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N AVY
“You live across the hall?”
I nodded before I asked, “Corrie never mentioned that to you?”
“Maybe? I’m not sure. We talk so sporadically that it’s hard to absorb all the catching up we have to do when we do talk.”
“Why don’t you talk very often?”
“She’s a busy mom, and I’m busy with . . . I was busy with my career.”
“Was, huh? Dad told me what happened.”
“Yeah, I’m officially a disabled veteran now.”
“You sound pissed about that.”
“I had a plan, and this was not part of it.”
“Plans only work until they don’t.”
“I hadn’t finished what I set out to do.”
“And what was that?” I asked as I put my hand on her lower back to guide her out of the path of some skateboarders.
“I planned to retire from the Navy after twenty years and then open a business.”
“What kind of business?”
Dali gave me a lopsided smile before she said, “I didn’t have that part decided yet because I still had ten years before retirement was even possible!”
“Well, there’s no time like the present, right?”
She looked at the ground when she said, “I guess.”
“I’m sure you have plenty of marketable skills, Dali.”
“How would you know? I haven’t talked to you in years, Anthony.”
“Navy.”
“I’ve always called you Anthony. Why does that have to change now?”
I decided to take a risk, something I didn’t do very often, and grabbed Dali’s hand before I stopped in my tracks. She was still looking at our clasped hands when I explained, “Because I don’t want to be Corrie’s older brother Anthony anymore.”
“She’s probably going to have something to say about that.”
“Do you know what I want to be instead?”
“Certifiable?” Dali asked.
“The guy who is going to take you on a date and then kiss you goodbye at the door before he tries really hard to resist pulling you into his own place and doing wicked and wonderful things until you’re screaming his name.”
Dali took a few seconds to process that before she asked, “Well, Navy, when are you taking me out?” I chuckled, and she tugged on my hand before she said, “While you decide, I’d like to get my feet in the water. I’ve tried to resist the pull, but I just can’t anymore.”
I kept my eye on Boogie as she ran ahead of us and didn’t stop at the water’s edge. Instead, she sprinted into the surf and then dove under once she was deep enough.
Dali laughed at Boogie’s exuberance, and I just shook my head, knowing how hard it would be to get her out and home.
“I don’t know that I’ve ever seen a dog so excited to be in the water before.”
“The more I think about it, the more I think she might have come from the water. She’s probably some sort of hybrid fish-dog thing that’s more content in water than on land. I found Boogie right over there,” I said, motioning toward the large rocks that separated the sand from the sidewalk.
“Why did you name her Boogie?” Dali asked.
“Because her ass never stopped wiggling, even though she was half dead when I found her.”
“And the other dog? Spicoli?” Dali started laughing before she asked, “Why did you name him that?”
“He’s so laid-back that he reminds me of a stoned surfer dude that never gets in a hurry or lets anything bother him.”
“Like the guy from that old movie.”
“Exactly. They have a lot in common.”
“I just realized that I can get a pet now!” Dali’s excitement was beautiful to watch, but she suddenly frowned and said, “I should probably find a place to live first, though.”
“James can help you out, I’m sure.”
“That’s what Corrie said, but I have a feeling that anything he has will be way out of my price range.”
I shrugged before I suggested, “You could always move in with me.”
Dali laughed uncomfortably before she lifted our joined hands and asked, “Since when do you move at warp speed, Anthony?”
“Navy, remember?”
“I apologize.Navy.”
“I’m not sure you want to hear why I think it’s okay to move so fast,” I admitted.
“Why?”
“Ask me in a couple of weeks after I've wined and dined you and made you fall in love with me.”
“You seem very sure of yourself, Navy .”
“It’s like I told you earlier, Dalisay. When something better comes along, you shouldn’t let it pass you by, but in this case, when something you’ve been dreaming about appears in front of you, take her by the hand and invite her to move into your life.”
“You’ve put me completely off balance,” Dali admitted.
“Seeing you standing outside Three Sheets threw me into a tailspin that I haven’t recovered from.”
“I haven’t been to the bar since I got back.”
“I know.”
