She snuggled closer, making a contented sound. “Yeah, but this is more fun. I like sleeping with you.”
“Me too,” he said, surprised by how much he meant those words. He did like it, though, holding her in his arms, listening to her soft breathing, feeling her warm breath against his bare chest.
“Ryan, can I ask you something?”
“Sure.”
“Why did you join the Navy?” She nestled her head against his shoulder. “I mean, you’re obviously in awesome physical shape, but it’s weird, I can’t see you taking orders. You’re so impulsive and kind of wild, and the military is so strict. I can’t picture you following the rules.”
“Why did I join the Navy…” he echoed, letting his voice trail. “Honestly? I just wanted to get the fuck away from my parents.”
“Bad childhood?” she said, sounding sympathetic.
“You could say that.” He let out a heavy breath. “Neither of them wanted me, I was a total accident, and the two of them hated each other. I don’t even know why they’re still married.”
“I’m sure they love you,” she said softly.
“Sometimes I wonder.” He swallowed. “My mother never said a nice word to me, my entire life. She’s stuck in her own miserable world, constantly whining about how terrible her life ended up. My dad just yells a lot. He never beat either of us, but I swear, sometimes I could see him thinking about it, just kicking the shit out of her so she’d stop complaining.”
Annabelle sounded horrified. “That’s awful, Ryan.”
He shrugged, and the movement sent a strand of her brown hair onto his chin. He grasped the lock of hair between his fingers, twining it gently. “It wasn’t that bad. I was your typical troublemaker as a kid, and I tried to be out of the house whenever I could. And when I was there, I learned to ignore all the yelling and bitching and drinking. We were dirt-poor, too, and kids at school constantly made fun of me for showing up in clothes with holes in them or not bringing a lunch. Don’t worry, I used to beat them up whenever they started up, and eventually they knew better.”
A sigh slipped out of his throat. “My grades weren’t that great, so college wasn’t an option—not that we had the money for it anyway—so when I turned eighteen, I enlisted.” He grinned in the darkness. “I’d always loved the water, so I figured the Navy would be the most fun of all the military branches.”
“And you became a SEAL,” she finished. “And now you go all over the world on dangerous assignments and risk getting killed.”
“Pretty much, yeah.”
She lifted her head and met his eyes. “So how does it work? You get a call telling you to pack up and then you leave the country?”
“Pretty much,” he said again. “I’m on leave for three weeks, though, all of us are, so don’t worry, I won’t be getting any late night calls.”
“Unless another one of your friends is having a baby,” she said dryly.
“Jane and Mackenzie are only in their first trimester, so I think we’re safe.”
“I like Jane. She was really cool.”
A wave of discomfort swelled in his gut. Shit. Why had he brought up Jane’s name? Just the sound of it made him cringe a little, mostly because he hated himself for these ridiculous feelings he had for the woman.
“Is something going on with you two?” Annabelle asked, her voice wary.
“Me and Jane? Of course not,” he replied. “She’s marrying my Lieutenant.”
Annabelle was quiet for a moment, and then, sounding very perceptive, she said, “You have a little thing for her, don’t you? I kind of suspected at the hospital, when I saw you talking to her, but I wasn’t sure, not until now anyway.”
“I don’t have a thing for her,” he said quietly. “I had a thing for her.”
She propped herself up on her elbow, her brown eyes sparkling with curiosity. “I knew it. Tell me the details.”
He avoided her intrigued eyes. “There aren’t any. I met her when she and Becker first started hooking up, and the two of us went out for drinks when they were kind of broken up. Nothing happened,” he added quickly.
“But you wanted it to happen.” Again, she had that perceptive look on her face.
“Maybe. But it didn’t. And I got over it.” He kept his voice firm, hoping he sounded sincere. He and Annabelle were only having a fling, but he didn’t want to hurt her feelings or anything by admitting he might still have a tiny, teeny thing for a woman who was off-limits.
“Honestly? You’re really over it?”
He met her inquisitive gaze head-on. “Yes.”
She offered a faint smile. “Good.”
He smiled back, enjoying the possessive note in her soft voice. He shifted onto his side so they were face to face, then slowly brought his lips to hers in a long, lazy kiss. Annabelle hooked her leg over his, her warm body curling into his as she kissed him back. And when she slipped his hands between them and encircled his hardening cock, he wasn’t thinking about anyone but Annabelle.
Chapter Six