Cole
Rylee’s re-opening has been a massive hit. The club went absolutely nuts and now at four in the morning, Rylee is locking up the doors and absolutely exhausted.
The boys left about an hour ago when the club started closing and I waited back until Rylee was done. We’ve got a big day tomorrow with the boys as we farewell Luke. I can’t believe the last few weeks have gone so fast and now it’s come time to say goodbye to one of our best friends.
I have to admit, I’m dreading it. Don’t get me wrong, I completely understand why Luke is doing it. Fighting for his country is just something that is so deeply ingrained in him, it’s just a part of who he is and I completely support him, and hell, I’m fucking proud of him too. I just hate that he’ll be far away and constantly in the face of danger. I mean, you hear all sorts of stories from the men who’ve returned from the war, and it’s never good, not to mention, the last tour Luke was on, he nearly got himself blown up.
Let's just hope he can keep himself out of trouble this time around, but when it comes down to it, Luke is the kind of man who is prepared and ready to face down any threat.
I bring myself back to the present as I curl my arm around Rylee and lead her out to the parking lot to my truck. I open the door and hoist her up into my truck. “You did good,” I tell her, referring to what an incredible night her and her team put on tonight.
“Thanks,” she smiles before I close her door and duck around to the driver’s side.
I hop up into my truck and get the engine started while Rylee pulls her legs up under herself and gets comfortable. She tilts her head back against the headrest as the biggest yawn I’ve ever seen comes ripping out of her body. “I’m so tired,” she says through her yawn.
I reach across the center console and take her hand in mine. My thumb runs back and forth over her knuckles. “I bet,” I smile as her yawn becomes contagious and I find one of my own pouring out of me. “I’ll get you home and you can sleep until next week.”
“Mmmm,” she moans as she squishes the side of her face into the seat with her eyes closed. “That sounds incredible.”
I get her back to my place and practically have to hold her up as I get her through the door. I walk us into my bedroom and pull her shirt over her head and get her out of her jeans, knowing she prefers to sleep in her underwear. We can deal with showering in the morning. Right now, I think if I put her in the shower, she’d fall off her feet.
She slides into bed and wriggles around until she gets comfortable. I climb in the other side before reaching out and pulling her into my chest, right where she’s slept every night for the past two weeks. The time with her has gone so quickly, but it’s more than enough for me to know that I wouldn’t change it for the world.
Rylee’s hand rests up on my chest as her legs become tangled with mine. “Cole?” she questions quietly.
“Yeah, babe?” I say with my hand running up and down her spine.
She’s quiet for a short while and I have to nudge her to make sure he hasn’t fallen asleep just yet. She tilts her head up so her face is right up beside mine. “I’m in love with you,” she tells me.
Holy shit. I swear my heart just exploded in my fucking chest.
I curl my arms around her tighter and pull her up on top of me. “About fucking time,” I tell her with a huge smile that she won’t be able to see in the dark room, though I know she can hear it in my voice.
“Seriously?” she says. “That’s not what you’re supposed to say when a woman confesses that she loves you.”
“What am I supposed to say?” I question with a grin.
“You’re supposed to say it back so I’m not left wondering and feeling like a fool.”
“Really?” I say. “You really need me to tell you something that you already know?”
“I don’t already know it,” she tells me.
I think about it for a moment and realize she’s not just being cheeky. She seriously doesn’t know it. I’m the first man she’s ever dated, the first man she’s ever allowed into her life. She would never have experienced something like this before. Though with how she looks I don’t doubt she’s had strange men approaching her and confessing their undying love for her, though, they would be the types you’d see in prison.
I roll us over and hover above her before running my nose up the side of her neck and pressing a kiss just below her ear. “Rylee,” I say. “I’ve been in love with you since the fucking supply closet. You clawed your way in and now I’m not letting you go.”
“Are you sure?” she questions as she tilts her head, begging me to kiss her neck with a little more force.
“I’ve never been so sure in my life,” I tell her as I comply with her wishes and give her what she needs.
