Page 32 of Waiting to Love You

“Lasagna?” She sounds completely surprised that I’m cooking anything at all.

“What did you expect? A DiGiorno’s pizza?” I question as I head toward the kitchen and grab the lasagna off the counter. “It’s one of the few things I know how to cook. Italian food always reminds me of my parents. My mother used to make a full Italian dinner every Saturday for our family. It was always just the three of us together, but it was amazing.”

I give her a sad smile as I push the lasagna back into the open to warm and turn on the timer.

“I’m sorry,” she mutters as she comes up behind me and tugs my shoulder. I turn around slowly, my eyes locking with hers. “I’m sure you miss them terribly.”

“I do.” I sigh, wanting to share more of myself with Bristol. “My parents died when I was young. I didn’t have any other family, so I was put into the foster care system.”

Over the few months I knew her before deployment, I didn’t go into too much detail about my past. Instead, I wanted to focus on her, drawing out every bit of information from her I could. I told her things about me, but they were only surface level because I was afraid of what would happen if she knew.

I didn’t want her to think any less of me because I didn’t grow up the same way she did. It wouldn’t be the first time someone thought less of me because I was a part of the foster care system. To most people, it meant that I was unwanted by my parents or that I was the stereotypical drug addict’s son. No one bothered to ask me what happened to my parents or why I was in foster care until I was in high school, and by then, I learned to keep that information to myself. It was safer for my heart that way.

“Oh, no,” she whispers, her eyes instantly filling with tears.

“It wasn’t bad.” I turn around, not wanting to see the look of pity in her eyes everyone gets when I tell them my story. “I had great foster parents. I moved around a lot, but not as much as most kids.”

“Is that why you joined the military?”

I continue moving around the kitchen, grabbing dishes from the cabinet and setting the small table. I try to think of the right answer that will keep her from running out of here screaming, never to return. Bristol has an aversion to the military; I’ve known that since the day we met, but that part of my life is over. However, I can’t deny that being a Marine is a big part of the man I am today.

“Partially, but mostly it was because I wanted a place to belong. I wanted to be a part of a family.” I turn and notice Bristol staring at me, her eyes shining with unshed tears as she wraps her arms around my waist.

“Once a Marine, always a Marine,” she murmurs, planting a kiss over my heart before taking a step away from me.

“No, it’s a little more than that.” I chuckle as the timer sounds, signaling that dinner is ready. “Being a Marine gave me a place to work through my anger while learning to trust others again. To trust that there were people out there in the world that would have my back no matter what.”

I bend down and open the oven, pulling out the lasagna and placing it to cool on the stove. Carefully, I remove the aluminum foil. The smell of cheese and seasonings fills the air. “But it wasn’t until I met Brady that I felt like I was part of a family again. Spending time with him and his parents made me feel safe and loved in a way that I haven’t since my parents died.”

“I’m glad you found them.” She smiles brightly in my direction, as if I’m the only person in the world, and my heart swells.

“I am, too, for no other reason than because they led me to you.”

Everything I have gone through in my life has led me to this moment: the moment I lay my heart on the line for the woman I love. Sure, this might seem fast, but nothing about our relationship has ever been conventional. If I’ve learned one thing from being in the Marines, it’s that we don’t have time to wait. We have to take what we want when we’re given the opportunity or take the chance of losing out on it forever.

“A lot of things can change in a year, but deep down, you’re still the girl who stole my heart before I left on my last deployment. The only woman I’ll ever love.”

Electricity sizzles between us. She leans toward me as if she’s being pulled by an invisible string in my direction. I scan her face, trying to commit every detail to memory: the color of her eyes, the way a few strands of her hair fall into her face. But neither of us makes a move. It’s as if we’re in our own world, and nothing else exists but the two of us.

“You don’t need to lay it on so thick tonight. I don’t need your fancy words and pickup lines,” she whispers as she attempts to put some space between us, but I grip her hand.

“You don’t need to run away from me, Bristol.”

“I’m not running away, Seth. I’m protecting myself. There are things going on in my life that you don’t know about. I’m afraid that once you learn what they are, you’ll leave me heartbroken and alone. Again.”

“I don’t want to ever leave you again.” I lean forward, brushing my lips lightly against hers a few times.

Bristol relaxes, running her hand up my chest and around my neck. Her nails scratch across the sensitive skin at the base of my neck, and I groan.

“I’m going to kiss you again,” I warn her, giving her a chance to pull away or give me a signal that this isn’t what she wants.

“Please,” she moans, just like before, and she pulls me closer to her.

I run my tongue against the seam of her mouth, and she opens for me, sweeping her tongue into my mouth. I let her take control of this kiss as she tentatively massages my tongue with her own. I can taste the red wine and something else that is entirely her, and I’m lost in her… until her stomach growls loudly.

“Well, that’s embarrassing.” She snickers as she pulls back, our foreheads resting against each other as we wait for our breathing to calm.

“I guess I should feed you.” I stand and head back toward the couch to grab my beer and her wine.

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