Caroline’s mother looks on fondly and I try to keep my dick in check. It has no clue we’re in her parent’s house. “I wasn’t awful looking as a teenager,” she cries. “Let me show you something cooler.” She pulls on my arm and I follow her to a window next to a smaller table inside the kitchen.
“The hill,” I say, nodding toward the steep decline.
“The famous hill,” Caroline chimes in, releasing me a touch.
She points down the hill and through a copse of trees. “My hangar,” she says. You can’t see her parents’ house from her hangar, but you can definitely see her house from here. It’s the angle. The distance between the two is more than you’d guess.
“Because the property is close to the airfield with planes taking off and landing they got an amazing deal on the house and all of this land.” It looks like they own half of this tiny city from where I’m standing.
“While this is a nice view and all,” I whisper into her ear. “I’d really like to be looking out of your window right now.” I have one arm wrapped around her waist—a heavy weight showing her how much I want to be on her in every way possible. “Except without clothes on,” I add, so softly I wonder if she’s heard me. Telltale pink cheeks tell me her truth.
“Dessert first?” she squeaks, turning to glance at her parents. Mr. May is drying dishes and Mrs. May is prattling on about the NYC trip while she tops a pie with whipped cream. The fact that they have a dishwasher, but wash dishes together tells me something about them as people.
If you pay attention you can know someone without speaking a word. Part of my training as a SEAL is reading people’s body language and expressions. The phraseactions speak louder than wordswas never more true than when I discovered how easily people can be deciphered. It’s when my heart gets mixed in that my radar is fucked. Caroline confounds me constantly and profusely, yet I want to unravel her one thread at a time.
Swallowing hard, I reply, “As long as you’re on the menu for second dessert.” My chest squeezes a little, knowing I’m finally going to be having a piece of her I’ve never had before.
“Don’t mind my mom about that commitment stuff. She doesn’t know that we’re going slow,” she says, facing the window once again, trying her best to brush off my come on. “Don’t let her scare you. Even if you say you aren’t, I don’t see how it wouldn’t.” Licking her bottom lip, she chances a quick glance up at my face.
“Caroline,” I say her name like a curse word and a scold at the same time. Both of her parents turn to look.
“Pie?” Mrs. May says, a chipper, hopeful smile on her face.
“Yes, of course, mama. We’ll be right in.”
May grabs a newspaper and vanishes into the dining room after his wife. Taking her by her elbows, I spin her toward me. “Do you honestly think I’m afraid of committing to you?” I ask, eyes narrowed.
She shrugs, both shoulders. “It wouldn’t surprise me. Isn’t that what men typically do these days? Have problems with staying with one girl. With the exception of the few good ones, most of the guys I know are like Whit.”
“Whit is an idiot,” I return. “He’s also an asshole.”
She grins, pulling her bottom lip with her thumb and forefinger. “Sort of,” she replies.
“Are you defending him,” I ask, rumbling with mock outrage.
She smiles wider. “What if I am?”
“Then I’ll have to kill him.”
She drops her lip and looks at me, eyes wide, a horrified grimace transforming her beautiful face. “I’m joking, Caroline. I’m not going to kill him.”
I have to give her credit for making a valiant attempt at masking her terror.
“I knew that,” she says, rolling her eyes.
Glancing at the door to make sure we’re truly alone, I settle my hands on either side of her ribcage and look her straight in her piercing blue eyes. “There’s always a point in life, a moment that stands out as the one. The moment that changes things—forces you to realize that despite what you want, the world is giving you something else. I wanted the airport. Yes,” I admit, pulling her closer. Lowering my voice even further, I say, “Then I danced with you in front of your window. The moonlight. Your voice when you asked what I would do if you took off your dress. The way I walked away. That was a moment when I realized I could thrive within the parameters of restraint. Because I want you. All of you. For as long as you’re willing to offer yourself to me.”
She breathes out deeply, alternating her gaze between my eyes and lips.
“We can define the word commitment if you want, but to me? That’s fucking commitment.” I shake my head. “I don’t want anyone else. There isn’t anyone else for me.”
“Pie is getting cold,” May bellows from the other room. Caroline looks like she’s about to reply, but then thinks better of it.
Taking me by the arm, she holds my hand. “Thank you for saying that,” Caroline says as we take our seat and dig into the pie. Part of me wonders if she thinks I’m saying it to say it, that I don’t truly mean what I’ve said. The fact I want in her pants so badly can’t lend to my advantage. What would I say at this point if it meant I could fuck her in to next week? The answer comes quickly:anything.
Escaping work conversation was easy before, but now they’re asking more specific questions about the attacks and it’s hard to share stories without getting too graphic or striking a nerve. Everyone has a story about what they were doing when the terror attacks rocked our world, and fundamentally changed America. I was already a SEAL and if I’m being honest, we pray for work, action, a place to showcase our skills. That being said, no one wanted something so severe and life altering to happen. Caroline tells the story about how she was in the diner, serving at the counter when the television in the corner started replaying scenes of explosions and destruction in different cities across America and around the world. In her initial confusion, she dropped a steak knife and was cut. She moves the hem of her dress up more than I am comfortable with at the moment and shows the thin, red scar from the cut.
Mr. May was at the airport when he got a call from his wife who was having lunch with a friend two towns over. It helps that the attack connects us all even if it’s in a terrifying way. It happened. We can’t undo it so we move forward. Together. More unified as a country than we’ve ever been.