Rylee wiggles around beneath me and opens her legs before wrapping them around my hips and pulling me into her. She locks her lips with mine and kisses me with every ounce of passion within her body.
Her hand slides down between us and she frees my erection from my underwear before pushing her own down. Without wasting a single second, I slide into her and relieve the need within me.
Rylee lets out a moan as our bodies move together and before we know it, we’re both exploding as we hold onto each other.
I run my fingers through her hair as she comes down from her high. “Please don’t break me,” she begs into the silent night.
I hold her a little tighter before pressing my lips to her. “You’re safe with me, Rylee. I’m not going anywhere.” She nods her head against my chest as another yawn pours out of her. “Sleep now, babe,” I murmur.
With that, she gives herself to the night and falls into a well-needed sleep, right here in my arms while I promise myself that I will never let go.
After not nearly enough sleep, my alarm goes off at eight in the morning and I groan as the piercing sound echoes through the room.
“What time is it?” Rylee moans as she nuzzles her face into my chest before grabbing a pillow and squishing it down on top of her head.
“It’s eight,” I tell her as I throw the blankets back on my side while being careful not to make her cold. “Go back to sleep. I’m going to head out to farewell Luke. I’ll be back in a bit.”
I slide out from under her and climb out of bed. Rylee pushes herself up onto her elbow before using her free hand to rub her eyes. Her mascara from last night smudges across her face, but I don’t have the heart to tell her. She can fix it when she wakes up. “Do you mind if I come, or is it kind of like a boys thing?”
“I’d love for you to come,” I tell her. “I just figured you’d want to rest. You had a massive night.”
“I can sleep afterward,” she says as she scoots across the bed and sits before me. “I want to be there for you. It couldn’t be easy sending your friend off to war,” she says as she looks up at me with those green eyes that I love so much.
“No, it’s not,” I tell her. “But we have to leave in ten minutes.”
Her eyes widen in panic. “Shit, Cole,” she squeals as she flies to her feet and begins running around the room collecting her clothes. She disappears down the hallway and a second later, I hear the shower running.
I grin to myself as I head over to my closet and pick out something to wear before I bombard her shower. I walk in to find her all lathered up with soap and I force my mind to get out of the gutter. We don’t have time for hot shower sex. We can do that when we get back. Right now, we should be thinking about Luke.
Precisely ten minutes later, Rylee is waiting by the door with two coffees in her hand. “How the hell did you get ready so fast? I didn’t think it was possible for a woman to be so quick,” I say as she hands me a coffee.
“It’s a secret,” she says with a wink that scrunches up her whole face. I can’t help but grin at her little wink. I mean, this woman can do anything she sets her mind to, but the little she-devil can’t wink to save her life.
We get in my truck and I hand my phone
over to Rylee while asking her to send a quick text to the boys, making sure they’re up and on their way to the army base. Not a moment later, my phone comes to life and Rylee checks the messages. “Caden is nearly there and Jace slept in. He’ll be there in twenty minutes.”
I roll my eyes. I should have known Jace would sleep in. He’s not an early riser. I mean, he nearly missed his own deployment.
I pull up into the parking lot and park my truck right beside Caden’s. He leans up against his truck waiting patiently and gives me a nod as I jump down.
Next to arrive is Xander and Charli with their massive black dog Beast, who pretty much goes anywhere Charli goes. “Does Luke know we’re here?” Xander asks as he pulls Charli into his side, making the dog jealous.
“No,” I scoff. “He’s not one for big goodbyes. He thought last night was it and he could sneak off this morning.”
“Like that was going to happen,” Jace says as he appears by our trucks.
With us all here, we start heading into the base. We find the designated area where the families are hugging and kissing their loved ones with tears streaming down their faces.
It’s always been so hard coming here. The place is filled with raw emotion and it’s so hard to see everyone saying goodbye as for some of them, their loved one may never come back.
“Hey,” a small voice says from behind us. I turn around and see Cami standing awkwardly in front of us. “I hope it’s ok that I came,” she says as her eyes quickly search out Jace’s before coming to a stop on Rylee’s.
