Total pages in book: 94
Estimated words: 88317 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 442(@200wpm)___ 353(@250wpm)___ 294(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 88317 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 442(@200wpm)___ 353(@250wpm)___ 294(@300wpm)
“I can do better than your brothers.” Derrick really did have a nice laugh, deep and rich. Sabrina was right. I was a sucker for a good voice. And the smile lines around his eyes didn’t hurt either. “And thank you, by the way. I do appreciate...all this.”
“You’re welcome.” In a slightly better mood now, I waited under a tree while Derrick went into the barracks. He and Calder were among some more senior enlisted personnel who had single rooms in the barracks and got additional perks for being mentors to the younger service people in the housing. I had fun people-watching with all the fresh-faced recruits coming and going from the building in the short time Derrick was gone.
He returned in civilian clothes—jeans and a gray shirt with buttons that made his hazel eyes appear more green than gold. I didn’t have much chance to ogle him though before Calder and two of his friends arrived. After Calder too changed, we ended up all riding together to the restaurant in Silverlake, and somehow I ended up in the middle of the back seat, squashed against Derrick, who smelled like the sexiest pine forest ever and who was solid and warm.
My body hummed with wanting to kiss him again. Preferably without an audience, just to see if he really was that good at it, if things between us could be that magical, or if it had simply been the moment. Would it have the same rush without the revenge motivation? Given that simply sniffing his aftershave had me half-hard, chances were good that a repeat kiss would be even better.
But also, not happening, so I might as well enjoy being pressed up against him. And at least I’d get to sit next to him at dinner and maybe avoid the whole Mom inquisition thing. Speaking of, she started waving at us as soon as we entered the place, which was an upscale brewpub with a huge drinks menu, but also steaks and some twists on bar food classics.
“We’re over here,” Mom called out.
“Damn. Four tables.” Calder led the way over to the bank of tables pressed together, where yet more friends and family waited, including one of my other brothers and his family who had apparently driven up from his base in Tacoma.
“Ollie! How the hell are you, man?” Derrick had a hearty handshake for Oliver, who was slightly younger than Calder but older than me. My mom kept beaming at Oliver’s kids. She’d been so happy when he got transferred to this coast after stints in Florida and Georgia.
Not surprisingly, most of the conversation at our end of the table revolved around duty stations and deployments, Oliver and Calder swapping stories with occasional input from Derrick or one of Calder’s other friends. They spoke a language of acronyms and military slang that made my head hurt. Like my dad and uncles before them, Oliver and Calder were singularly focused on advancing in rank, and honestly, their conversation was almost as boring as when the topic shifted to all the sports happenings Calder and Derrick had missed while deployed.
Ordinarily I’d distract myself with the kids, but they were at the opposite end of the table on various tablets and phones until the food arrived.
“You okay?” Derrick asked in a low voice after the server set our burgers in front of us, and the rest of the table was distracted by eating.
“I should be asking you that.” I waggled a fry at him. “You’re the quiet one. My family’s a bit much, even when it’s only some of us like this.”
“I know. It’s weird, but I kind of like the chaos that comes with visiting your folks.” Derrick had such a fond smile that I regretted not visiting more often during the latter part of college and graduate school. Maybe family gatherings would have been more tolerable with him around.
“You’re welcome to them,” I joked.
“I wish.” A shadow passed across Derrick’s eyes, and I wanted to ask more about his past, but before I could, he frowned. “I still don’t like ly—”
“Shush.” I sent him a message with my eyes to not blow our cover.
“Sorry.”
“It’s okay.” I dragged another fry through a puddle of ketchup before glancing down the table. “I just want to savor my mom looking at me like I might have done something right for a change.”
“That can’t be true.” Unlike my brothers, who always tore through food after a deployment, Derrick took small bites, like he was trying to make the burger last, making me wonder what else he hadn’t had lately that he might like to take his time with.
I shifted in my chair. “Believe it. I’m the odd kid out.”
“Nah. Calder’s always talking about how smart you are. You’ve got some kind of graduate degree, right? Your folks have to be proud of all your school success.”