“The last time I was there was . . .”
“The night before you left, when I came home.”
Dalisay gasped before she whispered, “That was years ago!”
“It was. I haven’t been a monk since then, but I’ve never met another woman who knocked me off my feet.” Dali looked a little afraid as she stared out over the water in silence. I finally asked, “What’s wrong? I hope that being this honest isn’t scaring you.”
“It is, but not in the way you think it might.”
“Then tell me what you’re thinking.”
“Ask me again after you convince me to move in with you,” Dali ordered.
“I’ll do that.”
“You realize this is crazy, don’t you?”
“Possibly, but genius is usually considered crazy until it’s proven right.”
Dali raised an eyebrow before she said, “Or they’re just crazy.”
“In a few years, when we’re happily married with kids running all over the place, I’ll accept your apology and not say I told you so.”
“Have you been drinking?”
“Nope.”
“Are you high?”
“Nope.”
“Hmm.” Dali lifted our still-joined hands and shrugged before she said, “What fun is the crazy train if you’re the only passenger?”
I burst out laughing before I said, “Choo choo!”
Dali was still laughing when she bumped my arm with her shoulder and said, “I’m pretty sure I fell and hit my head, and this is a coma dream, but I’m gonna run with it until the doctors wake me up.”
“I guess we’ll see, huh?”
“I suppose we will.”
◆◆◆
DALI
You are walking on the beach, hand in hand with Clark Anthony Fucking Michaels, Dalisay!
My heart was racing so fast that I was sure Anthony could feel it thrumming in my fingers - which he had entwined with his as we got closer to the water. I used the hold to keep my balance as I slipped my shoes off.
I hated it when Anthony let go of my hand so I could get closer to the water, but I smiled over my shoulder at him when he said, “I wish I had a camera to capture this moment.”
I hadn’t been lying when I told him I felt like I was having a fever dream and none of this was real.
How could the man I’d been crushing on since kindergarten be saying such things to me?
He mentioned that seeing me after he got home from prison changed the way he felt about me, but that was ten years ago!
Ten!
Was I really supposed to believe that he had been thinking about me all of that time? If he had, then why hadn’t he said something sooner? Had he ever told Corrie how he felt?
Surely not. Corrie knew I was infatuated with her brother, and she’d always thought it would be wonderful if he and I got together.
What if she wasn’t sure about that now that we were older?
What if she did know how he felt but hadn’t told me because she didn’t want him to get hurt?
Not that I’d hurt him. Surely she knew that. Maybe she thought he would hurt me.
I trusted Anthony more than I had ever trusted any man other than my father and brothers.
He had always been a strong and steady presence in Corrie’s life and my life, by association.
When he left for basic training, I cried into my pillow, knowing without a shadow of a doubt that he’d find some woman and fall in love and ruin any chance of my dreams coming true.
When he went to prison, I cried with Corrie at the injustice of it all and wished with all my heart that he didn’t have to pay for doing what I felt was right.
When I saw him again after all those years, he was more than a sight for sore eyes.
He was my dream man, alive and well in front of me but for just a short time.
I had a plan and wasn’t going to let anything get in my way.
I didn’t. I excelled. And I never forgot how he looked that day in the parking lot and the shocked smile on his face when he realized that the woman in front of him was me.
I had dreamed of this for almost my entire life, measuring every man I met against Anthony.
Their hair wasn’t blond enough, their eyes weren’t blue enough, their skin was too pale or too dark.
No one measured up to my dream man, and I was now standing just a few feet away from him, listening to him casually mention all the things I’d ever wanted in life.
It was surreal, and I didn’t know whether to pinch myself or roll with it. Ow! Well, that was going to leave a bruise, but I didn’t wake up, so I guess rolling with it was the way to go.
I just hoped that the reality of Anthony Michaels lived up to the fantasy.
I took another few steps into the surf, going out far enough to get my knees wet. The water ebbed in and out in the rhythmic and calming way that I’d always loved. I turned around to look at Anthony again.
