Page 4 of The Moments You Were Mine
It was still light enough that I could see the hint of color that bloomed over her cheeks as her eyes jerked down to her body and saw exactly what I had. What every fucking guy here had seen—rosy tips and hints of hair darker than the strands on her head.
She pulled my T-shirt over her head, dragging her hair out from the collar. By the time she met my eyes, she’d already recovered from the embarrassment. She shrugged. “It’s not like I’m showing something anyone here hasn’t already seen.”
My thoughts went dark. What the hell did she mean? They’d all seen her naked?
Fury and jealousy coursed through me.
She read my expression and laughed. “I didn’t mean they’d all seenme, Parker. You know better than that. I just meant female bodies in general.”
But I didn’t know it, did I? She was a sophomore in college. She’d dated guys. She’d been texting me about the dates she’d been on since high school. She’d asked me questions she should have asked her mom, but her mom wasn’t always in the right state of mind to answer them. Lauren had been on a cycle of opiate addiction and recovery ever since I’d first met her.
All I knew was that I was grateful Fallon had never asked me about doing the actual deed. I wasn’t sure I could have handled knowing she was closing the deal with some guy who didn’t deserve her, who hadn’t earned the right to be at her side.
I wasn’t sure anyone would.
Not even you, dickwad, my conscience screamed at me.
Fallon turned to her friend who’d sat down on the other side of her. “You were right, Rae. Twenty dollars was too good to be true for my swimsuit.”
Her friend was curvy and tall with black hair that she kept wound tight in miles of tiny braids, held back with a thick band. She’d been Fallon’s roommate in the dorms, and they’d moved to an apartment off-campus this year. The last time I’d been in it, the place still had the bare-bones, second-hand vibe of starving students. I was pretty damn sure not even Rae knew the truth about the size of Fallon’s bank accounts.
“Is it pilling already?” Rae asked.
“See-through,” Fallon said, quirking a brow at me. “Parkerdidn’t seem to appreciate it.”
“Parker needs to let the rest of us have our fun,” a guy across the firepit said with a sneer.
My muscles bunched, ready to leap across the flames and plant my fist in his face.
It was Will’s hand on my arm that stopped me. “Let it go, Park,” my friend said under his breath.
I whipped my eyes to Will’s face. The natural highlights in his dark-brown hair were the same color as the fire burning in front of us. Thick and wavy, he had cowlicks that caused it to stick up in strange places whenever it wasn’t shorn down to his scalp. Today, it was a mess from our time in the water.
He had his arm around a slim, warm-skinned woman with brown eyes, bright-purple hair, a nose ring, and tattoos dancing up both shoulders. I wasn’t crazy about Althea, but Will was head over heels in love with her.
I swallowed hard, trying to calm myself down, and did exactly what my best friend since the Naval Academy had told me. I let it go. The twenty-something loser on the other side of the fire wouldn’t stand a chance if I decided to take him out, but I wouldn’t end my SEAL career just as it was taking off by getting arrested.
“Music, Rae!” someone demanded, and Fallon’s friend pulled a portable speaker out of her beach bag. She whipped through screens on her phone, and reggae filled the air. The beat was steady and sensual, turning the lighthearted day at the beach into something darker. Needier.
Rae pulled Fallon to her feet, and they started dancing. My T-shirt rode up along Fallon’s thigh, giving hints of that blue bikini, and I fought my body’s reaction to it. To her. To a woman I was here to protect and nothing more.
Eight years ago, I’d promised our dads I would always look out for her and keep my hands to myself while doing it.
She’d been in danger that day, targeted by men who were coming for her dad, and I’d been a green Academy cadet who thought he already knew everything about protecting people. Except, I hadn’t known shit, and the moment I’d left, the moment I’d turned my back, Fallon had nearly died.
I wouldn’t let that happen again on my watch. When I wasdeployed, there wasn’t much I could do about it, but she’d always be safe when I was here.
The sun dropped below the ocean, the waves crashed along the shore, and the breeze drifted in, bringing the scent of salt and seaweed with it. Nights on the sand always brought back memories of not only BUD/S—where we’d been stuck in the moonlight, shivering and quaking with a RIB boat held above our heads—but also of my first mission as a SEAL. The silence had been heavy after we’d landed and made our way up the darkened beach until it had been broken by gunfire.
I looked over at Will to see his face had turned serious as well. Would we ever get used to the memories? Or would each mission weigh us down a bit more? Would coming home always feel like we’d lost something of ourselves while we’d been gone?
As the night progressed, alcohol appeared as if from nowhere, and people started to pair off. Hands were held. Kisses turned sultry. Most of the college kids here weren’t old enough to buy the booze they were drinking, and neither Will nor I could afford to have afurnishing alcohol to a minorcharge, so I stood up and stretched.
Will did the same, bringing Althea with him.
“Time for us to go, Ducky,” I said to Fallon.
She spun in the sand, a smile on her face that hit me dead center in the chest like an arrow. Goddamn, why did she have to be so beautiful? She glowed with an energy, a vibrancy, that seemed to light up the night.
