“So your granddad owned a cinema?” I lean in closer to Boot, fascinated.
Her face lights up. “Yeah! Old-school one, you know? Red velvet seats, proper projection room. He’d let me stay after closing and watch whatever I wanted. That’s how I fell in love with Katharine Hepburn.”
“Bringing Up Baby?” I guess.
“Every queer woman’s awakening!”
Cheddar stumbles over an hour later with swollen lips and a hickey on her neck. She informs us that River has left, and she’s on her way out for a night of wild sex. Her words exactly minus the slurring.
Kit, Cheddar, and Boot do an elaborate bro handshake as they say goodbye, which makes me chuckle. They’re a little ridiculous. Total bachelorettes, but loveable. They clearly love each other. Watching them, I feel something tighten in my chest—not quite envy, but close.
The camaraderie my dad always spoke about was the only thing I could remotely relate to with him. I madetwo close friends at university. We went through everything together, and they quickly became my found family.
“Are we heading back to the ship?” I ask Kit.
“Food. Kebabs to be exact. It’s a tradition,” Boot announces, scooping me into her side.
Spilling out the club, I suck in a breath as I try to get my equilibrium. The night air compounds the alcohol running through my system. Kit, Boot, and I link arms and stagger down the street. I let them pull me along to their favourite kebab shop.
As usual, the food tastes amazing. It’s a well-known phenomenon that any street food eaten after a skin-full of booze tastes like heaven until it reappears the next morning.
Thankfully, I may be drunk, but I’m not so bad I’ll be plastered to the loo all night.
“Did anyone make sure River had her phone charged?” Boot asks. We’re close to base, and I can’t wait to get to bed.
Kit nods. “Made sure before we left.”
“Sorry, but why do you need to check that?”
Kit shrugs. “In case we have to blow up her phone to get her back on base before WO Benson descends on us for inspection.”
“She’s a grown woman,” I say, laughing.
“She’s also the one who will get us written up,” Kit replies.
“On the last night out, she got back just under the wire,” Boot remarks, “but we still got extra PT because of her.”
“And I need her back on time tomorrow, because if she costs me any shore leave, I’m gonna lose my shit,” Kit states.
We arrive at the gate and show our ID to the MPs. We’re about to pass through the barrier when Boot whistles low, her eyebrows raised. Turning, I see River walking towards us, her hands shoved in her pockets and a scowl on her face. Her hair is messier than when she left, but not in the just-had-sex way. More like she’s been running her hands through it in frustration. Her lipstick is smudged, but there’s no matching shade on her collar. Her jaw is tight.
Something happened this evening.
7
River
Ribbing each other isour love language, and under normal circumstances I would happily take the invasive questions and mocking from Kit and Boot, without question.
Tonight, though, is not in any way normal. It started that way. Heading to the club with my girls looking hot as fuck. Cleo definitely looked good enough to eat. But that’s beside the point. We were set for a great night out. We had some shots, and I immediately found a very lovely lady to spend the night with.
Tessa and her friend Lottie, who Cheddar hit it off with, were sure bets. With enthusiastic consent from all parties, we had some drinks, kissed and headed in separate directions to have some adult fun. Kit and Boot were a fewdrinks deep, so I didn’t have to feel bad about nipping off for a little while.
Cleo…well, she found a dance partner pretty quickly. A tall femme who looked like she wanted to devour the admiral’s daughter. I’ll admit I had a momentary surge of something ugly in my stomach before she caught me watching. That dragged me back to reality and to the very hot woman on my arm.
Tessa led me to the toilets, because it was going to be that kind of hookup. I prefer a bed and several hours, but sometimes a quickie in the loo is all that’s on offer. Plus, I’m not ashamed to admit that my ego took over. I had something to prove after my not-so-stellar night with Cleo. According to her. Nice and fine, remember.
Tessa was going to get my very best work, and I’d prove once and for all I am an excellent lay and therefore worthy of my moniker, Romeo. Everything started off great. Tessa was hot as hell and handsy. She dropped her knickers the second we locked ourselves in the only empty cubicle.
