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“I am.”
“I see that now.”
“I kind of admire the fact that you made me work for it,” I confessed. “Can I ask you something?”
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t you date during the time I was away?”
“How did you know that?”
“Mom did a little digging.” I smirked. “She wanted to know if I had any competition.”
“That’s kind of sweet.” She chuckled. “I wish I had thought to do that.”
“You’d have gotten the same answer.”
“Really?” She seemed relieved.
“Yes, well, as much as I love my war brothers, I don’t date family,” I teased.
“Okay, so they’re not my competition.” She played along.
“Nope, totally safe there.” I chuckled then watched as her smile fluttered away as she lost herself in a thought.
“Call it silly,” she rubbed a stone between her fingers, “but when I met you that day in the field, it was as if everything just made sense. I spent a lot of time sitting under that tree wondering what you were doing in that exact moment. If you were alive or not. If I ever made it into your mind.” Her hair fell and blocked her from my view, so I reached over and tucked it behind her ear, and she looked up at me. “Then when you didn’t come see me after I heard you were back, I wondered if I was right about what I’d felt.”
“What did you feel?” I leaned in, and her gaze dropped down to my lips.
“I was afraid I’d maybe built up what we had together in my head, and it was really nothing at all.”
“I’m so sorry.”
“Don’t be. Within moments, I saw the truth.”
“You’re an incredible woman, Sue.” I pressed my lips to hers and savored our connection. I wanted to prove to her that she was all I wanted. She was warm in my arms, and I could feel her heart pound through her chest against mine. I pulled away then. I didn’t want to push myself on her. I wasn’t going to risk what we had gained by moving too fast. This wasn’t the time or the place for that. I knew we had plenty of time to get to know one another in private. It was something I instinctively knew, that one day I would want to look back at this time and savor every moment of getting to know her.
We sat there together, stuck in time, eyes on the fire, fingers laced as we both relaxed and enjoyed the night. I kissed her fingers, and she put them to her lips as if to seal the feeling inside.
“I would sit in our spot and wonder what you kissed like,” she confessed, and her lashes fluttered over her big brown eyes as she looked at me. They were half closed as she blinked in sleepy contentment. She smiled then and shook her head to bring herself out of her lazy spell.
“And?”
“And I wish we were alone.”
I chuckled deep to show her I felt the same way then watched as one of the kids got flipped out of their innertube by Frank. He laughed and picked the kid up and tossed him out into the water. I was nice to see him having a great time.
“Frank seems really nice.” She wrapped her arms around her legs and rested her chin on her knees.
“He’s a great guy.” I nodded, thankful that Frank hadn’t gone down a dark path when he got home like some guys did. Thankfully, like Zack and me, he had a supportive family to help him through it.
She made a noise, and I looked over as she pressed her lips to her knees and closed her eyes.
“What?”
“Nothing.” She made a funny noise and a laugh slipped out. I laughed, too, but was curious what was so comical. “I promised I wouldn’t say.”
“Say what?” I glared at my buddies, wondering what story they’d told her.