I recently got involved with this foundation after being approached on the Naval base just barely over the Florida-Georgia border in Kings Bay, Georgia. One of the guys knew I was big on hiring former military for my security consulting firm and had asked if I’d be interested in getting involved. There was really no hesitation on my part and I knew my friends would want to be involved.
Timing this to coincide near the time my sister and her fellow coworkers’ are due to kick off their celebration of the school year ending was perfect. As my sister, Laney, and Zach arrive with a few others trailing behind them, my eyes scan for Noelle, deflating slightly when I don’t catch sight of her.
She’s still spooked from what happened earlier at the office and refused to let me pick her up tonight, saying it would seem too obvious. The entire time I was getting dressed to head over here, I thought of her and can’t deny it wasn’t as much fun getting ready by myself. It was far more fun when she was over, playfully hip-checking each other when we were brushing our teeth in the bathroom or I was shaving while she was putting on her makeup.
“Don’t look so thrilled to see me,” Laney draws me from my musings, her tone full of dry sarcasm.
I reach out and tug her into a hug. “Good to see you, Laney McBrainy.”
“Ugh.” She pushes away with a playful glare. “That nickname needs to die, already.”
Before I can respond, Lawson and Lee approach and, of course, Laws has a wide grin on his face. “Good to see you, Fos.” We shake hands and he makes a show of looking around the place before his eyes come to rest on me again.
“Where’s your boo?”
“Oh, dear God,” Lee mutters, shoving Lawson’s shoulder playfully. “No fiancé of mine will say the word ‘boo.’
“What?” His face is a mask of innocence which is usually—actually, always—an indication of the opposite. “It’s a term of endearment. And I know for a fact that he has a boo. Right, Fos?”
I give my best death glare but the thing about Lawson? Nothing fazes this dude. He’s pretty much unflappable and I end up receiving a wider, shit-eating grin in return.
Before anything else can be said, I’m greeted by other guys I’ve gotten to know through the foundation. I don’t know them well, but they seem like pretty good guys—aside from one guy’s friend who’s tagging along. He comes off as a jackass. We’re chatting, just shooting the shit, when this particular guy stops and lets out a low whistle.
“I think I’ve found the person I’ll be singing to tonight,” he says. When I turn to see who he’s gawking at, my spine stiffens, fists clenching.
Noelle.
Damn it, the dress she’s wearing is unbelievable on her. Knee length, black, strapless with a narrow V-shaped cutout between her breasts, the dress flares slightly at the waist and ends just above her knees. Her blond hair is twisted up in a messy bun. She’s so breathtaking it makes my chest uncomfortably tight.
“She’s off-limits, guys.” My tone conveys my seriousness, leaving no room for arguments.
“Damn, man,” one of them grumbles. “You’re one lucky son of a bitch.”
I don’t respond, unable to tear my eyes away from her, waiting for her to find me. Watching as her eyes scan the crowd, I wonder if she’s looking for Laney and the others, but when she waves at one of the others and continues to let her eyes drift over the crowd of people it becomes clear. My breath catches in my throat the moment her eyes find mine, and when she gives me that smile—that smile, the one reserved only for me—I’m faced with a fact I can no longer ignore.
When this ends—and it will, because she deserves so much more than me—Noelle will be taking a part of me with her.
*
“This next song goes out to the loves of our lives—Lee and Laney,” Lawson announces.
He and Zach are currently on the karaoke stage preparing to sing. I shake my head with a chuckle, recognizing the first few beats of The Proclaimers’ song, “I’m Gonna Be.” They get a lot of cheers and laughs once they get to the familiar part of the song most people know, mentioning how they would walk five hundred miles and five hundred more just to be their man.
Soon, the entire bar is singing along with Lawson and Zach, in between laughing at the two men’s crazy on-stage antics as they pretend to march-walk in place, really getting into it. Those two are something else.
Leaning over to my sister, who’s sitting to my left, I raise my voice to be heard over the loud music. “Ever have any second thoughts about marrying that yahoo on stage?”
Granted, I’m always giving her shit about Zach but I feel like I have to check, to be sure he’s making her happy. Because if he isn’t, he’ll be answering to me.
She looks at me strangely for a moment before shaking her head, her lips forming a smile full of happiness.