Page 46 of Sir, Yes Sir

No, but there was a reason she wasn’t mentioning that she’d been spending so much time with me.

“Here, eat up, then you probably need to go home to change,” I told her, dumping some of the eggs, now soft scrambled, onto her plate.

She snatched up a slice of bacon, but left the rest for me on the paper towel before eating.

I did the same, shoveling food into my mouth like it was my last meal, then I left her to get myself in the shower.

“Are you sure you’re ok?” she called as I closed the door.

“I’m fine. Go home, Freya.”

That’s right. Go home before I bend you over my knee and smack that juicy ass, then kiss it better.

I didn’t wait beside the door to hear her leave like I wanted to. No, I had to start pulling away. If I let her any closer, I was going to fucking pull her in and never let her go. She needed more than a beat up veteran like me. We needed space.

When I got out of the shower in nothing but jeans, I immediately felt the absence of her. She’d gone home, just like I’d asked.

Somehow that stung, even though I’d told her to do it. Goddamn emotions. They didn’t make any fucking sense.

“Hey Ash,” came Tommy’s voice at the garage door.

We just finished up for the day, emptying the last bay for the night.

“Hey Tommy Gun,” I said, approaching him while wiping off my hands.

“It’s been too long,” he said, patting my shoulder. “Let’s get out of here a little early, get a drink, and catch up. You know I still haven’t seen your new place?”

“Not much to tell,” I admitted. “But yeah, I could use a beer or five.”

He nodded, then looked over my shoulder, shouting, “Hey Kevin, you closing up tonight?”

Kevin called from across the garage that he’d close up while Angelina put away a few tools.

“C’mon. I’m driving, you’re talking.”

Well, shit. I had been hoping that we could avoid that whole talking thing and just drink, instead.

There was a bar not too far off from the dealership, but then again, it was Vegas, the city of sin. What else could I expect?

Once inside, we found a booth and both ordered a pint, then stared a little awkwardly at each other. We always had the Marines in common, and always would, but other than that, we didn’t have a whole lot to say to each other. He was absorbed with his family and his business, and I was just scraping by on his generosity to give me a job. As good of a mechanic as I was, I knew that a busted up vet wasn’t exactly the prime pickings.

“So? You’ve been in your new place for, what, two weeks? Three?”

I nodded, wondering where that beer was.

Ah, there it was.

A waitress came up to us, setting the pints down with a smile as she asked if we wanted food.

“Probably best to sop up some of the alcohol,” Tommy said, asking for a club sandwich, which they didn’t have, because what fucking bar has a club sandwich?

“Chicken burger then,” he asked, sounding annoyed while the flustered waitress turned to me.

“Sounds good to me,” I agreed with a nod.

She gave a grateful smile back to me then left us alone with our beers.

“Guess I better tell Karma I’m eating dinner out tonight,” he mumbled, punching a text into his phone.

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