Page 17 of See You Soon

I place my drink down trying to recover from the oxygen that escaped me unexpectedly. Danny pats my back as I swallow the rest of my drink that got stuck in my throat and I regain my breathing. I look back at him, and he's smirking, devilishly.

I clear my throat.

"So, why don't you?" I tease, my voice low.

"I can't."

"Why not?"

"I respect you too much."

DISRESPECT ME.

Oh, Lord. Where the hell did that come from? The fact that I was so tempted to blurt that out… I’m in shock with myself. My personality and morals change when I’m around him as I'm starting to learn.

"I respect Paul. I respect your family. And I can't. The more I get to know you, I know you're going to want more... and I can't give you more, this was a mistake.” He rambles. "I'm not a relationship guy. I don't date. I can't offer you anything more than sex. My job comes first and that's all I've ever known. I won't change that."

Danny turns away from me.

"Let's get some sleep, I'll show you to my room and I'll take you back home in the morning when the hurricane passes." Danny gets up from the couch and I feel like I did something wrong.

I take a few seconds to process everything on the couch, I stare at the TV still playing and I'm buried in confusion. I force myself up and catch up to him. He starts to go upstairs, his steps heavy ending with loud thuds, and I quietly follow as I process everything he just told me. The more I processed, the angrier I got.

I mean I wasn't expecting him to ask me to be in a relationship so soon, we just met for crying out loud. I didn't want that either. But we're adults. I knew this was a possibility of where this was going, but I didn't know that he would cut me off after he got what he wanted from me.

So why did he ask me to come here with him? Was he planning to just fuck me and not speak to me again?

He probably was.

I swallow, anger filling my core. This is why I swore off military men. They're all the fucking same. I thought he was different. I should have known better. I went from feeling like I knew Danny my entire life to feeling like he was just a beautiful stranger again.

Danny turns on the lights in his bedroom after he opened the door for me to enter. I look around and I can feel myself boiling. It was going to be his last night of fun before he left for deployment.

Iwas going to be his last night of fun.

Danny didn't enter the room. He just stands there in the hallway still, with one of his hands in his pockets.

"If you want to get more comfortable, my clothes are in those drawers over there, you can go through it and pick out whatever you want to sleep in."

I grab the doorknob and look at him.

I was tired of biting my tongue. Maybe it was the alcohol coating me with bravery but I can’t hold my words back anymore.

"So, what was this? What was the point of this Danny? I was going to be your one-night stand before you leave on deployment?"

Danny looks at me, defensive.

"Ari, no, of course, no—"

I close the door on him, not giving him a chance to finish.

Chapter6

danny

Ari slams the door on me before I can get another word in and explain myself. I feel horrible that I made her so upset. I feel horrible that she thinks I was going to just fuck her and then exit her life forever. But she had every right to be upset becauseshe was right. I was going to do just that.

I stand at the door debating with myself if I should knock and explain why I can't take this any further. I sigh, frustrated. I feel defeated. I'm not good at these things. I raise my hand about to knock, then let my hand fall back to my side. There's nothing I can say or do at this point. I think it's best to give her some space. I don't want to bother her with these kinds of things even though I know I owe it to her.