Page 62 of Changing the Game

But how do we navigate our nosey family?

I’ll give school one more year, then make my decision. I’m lucky my grandparents set up trust funds for Aiden and me years ago. I’m even luckier because my mother is the most financially savvy person I’ve ever known. And she’s spun the money left for us into two small fortunes. I could probably live off that for the next ten years without working a single day if I wanted to. But that’s not what I want. Chloe and I have already started to see a small-scale profit that I want to see grow.

I look over my list and realize I don’t have that many decisions to make.

I know what I want. Even better, I knowwhoI want.

Now, I just need to figure out how to make it happen.

Luckily, the flight lands on time, and everything else moves smoothly. I’ve retrieved my luggage within an hour of landing, and I’m walking through the revolving door to find my Uber that’s in the waiting lane. But I don’t see my Uber when I step out onto the sidewalk.

I don’t even look for it because Cooper is standing in front of his beat-up old Jeep. His jeans are well-worn and torn at one knee. The faded blue t-shirt he’s wearing stretches across his chest and arms, making those eyes I love stand out even more. He looks comfortable in his skin. Confident in a way that’s totally Cooper. And maybe... just maybe, I’m getting there too.

Coop jogs across the lanes of traffic and scoops me up in his arms, crushing me to him.

I wrap my legs around his waist and my arms around his neck as I breathe him in.

“Jesus. I missed you, Carys.” He runs his lips along my jaw and over my lips.

“I missed you too. I’m so sorry I was sick when you left. We barely got to spend any time together.” I cling to him like it’s been years instead of weeks. Not willing to let go and not caring who’s watching, I kiss him with every ounce of pent-up need, frustration... and maybe love that I have for this man.

Coop groans deep in his chest, and I love knowing I do that to him. “You can’t control getting sick.” He puts me down and grabs my suitcase and carry-on. “Let’s get out of here.”

“Sounds good.” I open my Uber app and cancel my ride. Once we’re in the Jeep, Coop gets us out of the maze of airport traffic and onto the highway to go home.

“Do you want to grab something to eat first? There’s a great food truck a few minutes from here.”

I tilt my head toward him and lean back. “That sounds great, but don’t you have training or something? What exactly do you do during the day when you’re not on a mission?”

“Nah, we’re off today. We do a lot of training, though, to make sure we’re ready for every situation.” Coop stops in front of a taco truck a few minutes later, walks around the Jeep, and opens my door. “What are you in the mood for?”

I look at him, standing next to me, then lean against his chest, suddenly exhausted. “You,” I answer honestly. “I just want you.”

How doyou willingly break someone’s heart?

When Command asked me yesterday if I could fill in for a brother who’d been injured on Bravo Team, I was hesitant. It means being in Virginia Beach for the next six to eight months. I thought about saying no. I didn’t want to leave my team or Carys after just getting back.

I talked to Ford about it.

Not just as my team leader, but as my friend, who’s been doing this for a long time. And according to him, it’s a great opportunity for me. Especially if I ever want to get back to the East Coast and be closer to home.

I hadn’t thought about that before. Right now, Charlie Team is my home.

I don’t want to leave them. Although, I might want to be closer to my family one day.

But the bottom line is if the Navy asks, you go. And I’m not ready to push back, possibly fucking with my career by telling them no.

But now, as I haul Carys’s suitcase upstairs to her room, I’m not sure how I’m going to tell her or why I even said yes, when it’s going to put me on the opposite side of the country from this woman for months.

She drops her carry-on and purse down on her bed and kicks off her mint-green Chuck Taylors, then slides an elastic band off her wrist and ties her hair up on top of her head. She looks like she’s preparing for war, but her face softens, and she wraps her arms around my waist.

“Wanna take a bath with me? I can’t shake how tired I am lately, and I just want to relax with you. But I need to wash the recycled plane air off my body, and I think I could use some help reaching my back.” She tilts her head back, and a slow, soft smile spreads across her pretty face. “Think you can help me with that?”

I lift her in my arms and carry her into the bathroom. “I think I can manage, baby.” I sit her down on the bathroom counter and turn on the water in the clawfoot tub. “How do you like the water temperature?”

She hops off the counter and pushes me to sit down on the closed toilet lid, then messes with the old-fashioned black faucet until steam is wafting from the filling tub. “Hope you like grapefruit.” Carys grabs a glass canister from the counter and scoops some salts into the water, and a crisp scent fills the air. When she turns toward me, I grab her waist.

“You’re far too dressed for that water. Arms up, soldier.” Her laughter fills the room as her smile spreads.

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