He was down on one knee, giving Boogie the attention she craved before he pulled his arm back and let the ball fly out over the water. Boogie was shaking with excitement, but that didn’t stop her from bounding into the surf and then diving under to get her ball.
When I looked back at Anthony, he was holding his phone. He held it up as he asked, “Can I take a picture of you?”
I nodded before I smiled for the camera, excited that he wanted to preserve this moment. That said good things about his intentions, but I was still terrified that the bubble would burst and this would be over all too soon.
When Anthony put his phone back in his pocket, I turned back toward the sunset and closed my eyes as I relished the sound of the water and Boogie’s excited barking as she begged Anthony to throw the ball again.
I didn’t need a camera to record this, because I knew it was a moment I’d never forget. It would be playing on repeat in my mind for the rest of my life. This was the first time in months that I felt good about my future - and I had hope now that my future may just include the man of my dreams.
◆◆◆
“Are you busy tomorrow?”
I laughed before I answered, “Yes, my social calendar is jam-packed.”
“Smartass. Would you like to ride over to the bar and see Dad?”
“I’d love that!”
“The contractors will be working, so we won’t stay long.”
Without thinking, I asked, “Would you be willing to go car shopping with me?”
“Sure,” Anthony said easily. “If you don’t mind waking up early, I’ll get Dad to go to breakfast with us and then we can drop him back at the bar once we find you some new wheels.”
“That sounds great.”
“Have you eaten dinner yet?”
“No.”
Anthony took my hand before he said, “May I escort you down to the pier for some fried goodness?”
“I’d love that.”
The walk to the pier was memorable, not because of where we were headed - although I’d missed that too - but because Anthony was holding my hand as we made small talk about the changes that had come about in the area and the incident at the bar that spurred the renovations.
By the time we finished eating, it was fully dark.
We passed the time on the walk back to the condo with more easy conversation.
It felt a lot like a first date but unlike any I’d ever been on before.
There was a comfort in having known Anthony for almost my entire life and our history heightened the excitement of this new adventure.
Once we were in the breezeway at Corrie’s door, I asked, “Would you like to come in for a while?”
Anthony slowly shook his head before he smiled. “Remember when I asked you to call me Navy?”
“Well, yeah,” I chuckled.
“When Corrie’s big brother walks you home, it’s to make sure you get there safely, which you have. That’s great and all, if that’s what you want, and I can play that role. But as long as that’s how you see me, this is where the evening ends.”
“It just feels so weird to call you by another name after all this time.”
“I’m not the guy you knew back then, Dali.”
“I know, and I’m nothing like I was when you knew me.”
“Anthony would leave you with a hug and maybe even a kiss on the cheek.”
“What would Navy do?”
He crowded me against the door and leaned down to whisper in my ear, his lips so close that I could feel them moving.
“Navy wouldn’t kiss your cheek. He’d devour your lips in a kiss that curled your toes and then drink in your whimpers and soft moans like someone who’d been starving for years because that’s what I feel like right now - like I’ve been wandering for years and have finally found the elusive treasure that’s going to fulfill me. ”
“Wow,” I whispered.
“Anthony will respect your space and encourage you from a safe distance, but Navy will crowd you and fill you up before he orders you to scream his name when you come on his cock. That’s the difference in who you knew and who I want to be, Dalisay.”
Suddenly, Anthony . . . oh, hell no! Navy. The man was Navy now because there was no way I could ever be content with a brotherly hug as he said goodbye.
I wanted that dark voice and the scruff of his short beard on my neck and between my thighs. After just a few seconds in his arms with that sexy voice in my ear, I’d never see the man the same again.
Corrie’s brother had just gone from the man of my girlish dreams to the star of my x-rated thoughts, and I knew that dreaming of him wouldn’t be enough anymore.
“I’ll see you in the morning, Dali,” he said as he walked backward toward his door. “Sleep well. We’ve got a big day tomorrow.”
“Goodnight, Navy.”
His smile could have lit up a room as he leaned against his door frame and said, “Night, sweetheart. Dream of me.”
I boldly said, “If you’d come inside, I could do more than just dream.”
“I can’t wait.”