Page 8 of Her Marine
He knew Axel well enough to know that the younger man was just talking shit. It was also only his third time visiting, and he didn’t know where things were. He could put them in his GPS, but he didn’t see the need when he could get his own personal tour guide.
He had been sitting in his rental car for a few minutes when Axel came out, sliding into the passenger seat.
“Where do you want to get food from?”
“It doesn’t matter to me.”
Pulling out of Axel’s driveway, Killian listened to him give instructions on how to get to a twenty-four-hour diner.
Once seated with their drink order put in, Killian browsed over the menu for a few moments deciding what he wanted. When he had, he placed the menu down and found Axel looking at him. Killian had felt himself being watched but had ignored it. He knew what Axel wanted, and Killian always hated that he’d found another person as perceptive as himself as far as friends went. Between Axel and Slate, he couldn’t hide anything.
“What?” Killian questioned, deciding to feign ignorance for a second.
“I’m just waiting for you to ask me questions to which I either don’t know the answer or have old answers. So, might as well get it over with.”
Killian sighed, knowing that the other man was right. “So, tell me about Journee.”
“Shouldn’t you be asking Journee instead of me?” Axel responded with a smirk, and Killian rolled his eyes.
“I would enjoy nothing more than that. However, I told you she wouldn’t give me her number, and she’s avoiding me for some reason.”
Axel raised a brow at him. “Some reason? You had that woman saying things I’m sure she never thought she would in a first meeting with someone. I also know you, Kil. Which means that you more than likely came on even stronger and said who only knows what to her when you were alone together.”
Killian found himself chuckling because his friend was not wrong. All of that was true, but he’d never been one to beat around the bush when he was attracted to someone, whether that was physical, which it always started as, or emotional, which it seldom grew to be.
“Look, you and I both know I don’t like letting opportunities pass me by,” Killian responded once he’d stopped chuckling. “And yes, I may have said some things, but it wasn’t as if she was unresponsive to them.”
“She was if she’s decided to avoid you like the fucking plague.”
“She wasn’t. The way she shifted, squeezed her thighs, the way her pupils dilated. She gave every indication. She’s avoiding me because I scare her in the best way possible.”
At that moment, their waitress came back with their drinks, and they placed their orders. When she was gone, the conversation picked up again.
“Or you just scare her. I mean, with that face, it isn’t hard,” Axel responded with a chuckle.
“That’s called hating,” Killian told him with a smirk. “But seriously. How old is she?”
Axel shrugged. “Twenty-seven or twenty-eight. Kaydence is Twenty-eight, but I vaguely remember someone saying Journee was a little younger than she was. I was a senior when they were both freshmen. So, she’s at least eight years younger than you are.”
Killian shrugged. “Age is a simple number as long as she can legally buy liquor.” Killian was well aware that eighteen technically made someone an adult. However, he felt that that would be a bit much at his age.
“Honestly, Kil, I don’t think I’ll be able to tell you much more than you already know. I didn’t talk to Journee much in high school. I bumped into her twice when I returned home on leave my second year enlisted, but she was still in high school, and we never went past the simple ‘how have you been’ conversations.”
“It’s fine,” Killian responded. A part of him had known that his friend wouldn’t know much. However, Axel did have something that could at least get Journee to see him again, and that was Kaydence. “I do have a favor to ask. It’s more so of Kaydence than of you.”
“You want my girlfriend to play matchmaker?” Axel inquired.
“No. I just want her to get us in the same place at the same time.”
“I’ll ask her, but if she says no, I’m not going to press the issue. That’s her friend, so she knows her best.”
“I wouldn’t ask you to.”
The conversation lapsed into other things as they continued to wait for their food to arrive. Once it did, they ate while Killian told Axel he planned to stay for six weeks. The approval for his extension came from his commanding officer that morning as long as he knew where Killian was.
Axel volunteered to let Killian stay with him during that time, but Killian had just chuckled and informed him that he in no way wanted to have to hear Axel and Kaydence at any point. He also reminded his friend how rewarding service discounts were.
Killian paid the bill when they finished eating, and Axel left a tip. The waitress came back with his card and handed it to him along with a copy of the receipt. She then handed Axel a copy, and Killian stopped himself from smirking.
