ed's around somewhere. He was just changing before I had a shower. We'll find him."

All of a sudden it was quiet. Parker glanced at Braelyn and was surprised to see her staring at her feet facing him. "Braelyn? You okay?"

Braelyn shook her head a little and looked Parker in the eyes. "Sure Gorgeous. I was just thinking about what you said…you know…you plus shower equals very dirty thoughts!"

Parker laughed as he finished putting his clothes on. "Let's go look for Ed." As he reached his wallet, he noticed it was sitting on a box of bullets.

Braelyn noticed the serious look that crossed Parker's face. "What's up?"

Parker brought down the box of bullets. "Ed left. Looks like it's going to be me teaching you to shoot." Parker watched for any sign of discomfort or disappointment on Braelyn's face. There didn't seem to be any.

"Works for me."

10 minutes later, Parker and Braelyn were at the firing range. Parker had picked an isolated firing room because he didn't want Braelyn spooked by the sounds of gunshots going off from other men and women coming in for practice. So far Braelyn was managing to stay calm. Parker wondered how long that was going to keep up.

Parker loaded her gun and set it down.

"The gun's loaded. You're going to pick it up and keep your fingers off of the trigger."

Braelyn nodded.

"When you fire, you're going to squeeze the trigger, not pull it. There will be the slightest bit of backlash on the gun. Prepare your arm for it. You ready for this?"

Braelyn looked a bit pale, but she nodded. "Baby steps. This is a baby step."

Parker was sure she was talking to herself at the moment.

Braelyn adjusted her ear piece to protect her ears. She then picked up the gun, aimed it at the target and fired.

Nothing happened to the target. She set down the gun, moved the protector off of one ear and looked at Parker.

"You missed the target. Its okay, it happens. How did it feel to fire a gun?"

"Terrified. But next time I'll keep my eyes open."

Parker's mouth fell a little open. "You had your eyes closed?"

Braelyn looked sheepish. "I thought I was allowed to take baby steps!"

"You are, however, you're not allowed to fire and keep your eyes closed."

The second try went better. Braelyn kept her eyes opened and managed to hit the paper. She was so excited!

"I hit it."

Parker saw that Braelyn did manage to nick the very edge of the target paper. "You did. Now aim for the middle."

"I was," Braelyn murmured to herself but Parker heard her.

10 minutes later and the target paper looked like a bad case of connect the dots.

Braelyn put down the gun, turned around and launched herself at Parker. Parker had just removed the ear protectors and barely had time to catch Braelyn as she wrapped her arms around his neck. Parker hunched over a little so that her feet connected to the floor.

"Thank you, Sergeant Gregory Parker. For teaching me to shoot."

Parker didn't know why he did it. He just saw her happy face and wondered what it would be like to kiss her. So he did.

At first she seemed shocked. Parker had his eyes half open and could see the shock registered in her eyes. Then, a second later, Braelyn closed her eyes and deepened the kiss. It was only when Parker heard Braelyn moan did he realize what he was doing. It was as if he was on auto pilot. He grabbed Braelyn's shoulders and pushed her away from him. He could tell she was disorientated. Carefully he eased her arms from his neck and let them fall to her side.

Parker knew he had to get out of there, so he looked at Braelyn once, and left.