Page 2 of Homebody (The Long Road Home #21)

Chapter Two

D ean Sinclair didn’t know much for certain in this life but he knew one thing without any doubt.

He was damn tired of the Houthis taking shots at the aircraft carrier he’d been stationed on in the Red Sea.

Even if the Yemeni’s airstrikes did miss hitting the Carrier Strike Group by miles, enough was enough already.

After too many months at sea, he’d grown tired of being a floating target. Not to mention the close quarters, lack of privacy and all the other inconveniences that made life aboard ship less than ideal.

That might be one reason he’d never looked forward to heading to New York for a visit home as much as he was looking forward to this upcoming leave.

Not only were he and his unit finally off that damn aircraft carrier and back at Naval Station Norfolk. They were also in the first hours of the Labor Day “96”, what civilians would call a four-day weekend.

He was on his way out of town… and he was leaving not a moment too soon after last night’s text exchange. It had devolved quickly into a pointless heated argument lasting late into the night with his on-again, off-again hook-up.

It was more than obvious now was the perfect time for Dean to get out of town for a little while.

Most of the other guys were staying local for the 96. There was talk of barbecues and plans for visits to the club near base. They would no doubt fill their leave with late nights followed by lazy days. They’d drink too much, sleep late, get up and do it all again.

But not him. At least not this time. For Dean it had seemed like the perfect time to extend those 96 hours they were allotted for Labor Day and use up at least some of the weeks of leave he’d accrued.

He was flying home to New York for a visit with his parents after what had been way too long.

Only two other guys from the ship had the same idea. Both sat with him now at the airport in Norfolk, enjoying a cold one while they waited to board their respective flights out. And both were looking at him with various degrees of amusement as his phone vibrated its way across the table.

“That your girl?” Gus asked, his Texas drawl strong after the two beers he’d had since they’d first arrived.

Dean glanced up from the phone, having already made the decision there was no way in hell he was answering that call.

“I don’t have a girl .” He’d grunted out the vague answer, hoping to avoid the ensuing discussion that his shipmate’s question was sure to spur.

It didn’t work.

Lara, the aforementioned on-again, off-again hook-up, was relentless. Her incessant texting, followed by calls that he didn’t answer, and now a new voicemail, had caused too much of a disturbance for the guys to ignore, even with the cell set on vibrate.

Skip snorted out a laugh. “That’s code for he dumped another one.”

“Yup.” Gus nodded, looking amused at Dean’s scowl as he added, “Don't you frown at me, bubba. Go on now. Tell me I’m wrong.”

Dean opened his mouth to deny it but couldn’t. “I had good reason."

" Good reason , he says." Skip chuckled.

"I did," Dean defended. "She was getting too… clingy. And besides, she wasn’t ever my girl . It was always casual right from the start.”

"She know that?" Gus asked.

"Yes." And if she didn't it wasn't Dean’s fault.

He hadn't misled her. If she assumed things were more serious than they were, that was on her. And why the hell was he defending himself to these guys anyway? His relationships were none of their business.

They didn't seem to realize that though.

That was probably a result of being trapped in the close quarters of a ship for months. Boundaries blurred. On board, there was no way to avoid being up in everyone else’s business.

“I don’t know, Sinclair. Lara was easily a twelve on a scale of one to ten. Seems like I could put up with a whole hell of a lot given the benefits,” Skip observed.

“Hell, yeah. You were punching way above your weight class with her. And you dumped her for getting a little clingy ?” Gus scoffed.

“What can I say? Maybe I’m not as shallow as you two. Looks aren’t everything.” Dean hoped his thinly veiled insult didn’t go unnoticed by the other two men.

His plan didn’t work out as well as he’d hoped as Skip smiled. “I’m good with being shallow. And you dumping her means she’s single. I plan on taking advantage of that the minute I’m back in town.”

Dean widened his eyes. “What?”

Was Skip seriously going to ask out the woman Dean had spent the better part of the last year hooking up with? At least for the months he’d been stateside when they hadn’t been on a break —meaning in a fight.

“Something wrong? Dude, tell me you wouldn’t do the same thing in my position,” Skip challenged as Gus outright laughed at the exchange.

Dean schooled his expression and shrugged, pretending the idea didn’t bother him. “Nah. Nothing’s wrong. It’s fine with me. Go for it.”

“Don’t worry, buddy boy. I’m going to go for it.”

Skip asking Lara out shouldn’t bother him. Dean wasn’t even sure he’d ever really liked the woman all that much to begin with. Or if she’d been just a convenience…until she became simply an annoyance and very inconvenient.

In hindsight, Lara really wasn’t a very nice person at all.

She’d tossed her jury summons in the trash and still, even after all the lectures he’d delivered, refused to even register to vote.

She ate her way through the produce section of the grocery store, insisting taking samples wasn’t stealing.

That was one reason he’d stopped letting her come with him to the commissary on base.

She treated waitstaff like they were lesser and consistently tried to undertip.

Once he’d even caught her taking back half the money he’d left on the bar as a tip. Not a huge surprise since she was between jobs more often than not.

Skip stood. “It’s been fun, but I’ve got a flight to catch.”

Gus reached for his bag on the ground. “Yeah. Me too.”

For once, Skip and Gus’s timing was perfect. Dean was more than ready to end this conversation about Lara. But saying good-bye to his teammates and heading to the gate where he’d wait to board his flight to Atlanta didn’t end the weirdness he felt about this whole Lara situation.

It was like there was an itch in the back of his brain, an itch he couldn’t scratch caused by knowing Skip could very well be seriously dating Lara by the time Dean’s extended leave ended and he got back to base.

Why did he feel like that? He didn’t want to be with her anymore. But that didn’t mean he wanted Skip to date her.

Besides the awkwardness that there would no doubt be when they all hung out together, there remained a certain level of… what?

Possessiveness? Selfishness, maybe.

As an only child he never had liked sharing his toys. Hated when his mother donated his discarded stuff, even if he hadn’t used it himself in years. He had the same feeling now about the discarded Lara.

He should probably feel bad about that. For some reason he didn’t, thereby proving he was a shit person who had no business seriously dating anyone anyway.

Yup. It was a good time to skip town for a while. Hopefully, a week and a half away would be enough and he’d come back a new man, content to see his friend happy with whatever woman he chose. Even Lara.