Page 46 of Coming Home

I rubbed myself against him, feeling how much he still wanted me. He checked his watch and I knew he was seeing if we had enough time for a quickie. The knock on the door told us both we did not.

Ben groaned in frustration. “Go get ready,” he finally said.

“You sure? I could take care of that pretty quickly,” I said, patting the front of his pants.

“That is not helping one little bit. Are you taking a shower?” he asked.

I shrugged. “Probably should, but not sure I have enough time. I’ll just brush my hair and throw it up in a ponytail.”

“Good, because I need a quick cold shower before we go,” he said.

I laughed and patted him on last time. “Offer still stands.”

Another knock at the door had him growling as he headed for the bathroom.

I quickly changed clothes and grabbed the brush before opening the door.

“Is Ben ready?” Troy asked.

“No, he just jumped into the shower. He’ll be a few more minutes.”

“It’s like a five-hour drive. We need to hit the road,” Will whined.

“Did you guys get breakfast yet?” They both shook their heads. “Head on down to the kitchen. Mom should be there and will round something up for you. If not, just help yourselves. I’ll speed Ben up.”

“Are you coming with us, Ms. Shelby?” Will asked.

I smiled. “It’s okay to just call me Shelby outside of school. And yes, is that okay with you guys?”

They shared a look and shook their heads.

“I’m still worried you’re going to get hurt when he leaves,” Troy admitted. “I don’t want you to hurt, Shelby.”

I hugged them both. “It’s a risk I’m willing to take, Troy. It will suck for all us when he has to return to his unit, but that doesn’t mean we push him away. We need to treasure the time we do have with him, okay?”

Troy nodded and I shooed them back downstairs.

When I turned around, Ben was standing there in just a towel watching me. There was love shining in his eyes.

“Thank you. I think Troy really needed to hear that,” he said softly.

“We have a long drive ahead, so get dressed,” I told him, not wanting to discuss it any further.

When we finally got back downstairs, ready to go, Walker was waiting for us. He smiled and hugged me, ignoring Ben’s warning growl as he passed by to get the twins.

“Thomas made arrangements himself. I’m driving,” he said.

“The whole five hours?” I asked skeptically.

Walker laughed. “No, just to the airfield. The Collier plane is gassed and ready. There will be a car waiting when you arrive to take you to the hospital.”

“Is he still in his office?” I asked, wanting to thank my brother.

“Nah, some important meeting on the green.”

I rolled my eyes, knowing how much my brother loved playing golf. It had become one of his new obsessions in life. I would never understand it.

Ben rounded up the boys and we headed outside. They all went straight for my car, but Walker whistled and redirected them to an SUV.

---