Page 5 of Free

“We talk a lot. It’s fun. Flirty, sure. But…” I sigh, the words catching. “We don’t get much time together. His job being what it is. My home beingwhereit is…”

Angela opens her mouth to respond, but a high-pitched shriek splits the air, followed by a splash that sends waves rolling across the pool. A little girl stands at the edge, hands planted on her hips, glaring at another, soaked and flailing in the water, her dress billowing like a jellyfish.

“I’m gonna kill you!” the girl in the pool shouts, her voice a mix of outrage and humiliation. “You stupid, jealous, bratty idiot!”

Their mother, Angela’s cousin Nathan’s girlfriend, storms toward the scene, gesturing wildly for Nathan to solve the problem withherdaughters.

I shake my head, murmuring, “He deserves so much better.”

Angela sighs, her head bobbing in agreement. “So much better. Maybe someday he’ll figure out what he’s worth.”

Then Nick approaches, and every coherent thought flies straight out of my head.

He’s in his dress blues, sharp and commanding, with dark hair cropped perfectly and eyes so blue it’s like God used them for inspiration when he colored the summer sky. He’s all clean lines and quiet strength, six-foot-three of impossible charm, and I am utterly helpless. Nick Hutton is the stuff sexual fantasies are made of.

Believe me, I know.

He smiles, and it hits me like a bolt of lightning. My pulse quickens, my stomach flips, and Angela’s amused scoff barely registers

“Friends. Sure,” she murmurs, before drifting away to give us some time alone.

The rest of the party blurs, the voices, laughter, and music fading to the edges. It might as well just be Nick and me, alone instead of surrounded by people, talking like we’ve known each other forever instead of only a year. My awareness sharpens on the details—the warmth of his skin when our arms brush, the low timbre of his voice that sends shivers down my spine, the way his laugh seems to echo in my chest.

Time becomes elastic in Nick’s company, moments stretching and snapping back. Eventually, though, the bubble we’ve created bursts, and we wander through the crowd to join others. I meet Ivy, girlfriend to Nick’s cousin Micah. She seems sweet, and they seem serious, but as she talks, I can’t help but notice Nick’s arm brush mine again, his easy grin flicking my focus back to him.

“That is so gonna be a thing,” Micah whispers to Ivy, just loud enough to hear as Nick and I drift toward yet another quiet corner. “Charlie, and Nick. They eye-bang each other whenever they’re both in town at the same time. Which happens a lot more than you’d think.”

Nick glances at me, his expression bemused. “If I’ve ever eye-banged you, please forgive me.”

“Likewise, Marine,” I shoot back, winking as I sip my champagne, trying to calm the flush creeping up my neck.

We talk. We drink. The champagne goes to my head and I can’t stop touching his arm. Don’t want to stop touching his arm. I lean close, breathing in his cologne, the musk of his skin, laughing and laughing and laughing at his jokes. We linger in the driveway, long after everyone else has left, the palms bending in the breeze, the ocean stretching out wide and wonderful behind the house.

“When do you leave?” he asks, leaning against his truck, looking so damn gorgeous I don’t know what to do.

“I’m here for a week,” I say, my cheeks heating at the implications. Let’s be honest… I came for him.

A slow smile brightens his face. “Can I see you?”

“I mean,” I tease, my voice light but my heart pounding, “I flew to Florida specifically for your welcome home party and decided to stay an extra week, so, you know, I’d be pretty disappointed if you didn’t.”

The way his gaze locks on mine definitely feels like eye-banging.

Neither one of us complains.

THREE

Nick

2 and a half years ago

Dear Charlie,

I can’t remember the last time I wrote a letter. Does anyone do it anymore? I mean, there’s email and text and video chat. It’s your care packages that put the idea in my head. You take so much time putting them together and I feel, I don’t know, special, when one arrives. I wanted to do something to make you feel the same.

Today was weird. It’s always unsettling. The first day of a deployment. Time differences. Climate differences. Personnel differences. Usually, I just, I don’t know, disconnect? Flip a switch? I turn off family, friends,history, future. It’s like I’m born the moment we touch tarmac. Not a brand new Nick Hutton, but a moment-to-moment Nick Hutton. I don’t think I could do what I do if I let myself think about what I stand to lose.

But you’ve kind of changed that.

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