Page 22 of Anders and the Girl Worth Fighting For
He just smiled warmly at me, not at all offended by my awkwardness.
“I got myself blown up on my last mission. Brass wasn’t too happy with it, but since I did something heroic when it happened, they had to give me a purple heart. Then they promptly booted me from the Marines.” He said it all so casually, as if getting blown up was something mundane. Which reminded me of a line in one of his letters about how they saw death as mundane, so maybe it was. Or maybe it was this veteran’s way of coping with what he had experienced. I itched to reach out to him, but I didn’t think he would enjoy comforting over somethingmundane.
“Was it worth it?” I asked instead. “The something heroic?”
“Oh yes. I couldn’t have lived with myself if I didn’t do what I did. I also can’t tell you anymore. Owing to the secret nature of my previous job.” He said in that same playful tone he’d used to cheer me all day.
Knowing what I know about him, it was likely helping someone the government didn’t want him to help. I knew enough of the bad people in the world to believe that the government wasn’t above board with everything they did. Probably not even most of what they did.
“So, where’s Duke and Midnight now?” I asked. I curled my legs up under myself and turned fully toward him.
“Lounging in one of his grandfather’s many vacation homes, no doubt,” he replied. A hint of indulgent humor in his voice.
I leaned towards Anders more and more as he talked about Duke, Tink, Grey, and Icebox. They were apparently his brothers, though not literally, and served their entire careers together, moving up in ranks and even going through specialforces training together.
“Duke had the balls to sleep with the general’s daughter and was caught running from his house in nothing but socks,” Anders said as he recounted one of the many tales of the Untamed Rascals.
“Of course, I had to come to his rescue and pick him up from the corner near the general’s house. He was soaking wet from the sprinklers. His ass hanging out for everyone and God to see and I was in my mom’s car.” The corner of his eyes squishing into adorable little wrinkles as he spoke, and I could help but laugh along with his infectious joy. “I definitely couldn’t tell her that Duke’s balls had rested on her seat. Talk about awkward. Thankfully, I thought to get pictures. Tink has those preserved on various servers, clouds, and hard drives. There’s no getting rid of them. Grey laid into Duke when I brought him back to the barracks. I’d never heard someone give such a good reaming. That’s why we call him Grey. He’s more like an old man and father to us than many of us had growing up.”
My cheeks and sides hurt by the end of his story. I had leaned fully into him by then, the last vestiges of my anxiety and awkwardness long since burned away.
“That wasn’t the last time Duke got up to something he shouldn’t, usually involving a pretty face and very little clothing. That’s why we call him Duke. He’s the Duke of Debauchery. Very few can top his impressive list of screwing around.” Anders was smiling, too. It was clear he was fond of the men he served with.
“How did you get your nickname? Actually, what is it? I don’t think you ever told me.” The languid atmosphere relaxed my tongue and made me willing to ask questions I might not have otherwise.
“Ares. I got a reputation for being arrogant when I first joined,” he smiled at me as he spoke, “and made a few missteps at the beginning, and then, as time went on, I became recklessand disenchanted with the military. I kind of stopped caring about anything, so my reputation grew. I earned the name the stupid way and then tried to live up to it.”
I wanted more details, but perhaps he couldn’t share those. A little thrill ran through me, sitting so close, pressed so close, to a man who earned a name like Ares. I imagined all kinds of scenarios and none of them were very pretty. I didn’t feel unsafe, though. On the contrary, I didn’t think I’d ever been safer.
Chapter Ten
Grace’s smile was trumped only by her laughter as the best thing in the world. I’d always thought the Untamed Rascals antics were good and I’m glad to find that she enjoyed them almost as much as I did. My plan for distracting her was off to a great start. I had hoped it would also work to woo and flirt with her. By how she leaned towards me, her body brushing up against my side, I was right.
Our conversation had quieted down now. She told me more about her grandmother. My heart broke for the little girl who had to say goodbye to the woman who was more mother to her than her actual mother.
“She used to take me on tours of all the old houses that had been turned into museums in the Savannah Historic District. I’ve probably been to each half a dozen times.” Her eyes had a distant quality about them that said she was remembering these trips. “We would pretend to be from the time they were built and act in character the whole time we were touring the houses.” A small smile played at her lips while she told me the story. It was the most peaceful she had been all day.
“She had so many costumes that we could dress up in a different outfit at every museum. We would walk around pretending to be baffled by the bits of newer technology we would find. ‘Oh, what is this contraption?’ she would say and Iwould have to guess something that it definitely wasn’t. People sometimes even asked for our pictures, as if we were part of the cast.” Grace yawned and laid her head on my shoulder. I dared not move. I barely breathed at the contact. “I learned so much about the history of Savannah that way. Did you know Spanish Moss is actually related to the pineapple?” She asked, to prove her random facts knowledge.
“I had no idea.”
“Yeah. They are both a type of plant that absorbs nutrients and water from the air. I think they are called epi-pens.” She giggled at that. “No wait, epiphytes.” Sleepiness weight down her eyes and made her loopy. I couldn’t help the smile that spread across my lips at her silliness. “I learned to love this city because a crazy old woman loved to play dress up with her granddaughter and had the resources to do it right.” She sounded so wistful. I reached up and brushed her hair back from her face so I could see the sparkle in her eyes.
“Tell me more,” I urged.
“She used to take me for ice cream after. There is a place called Leopold’s that has a marble soda fountain. We would make different floats each time we went.” Her smile fell a bit after that. “Bill took me there on our first date. I think I was so taken with him because I remembered going there with my grandmother and all the good times we had. I think I mixed up my feelings for her with Bill.”
Her eyebrows drew low over her eyes, casting a shadow over the light I knew they could hold. I wished I could erase all the bad times, but I knew sometimes the bad times shaped us the most.
“I wish I could have met your grandmother,” I replied. I focused on the good parts of her story. I wanted her to do the same.
“She would have loved you,” she said. Her voice grew quieter.“She would have called you a ‘hottie tottie with a fine ass body.’ She was ridiculous. I loved her.” She didn’t seem to notice and thus be embarrassed by the compliment she just gave me. I couldn’t help but laugh at her assessment.
“Would she now?” I teased. My voice dropped, and the words came out a bit more gravely than my usual tone.
“Oh, yes. She wasn’t shy about her assessment of men. I wasn’t even very old before I started hearing her opinions. She never held back.” Grace yawned, and I could see her eyes fighting to stay open. “She was brave.” The last words were so low I had to lean into her to hear them.
I might have been offended by such an attractive woman falling asleep to my conversation if I didn’t know all she had been through today. Then again, maybe it was just because it was Grace.
