“No, no, nothing like that.” He punches a code into the keypad and I push the unlocked gate open. “Colt’s a complex son of a bitch.”
I stare at his boat while we walk down the dock. It takes some restraint to keep pace with Jenkins when part of me wants to sprint to see if Aden is okay. “I’m not sure what you think I can do. We hardly know each other.”
“Funny. That’s what he said.”
I turn to look at the old man just as we make it to the back of the Nauti Nancy. It’s dark except for a dim light hardly noticeable from outside.
“Good luck.” Jenkins continues down the dock toward his boat.
“Whoa, wait. You’re not coming with me?”
“Nah . . . you got this.”
I can’t believe he’d leave me alone with a drunk and upset ex-army sergeant who may or may not be furious with me. Not that Jenkins would be much help if Aden really is Sergeant Psycho.
The big step onto the boat is easier than it used to be and when I get to the back door of the open cabin I knock. “Hello?”
No answer.
I go inside and my eyes are immediately drawn to the hulking man on the couch, his knees spread wide, arms propped on the back cushions, and a mostly empty bottle of booze hanging from his hand. His head lolls to the side, his lazy eyes fixed on me.
“Aden, what happened?”
The corner of his mouth lifts on one side. “You tell me, freckles.” He’s slurring, and as often as I’ve seen him drinking, I’ve never heard him slur.
I nod to the bottle in his hand. “This a party for one?”
He swings his arm out toward me. “Always room for one more.”
I take the bottle from him and place it on the counter and spot a bag of coffee next to the coffee maker. Aden remains quiet while I get a pot started, but I don’t miss that his eyes track every move I make. I hit power, praying for a quick brew, and move toward him, then sit on the couch close enough that our knees touch.
“I shouldn’t have snuck out on you this morning.”
His eyes narrow and he seems almost shocked. “Was that only this morning?”
“It was. I couldn’t sleep, I was thinking about . . . everything, and then I went home and thought about you all day wishing I’d stayed.”
The corner of his mouth lifts in an almost boyish way. “You mess me up, you know that?”
“Is that why . . . I mean, you didn’t call.”
His smile falls and he leans in close. “Neither did you.”
“I wanted to, I thought you’d be mad.”
He cups my jaw and the heat of his palm sends goose bumps down my neck. “I was, but it all went away when you walked in here. I look at you and I forget.”
“What do you forget?”
He leans in and brushes his lips so softly against mine. “Everything.”
I hold his hand against my cheek and close my eyes. “Aden, why are you so drunk?”
He nuzzles my neck, kissing a path from my collarbone to my ear. “Shh . . . I just want you to make it go away.” The whiskey from his breath is overpowering.
I pull back and stare into his hazy eyes. “I won’t sleep with you if there’s a chance you won’t remember.”
“No way I won’t remember.” He rests his forehead against mine and whispers, “You’re branded inside me.”
Wow . . . he must be drunker than I thought. I pat his hand and pull back a little. “How’d you like to join me in a cup of coffee . . . or seven.”
He scrunches up his face adorably. “Then you’ll let me kiss you?”
“Yeah, then I’ll let you kiss me.”
“Deal.”
ADEN
Hours have passed since Celia showed up and between the cups of coffee and full glasses of water I’m finally starting to feel somewhat sober.
“Omelet, extra cheese.” She places a plate in front of me with steaming eggs and a piece of buttered toast. “Eat up, it’ll make you feel better.”
As if I didn’t already feel pathetic enough, now she’s babying me. I’d tell her she doesn’t have to, but I fear if I do she’ll find no other reason to stay.
“This looks amazing. I didn’t know you could cook real eggs.”
She props her hands on her hips and shakes her head. “Just eat . . . smartass.”
I shovel a bite into my mouth and moan. “This is great.” How long has it been since I’ve eaten?
“So finish your story, the one about LaRoy.” With two hands wrapped around her coffee mug she stares intently at me.
With the booze loosening my lips I’ve been blurting old war stories, nothing too graphic, just things that happened between me and the men I served with for what seems like the better part of my life.
“Right, so me and the other guys had Private Schmitt in the body bag. He was lying so still, ya know, I’m still shocked he pulled it off.” I smile to myself thinking back to how hard it was for him not to laugh and blow the prank. “Me and three of my guys had on rubber gloves, we made it look like we were mourning, hats pulled down low, shaking our heads. Asked LaRoy to come help us identify the body, that it was someone from our base camp.” I chuckle at the memory. “Probably seems like a shitty thing to do, but death was such a normal part of our day-to-day . . .” I trail off as I consider all the death we dealt with and how desensitized we became to it. I blink that away and stall by taking another bite before I continue. “LaRoy knelt down, he unzipped that bag and we were all fucking acting like we were tearing up, sniffing, soon as he got it down to Schmitt’s waist the fucker jumped out and scared the piss out of LaRoy. He flung himself back so hard he cracked his head on a rock and cut it open.”
“That’s awful!” Celia’s laughing, but yeah, she’s right, it was fucked up, but also funny as hell.
“We never let him live that shit down.” I fork another bite into my mouth.
“I bet he’ll never forgive you. Do you still talk to LaRoy?”
My fork screeches against my plate and the all too familiar ache flares in my chest. “No. He didn’t make it back.”
She places her mug down. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have—”
“Hey.” I grab her hand and bring it to my lips, kissing the inside of her wrist. “It’s okay. Thank you for coming over tonight.”
“Of course.” She seems to sag a little and then pulls her hand from mine to get up and start rinsing dishes into the sink.
I go around to her and push up behind her, resting my chin on her shoulder and wrapping my arms around her waist. “Stay with me.”
“Aden, I—”
“Please. I missed you this morning. I’ve been missing you all day. That earring . . .”
She turns to me, but I stay pressed to her. “You don’t have to explain. I just, this thing between us, it’s happening so fast and it’s not fair to put demands on you, but . . .” Her chin juts out as if she’s forcing a strength she’s not feeling. “I don’t want to sleep with anyone else while we’re together, and I’d like to know you don’t either.”
“I already told you, since our first kiss, it’s only you.”