Page 19 of Summer with a SEAL

“Yum,” Michelle said, taking a sip of her margarita. “So, I know it’s crazy in here tonight, but quick, give me the dirt on Ryker!”

Bailey smirked. “He’s a handful.”

“A very delicious handful,” Michelle said as the other women laughed.

“There’s not much to tell. He’s got a new woman with him all the time,” Bailey said. “I’m not sure he’s really the settling down sort, if you’re looking for that sort of thing.”

“Well neither am I,” Michelle said. “We’re just here for the summer, right girls? It sounds like a match made in heaven.”

“She’s not wrong,” Amy joked, playfully elbowing her friend.

“And what about Jacob?” Michelle asked, winking at Jessica. “Tell us about him, too.”

Bailey grinned, and Jessica felt her cheeks heating. What did she care what Bailey had to say about Jacob anyway? They hadn’t even gone out on a date yet, and now the guys were gone. For all she knew, she’d never even see him again.

“He’s a flirt,” Bailey said, “but a sweet guy. Honestly, now that all of his friends have girlfriends, I can totally see him wanting one, too.”

“I’m not looking for a boyfriend,” Jessica hastily said. “Like Michelle said—we’re just here for the summer. I don’t need a summer fling or anything like that.”

“He’s a good guy,” Bailey insisted. “And the other night, he seemed really into you.”

Jessica felt her cheeks redden. “He’s gorgeous—yes. But like you said, he’s a flirt. If he wasn’t flirting with me the other night, I’m sure there’d be another woman around to catch his attention.”

Bailey shrugged. “What does it matter if you’re the one he’s into now? I wasn’t expecting to get together with Noah. I knew him a little bit because of Taylor—knew about him at least. But neither of us was looking for anything serious, and look what happened?”

“So where’d they go, anyway?” Amy asked. “I guess you probably don’t know the details. I was kind of hoping to thank them for rescuing me the other night. Being out there in the ocean, too tired to swim back, was absolutely terrifying.”

“I don’t know where they are,” Bailey admitted. “That’s life with a Navy SEAL—they can’t talk about their missions and probably never will be able to. I’m okay with that because I trust Noah and the other guys.”

“Saving the world isn’t a bad thing,” Jessica said.

“It is when Ryker could be here fucking my brains out,” Michelle said.

Jessica nearly spat out her margarita.

“Amen, sister,” Bailey said. “But they’ll be plenty of time for that when they get back. If he spent the night with you, he must’ve been interested. Ryker’s usually more the love ‘em and leave ‘em type—sneaking out before dawn and all that.”

Michelle grinned. “And here Jessica sent Jacob packing the night before.”

“He knew nothing was going to happen—we were planning to meet you guys at the ER. When we found out Amy was getting discharged soon, he said he’d wait with me. It’s not like we were making out on every available surface or something.”

“Well, when all of them do get back, I’d like to say thanks,” Amy said.

“I’m sure you’ll be seeing more of them,” Bailey said. “Excuse me, ladies. I’ve got to tend to some of the other customers. The natives are getting restless,” she said, rolling her eyes as a group of rowdy guys across the bar tried to get her attention.

An hour later, the women walked out of the bar to catch a cab back to their house. Michelle took a deep breath, inhaling the salty scent of the ocean air. “God, this is soooo much better than Blacksburg. Why do we live there again? Virginia Beach has the ocean, the hot military guys—”

“The more expensive ocean front real estate,” Jessica said, brushing a strand of hair back behind her ear.

“Well, I’m not looking to buy a place right now,” Michelle muttered, hailing a cab.

“I’m not today,” Jessica said as the women climbed in. “But someday, yes. Eventually.”

“There are schools around here you know,” Amy said. “We could move out here and teach.”

“Now you’re talking!” Michelle said excitedly.

“Where to?” the cab driver asked as they pulled back onto busy Atlantic Avenue, the road that ran up and down the Virginia Beach strand, parallel to the ocean.

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