Page 2 of With You

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ROE

I shoved the last shirt into my duffel and looked around my bunk one last time to make sure I wasn’t leaving anything behind. Not that I had much. Four months ago, I’d had a walk-in closet the size of this entire barracks filled with designer clothing and shoes. It was surprising that I didn’t miss the luxury of my old lifestyle.

Slinging my bag over my shoulder, I walked out the door and into the hot summer sun, my shirt already sticking to my back where beads of sweat were forming. South Carolina’s humidity was no joke, that and the fucking mosquitoes.

I slapped my neck, killing one of the blood suckers and wiping its carcass on the back of my jeans. They were tighter now. I was naturally thin before I arrived at training and in the last few weeks I’d put on a good amount of muscle. I felt good, strong, and I was thinking that I’d be keeping the physical routine up even though my ass was more than likely going to be sitting behind a computer for the rest of my career.

“That’s disgusting,” Sam chided from where she leaned against the railing, her own duffel laying at her feet. Her pert nose wrinkled in distaste as I wiggled my fingers at her.

Let’s be honest, she’d seen me do grosser things than wiping a dead bug on my pants. Vomiting my dinner and lunch all over the ground and her tennis shoes during a middle of the night eight-mile hike up a damn mountain being one of them.

I slid my arm around her shoulders and gave her a side hug, then I whipped out my phone and took a selfie of the two of us. I was already dancing away from her and sliding my phone back into my front pocket before she could stop me.

“Asshole,” she sneered but there wasn’t much heat behind it. Sam loved me, even though she’d never admit it. I just wished it was as more than a friend.

Yeah, I’d sworn when I’d offered her the olive branch of friendship that I wasn’t interested in more, but that had been a bold-faced lie. Samantha Hebert was beautiful, strong, stubborn and I wanted her more than I wanted to piss off my father. Which was a lot.

She had long legs, shiny blonde hair and a perfect summer tan which I suspected she kept year-round. Anyone would agree she was a knockout. I’d met women with half her beauty and twice the confidence but I’d never seen her give a shit about her appearance outside of meeting regulations. She was so much more than the way she looked and that only made me want her more.

Every day of training I’d seen fuckers like Martinez and Walker simultaneously lust after her and hate her at the same time. She’d had to put up with more shit than anyone here, but she’d let the insults and snide comments roll off her back like they were nothing. The fact that she even gave me the time of day was a miracle in and of itself.

“Ready to head out?” I asked as I reached for her duffel to add it to my own. Unsurprisingly she slapped my hand out of the way before grabbing it herself and slinging the heavy bag up like it was a pillow.

“Yup. Let’s drop our stuff off and then I want to find a beer and the greasiest burger in town.”

“Yes,” I groaned, thinking of a fat cheeseburger with bacon and all the fixings. A side of loaded fries would make it the perfect celebration meal for tonight.

Just one night of freedom before we had to leave for our next round of training. Training that would be on opposite ends of the country from each other. A fact that I’d been trying to avoid thinking about for the last week.

We grabbed one of the waiting cabs and gave the name of the crappy motel we’d booked for the night. After check in, we separated to find our rooms. I opened the door to mine and dropped my duffel unceremoniously to the floor, then took the stairs that would lead me back to the parking lot.

Sam arrived shortly after and practically dragged me across the street to the busy roadhouse. We pushed through the crowd and snagged a table, placing our order with the waitress before she could even say a word to us.

“Oh god, that’s so good,” Sam moaned after she took her first sip of beer, completely unaware of how tempting that sound was, mixed with her look of pure bliss. I shifted in my chair, trying to hide the wince of pain as I adjusted my hardening cock.

“I’d have to agree that this is the best thing I’ve tasted in months.” I licked a stray drop of liquid off my bottom lip and Sam’s eyes dropped to take in the action for a fraction of a second before darting away to sweep the bar. Shit, was I imagining it or was she blushing?

“It’s weird that this is the last time we’ll be together,” she said suddenly and my heart clenched at the reminder.

“Fucking sucks,” I muttered. Eloquent I was not.

“Yeah,” she sighed as she ran her fingers through her long hair. Seeing her like this was tempting my strained nerves. I’d never seen her hair in anything but a regulation bun and now it was straight and shiny and curling against her soft looking tits that pushed against her plain black tank top. I was going to hell, lusting after my best friend when she’d never given me any indication that she wanted me back.

Sam peeled the label off her half empty beer, playing with the condensation on the glass. Her brow furrowed and she spoke so softly I had to lean forward to hear her over the noise of the bar, “We’re friends, aren’t we, Roe?”

I balked at her question, “Of course we are.”

“And friends help each other out when they need it, don’t they?” Blue eyes rose from the table and speared me with their intensity.

“Yeah,” I swallowed, feeling nervous all of a sudden. “They do.” I didn’t know what she needed help with, but I’d do whatever she asked of me, unquestionably.

“I’ve got a problem. It never seemed like a big deal before but now that we’re about to leave for more training and then we’ll be stationed who knows where in the world, I’ve been thinking I need to take care of it.”

“I’m sorry, Sam, I’m not really following you here.” I rubbed the hairs at the back of my neck awkwardly, wishing I could read her mind and help make whatever she was trying to say to me easier.

Sam took a deep breath, visibly bracing herself. “I’m talking about sex, Roe. My virginity, which is a stupid fucking word but it is what it is and I want it gone before my days are once again consumed with taking orders.”

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