Page 35 of Perfect Chemistry

“What the hell. Why not,” I smiled back, and followed her to the dance floor. She wasn’t breathtaking, but she was cute and it was fun talking with her. Best of all, she was not crazy.

Chapter 12

“If that’s an eight, tens don’t exist. You are out of your mind.”

“She might be hot, but she’s cold as fuck. Have you tried holding a conversation with the Ice Queen?”

“Don’t let Gunny hear you calling her that. He’ll have your ass.”

“At least then somebody would be getting some action.”

“And what action were you hoping for Sergeant Beliago?”

The two marines smoking outside the tent city never heard the man walk up behind them. The deep gravelly voice caused them both to choke.

*cough cough cough* “Fuck, Gunny. You scared the shit out of us!” The marine named Beliago answered.

Gunnery Sergeant Tyson Johnson stood behind them. His soft brown hair was buzzed and faded high and tight. His green eyes stared down at the two men in front of him, jaw clenched, as he waited for either of them to answer his question.

“You can tell me, or explain it to the CO,” his voice drawled out like a growl.

Before either could answer a woman’s voice interrupted. “Apparently, my sparkling personality is preventing me from experiencing all that your Sergeant has to offer me, Gunny.”

The three men turned to see the subject of the two’s conversation. Staff Sergeant Preston stood at parade rest before Gunny Johnson. The color drained from Sergeant Beliago’s face, realizing that the object of his lewd appraisal had not only heard what was said, but also reported it to their Gunny.

“Apparently my disinterest in your two idiots warranted a lowered ranking on their ’who’s fuckable’ scale,” Katie stated matter of factly, as if she were discussing whether to purchase a new pair of boots.

“What did you just say?!” Gunny Johnson asked.

“I’m sorry. Was the language too vulgar to be clear? What was the wording you used, Beliago? ’I might be hot, but I’m cold as fuck’ or did I mishear the same conversation the entire motor section was listening to when you called me an Ice Queen?” She asked the now speechless Sergeant.

Beliago stared wide eyed at his platoon sergeant. “Gunny! Shit, I didn’t mean for anyone to hear!” He stammered.

Gunny just shook his head. “Go see the C-O. Both of you,” he directed to Beliago and the Corporal he had been speaking with.

“Staff Sergeant Preston, if you would like to file a formal complaint, I will be your witness,” another NCO walked up to join Katie and the Gunny.

Katie smiled at the support, but waved them off. “Don’t worry about it. Gunnery Sergeant Johnson heard them. I appreciate the offer though,” she thanked them.

Time quickly flew by. Before she knew it, Katie’s third tour in the desert was coming to an end. The unit would fly back to North Carolina on Wednesday. Her bags packed and loaded onto the pallets with the rest of the platoon’s gear. The relief in place was complete, so there wasn’t really anything for her to do.

She found a book in the morale, welfare, and recreation tent, and sat outside to read for a bit. This was downtime that had not really been possible before now. It wasn’t long before a shadow loomed over her.

“Hey,” the deep voice of Gunny Johnson called her from her book.

Looking up at him, Katie smiled, “Hey, yourself, Tyson.”

Hearing her call him by his name made him smile. He couldn’t help it. They had started dating before this deployment, but he had no idea how hard it would be to keep this professional. Sitting down next to her, he leaned in and nudged her with his shoulder.

“What are you reading?” he asked.

She smiled, pulling the book to her chest. “It’s called, Amidst the Storm.”

Tyson smiled, “What’s it about?”

“Well, it’s a story about second chance love,” she explained.

Tyson chuckled, questioning further, “Annnnd?”

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