Page 34 of SEAL Mates

He nodded, as he sat down uninvited opposite me.

“She! I’ve been married for twenty years, I know the signs. Only a woman can make you act and behave the way you did this morning.”

I shook my head, wondering what he was talking about. I came into the station. Greeted everyone and then came and sat down. I haven’t spoken or seen anyone since, so what was he going on about?

“You’re a creature of comfort. I hate to say it.” Bob draws as he chews on his imaginary straw. The one he no doubt really chewed when he was on his ranch. The one he had to close down and foreclose because he couldn’t keep up the payments.

“You come at the same time. You drink the same coffee. You do stop for a break. You come and at least visit me if you’re in the station at the same time. If you’re not in then it’s a different matter. Today, none of that. The only one that can make you feel that way is a woman.”

There was no denying it. I told him what happened, my views on Rick and what I felt was needed in the house. The one we had moved into, thinking that a family of three would be enough.

“This is a damn shame.”

“What?”

Thinking that this had been the first time I’d shared my family life with him. We talked about sports, fuck all men talk about that and cases, but private matters. I’d never done it with him. He’d complained about his kids being ungrateful and spoiled, but I knew no matter what, deep down he loved them like crazy like he did Mary-Ann especially when she came to the station and brought her famous chocolate muffins.

“You guys didn’t think past the after. Maybe that’s what being in the Navy does to you. You get in and all you do is follow orders for so long that once you leave, the idea of doing things on your own is too much to bear.”

Shit, he’d hit the nail on the head. This was exactly what had happened, we’d planned from being together and figuring out what to do with our lives for the short future, but the long term had been a completely different thing. One we hadn’t worked out or thought about, I had to put my heart on my sleeve and explain it all to Paula. The same way Bob had done to me just now.

* * *

I couldn’t believe that I came early, but she was here even earlier. Her cases by her side, as if to give me an unspoken message. One which meant that depending on the outcome of this meeting, she would be leaving town for good, it didn’t matter if Greg was going to give her a ride or not.

“Shall I get you a coffee or something?” I asked as I approached her table.

“I could do with a Moca and with a chocolate muffin. If that’s alright.”

She appeared to be sad, and was being polite at the same time. I didn’t deserve it because of the way I’d spoken to her earlier.

I ordered, and I glanced at the table where she was sitting, she was looking out of the window, maybe at someone or something either way, it managed to catch her attention and she ended up waving to whoever was outside.

I came to the table, and I couldn’t help but ask as I laid her order in front of her.

“Who were you waving to?”

“Ruby.” She said not even thanking me for the order as she popped a chocolate chip from the muffin in her mouth.

I sat down and then she waved as if to dismiss me.

“I didn’t say that you could sit with me.”

“Oh.” I crept back up, before my butt hit the chair, and stood back up, holding on to the wooden table. Glancing around, wondering who was noticing us and if they were looking in our direction.

The few that were in at this time, we were a couple too busy saying sweet nothings and not paying any attention to us. I should have been relieved but then I felt so unimportant, the same way Paula had made me feel in the few seconds that she’d told me to leave the table.

What the fuck was wrong with me?

I decided to be the man that I was in the station and then sit down and ignore her request.

“What did you think the interview meant? Come over to our place, drink some wine and then tell you about the pain of the past? Don’t be naive. You’re a grown woman. Act like it. We’re not kids. We’re not pretending. We’re giving you the opportunity to talk to us about the past and use it in your book. That’s an opportunity you wouldn’t be here to refuse.”

With my parting words, I downed the espresso that I’d bought thinking I should give her a few minutes to respond. No, I wanted her to know that she could pretend all she wanted, and try and play innocent. She moved in for us not to only confess our mind but for our bodies too. This was a win-win situation for all of us. I shot up, knowing that she wasn’t about to go anywhere. Her nipples were erect and her face was flustered. I hadn’t stood up for anything in a long time and as I walked out of there, it felt so fucking good.

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