He met her gaze and held it. She liked how he looked at her. His eyes warmed when they landed on her, and that warmth spread through her.
“Yes. I want to spend time with you. I can work out later.”
“You are stronger than I am.”
He shrugged. “Maybe.”
She rolled her eyes at his words. “Please. Look at you.”
He ran his hand over her shoulder to her biceps. “You’re pretty strong yourself.”
"I have no idea if I'm going to keep up with the workouts. Staying fit is a lot, but I'll probably keep lifting weights. The long marches and runs, I think, are a thing of the past. Biking might be good."
"At one point after basic, I swore I'd never do another pushup."
Ansley laughed and shook her head. “That’s too funny. But I do understand. I never wanted to do another pull-up after basic.”
"I hated pull-ups at first. I had such skinny arms. Honestly, I was one of the smallest guys in basic, and everyone made fun of me."
“Oh, I’m sorry. That had to have burned.”
Link nodded. "It did. But it pushed me to do more. I worked harder than other guys, and I made it as a Green Beret. When I first indicated I wanted to become one, they laughed so hard they almost fell out of their chair. I was scrawny and overlooked in a big way. They allowed me to take the course for special forces, and then I passed the physical requirements tests with good scores, and I met the rest of the requirements."
“I bet it was difficult.”
“It was, but I pulled through and did it because it was what I wanted.”
“I’m impressed.”
“How about we turn back now?” Link asked.
“Sure. I should stretch more once we get back to your place.”
“We have a few hours before we need to leave for the cookout.”
She nodded, but didn't know how she felt about meeting his buddies. Were the other guys married? She didn't have a great track record of getting along with women outside the military.
Maybe it was because she'd been in high school the last time she had to do stuff with civilian women, and she'd been poor and angry back then. Not having money in high school to buy the cool clothes and bags meant that the other girls had tried to humiliate her quite often. Maybe these women weren't like that.
In the Marines, there'd been a few bad apples, but for the most part, everyone was just trying to survive. The other women helped with hair. Heck, she'd learned to braid all kinds of hair with different textures and volumes just to make sure their entire unit looked great. None of them wanted any punishments handed down because someone’s braid looked like shit.
"So these guys, are any of them married?"
Link shook his head. “No, none of them are with anyone.”
She was embarrassed that relief was the first thing she felt. “So no other women there?”
Link’s eyebrows shot up, and she knew she would have to explain. But most guys didn’t get it. At least from what she’d experienced, they didn’t get it. Maybe this would be the first rift in their relationship.
Chapter 22
Link listenedto Ansley talk as they walked back to the car. When they arrived, he turned and put both hands on her shoulders.
"First off, none of us want relationships like that. If some woman was being rude to our buddies' girlfriends, we'd say something. So that wouldn't happen, anyway."
“That’s good, but would you even know if some woman was being mean?”
Link blew out a slow breath. Would he know? Before joining Delta, he’d dated around and seen how some women could be when he told them he was a Green Brete. They liked the status, and that was always a turn off. “We’re a fairly perceptive bunch. It comes with the job.”
