“I thought you didn’t want to talk about work.” I didn’t want to explain why I didn’t join the ranks of a commissioned officer, opting to enlist like most everybody else I knew.
“Fine. You’re right.”
The silence returned, settling around us as I moved my gaze away from him to the same point on the horizon where he was staring.
“What are you doing next weekend?” he asked out of nowhere as he placed one hand over my bare feet.
I snapped my gaze back to his face and gaped at him. “Next weekend?”
“I have to take a run down the coast to see my brother and figured I could use a little company.”
I blinked, still in shock. He wanted me to go home with him? We’d known each other for less than a day, and he wanted to take me home. He seemed to be working a little fast, especially since there was no future for us.
“Well…” I paused, trying to think of an excuse even though I didn’t have to work. “I don’t know. Why me, Austin? We don’t even know each other, and introducing me to your family is kind of a big deal.”
“It’s my last weekend in town, and I hate going down there alone. Everyone’s so damn happy, and then there’s me, the third wheel the entire time.” He sat up then, placing his legs on either side of me. “I promise I’m not trying to trick you. I just need a partner in crime for the weekend. Someone who can help take some of the heat off me.”
“Um…” I hesitated, buying myself time and trying to come up with a good excuse. I mean, it was weird he asked me to go home with him. Most of the men I’d dated, even for an extended period of time, never introduced me to their families. It wasn’t something I was used to dealing with or even knew how to do.
“Never mind,” he said, drawing his hand back from my skin.
“No. It’s not that I don’t want to, but…” I sighed. “Why me?”
“Why not you?” he said, like I was insane for even questioning him. “I thought you could use a weekend away, have a little fun, maybe have some good, homemade food.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Your brother’s a chef?”
Austin laughed. “He’s a shit cook.”
“I’m confused. You just said good, homemade food, and since you only have a brother, who’s going to make all the food?”
Austin sat up, facing me, curling his fingers around my ankles. “My brother’s a tattoo artist, but his girl’s family is the best family ever. After my brother took me in, they made sure I felt like I was one of them too. And the grandmother…” He hummed, closing his eyes. “She makes the best Italian food you’ll ever taste.”
I wasn’t shy, and God knew I loved to eat. I hadn’t had a decent home-cooked meal in so long. I’d been running on ramen and burgers for months, opting not to eat the navy food if I could. “How many people are we talking?”
Austin shrugged. “I don’t know. There’s maybe thirty of them.”
My eyes widened. “That’s a small army.”
“I lied. There’s like forty if you count all the kids.”
“Fuck,” I muttered. “Forty people is a lot.”
“You’ll never have to see them again. Come on. Be my wingman. I want my brother to give me a tat while I’m there.”
“Wingwoman,” I corrected him, smiling. “And maybe…”
“What?”
“Maybe I want a tattoo too.”
He smiled back, and in that moment, with the sun setting at our side, the sky a rainbow of colors, I knew I wanted to know more about the man sitting in front of me. I wasn’t ready to say goodbye. I knew it would happen. Nothing permanent could be possible with us living on different coasts. We belonged to the government, and that trumped everything else.
But with the dimming sunlight shimmering off his eyes, I said, “What the hell. I’m game.”
Chapter Six
Austin
