Page 60 of Just Like This
Grabbing my large backpack, I headed into formation with the rest of my unit. Cami and Palmer remained in the gym as, one by one, each row headed into a small room where we picked up our weapons before walking in a loose single file line out to the waiting buses that would take us to an airfield. I climbed onto the bus and looked out the window. Cami and Palmer followed us as she furiously wiped at the tears streaming down her cheeks. Palmer placed a comforting hand on her shoulder and pulled her to his side. He whispered something to her that seemed to calm her slightly because she met my eyes through the glass window and smiled.
“You better live through whatever shitstorm is waiting for us,” Jackson told me as he sat down next to me.
“That’s the plan, asshole. You better have my back.”
“I always do.”
“Oh, I can think of a few time when you didn’t,” I informed him. As the buses drove away, we started a friendly argument that made the perfect distraction. I was too busy pointing out all of the times when my best friend failed me to notice the woman with wild brown curls crying in the arms of my other best friend. I missed her fall to her knees, sobbing in pain because her heart hurt so damn much she thought she was dying. I missed all of that, but I knew it happened because it mirrored exactly how I felt.
The ride to the airfield didn’t take long. Jackson and I boarded the massive airliner that would take us to our final destination. There was so much on my mind that once we were seated, I turned to Jackson and asked him the first question that popped into my brain.
“How was your trip to Vegas?”
“You know, it’s Vegas. We drank too much. Lost a bunch of money.” He was being intentionally cagey, but I let it slide. Vegas was a tradition for the three of us; we always celebrated the end of a long deployment with a week of bachelor debauchery. Jackson had a bad habit of getting himself into trouble at the most inopportune times, but since I didn’t get a phone call asking to bail him out, I assumed it was a pretty uneventful trip. “Honestly, man, we just stayed by the pool all day drinking.”
“Sounds perfect, man. I think I’m going to do that when I’m out. Take Cami and escape to some beach somewhere and just drink by a pool all day.”And then make love to her all night, I silently added.
“It’s not a bad idea. Did I spy a ring on her left hand or was my mind just playing tricks on me?”
I chuckled. “You caught me. I put a ring on her finger.” It was the first time that I was talking about it with someone other than Cami, and it felt good.
“Isn’t it a little soon?”
I shook my head vigorously. “No way. I knew she was meant for me the second I laid eyes on her.”
“I’m happy for you, Garrett. I really am. You’ve been one lonely son of a bitch.”
I smirked and then leaned back against the seat. It was going to be a long flight, and I had plenty of damn time to reflect on just how lonely my life had been.
Once I had committed myself to the Army, I’d never committed to anything else. On leave, I fucked around and had plenty of one-night stands, but there was no one who made me take notice. Nikki was probably the only consistent relationship, and that didn’t even qualify as a relationship.
Was it wrong to be content to circle the globe alone? I didn’t regret going to any of the places I had visited, but then I started thinking about how much better those trips would have been with Cami. I pulled out the small notebook I always carried and started to make a list of all of the places I now wanted to revisit with Cami.
After an hour, the list was long. Sip champagne in France. Visit Neuschwanstein Castle in Germany. Explore the Australian outback. Make love to her on the beach in Hawaii. Take a sunset stroll through the acres and acres of vineyards that I helped plant.
All I needed to do was make it through the next nine months.