“Of course,” Jace says as he reaches out for her and pulls her into his arms. “It’s always fine.” My eyes linger on them for a moment and notice Jace is being particularly touchy-feely with her. Well, he’s always like that, but this is more. It’s like this day and this place is bringing out his emotional side and he’s using Cami for support, which honestly, I’m pleased he has that, especially today.
The last time we were all here doing this very thing was when he was being deployed. The next time he saw this base was when he was being delivered in a wheelchair after nearly being blown up. Watching his best friend head back out again couldn’t be easy and I have no doubt that the second he gets back to the privacy of his own home, he’s going to be a mess.
I spot Luke sitting at a bench all by himself. He’s dressed in his uniform with his bag at his feet, looking incredibly bored as he waits for this part of his morning to be over. As a group, we make our way over to him and he looks up in frustration as he sees us all appear before him. “I should have known you dickheads would do this,” he says with a slight shake of his head.
He gets to his feet and within moments, Jace has left Cami’s side and is pulling his best friend into a tight hug. It’s hard to watch as Jace holds onto him, but eventually, he lets go and allows Luke to make his way around the group. I can be a mess later.
Luke faces me with a tight smile and I instantly pull him in and clap him on the back. My heart aches for him, but I need to be strong. Right now, Luke needs me to be the badass fighter he’s always known me to be. “You be safe, you hear me?” I demand. “I don’t want to hear that you were out being a hero, ok?”
“Ok,” he promises, but we both know it’s a lie. If the situation calls for a hero, then I have no doubt he’ll step up. That’s just the way he is. The soldiers around us start collecting their things and waving goodbye before heading for a door.
“Alright, guys,” Luke says with a sad smile. “I have to get going.” He gives Jace one more hug before looking down at Cami with complete seriousness. “Don’t let him get himself in any trouble.”
“I won’t,” she promises him.
With that, he picks up his bag and disappears through the door without a backward glance.
We all stand motionless as our hearts struggle to deal with the fact that he’s leaving. Rylee squishes into me and wraps her arms around me while Jace pulls Cami into him, using her as his security blanket.
Not one of us make a move to leave until we hear the sound of a plane taking off and taking our friend with it.
With heavy hearts, we walk back out to our trucks, trying to work out how the hell we’re going to get through the next little while without him.
Chapter 21
Rylee
“Why am I doing this?” Cami groans to herself as I pull into the parking lot of Rebels Advocate.
“Because you’re a strong woman,” I tell her for the umpteenth time. “Because you need to prove to yourself that Jace is not going to bring you down and because you love this class, and you’re not going to let him keep you from living your fullest life. If he flirts, you smile and send him on his way. If he stares, you strike a sexy pose and show him exactly what it is he can’t have. If he drools, you remind him to clean up after himself. You’ve got this.”
She nods her head before unclipping her seatbelt. “I’ve got this,” she practically chants to herself as she reaches for the handle.
“Wait,” I call, halting her movements. She looks back at me with a questioning look. “You can’t go in there looking all freaked out. Take a few slow breaths first and pull on your game face.”
“Right. Game face.” She does as she’s told and a moment later, an air of confidence settles over her and I take that as our cue to go.
We hop out of the car and start walking toward the entrance of Rebels. A lone butterfly settles itself into the pit of my stomach, the same way it always does when I know I’m about to see my man.
I look over at Cami, just to make sure she’s still got this when something in the distance behind her catches my attention. I stand staring for a moment, trying to figure out if I’m actually seeing what I think I’m seeing. “Is that…,” I shake my head. “Is that my car?”
Cami’s face scrunches up as she watches me before she turns in the direction I’m looking. “Shit,’ she gasps. “It couldn’t be, right? It was stolen like months ago.”
“I swear,” I tell her. “It looks exactly like it.”
“Do I need to remind you that your car is a popular model. There are probably hundreds of them in the city,” she says.
I’m far too stubborn to even consider seeing reason. “Come on,” I say as I take her hand and start leading her away from Rebels. “We have to check it out.”
“What?” she shrieks. “No way. If it is your car by some extreme miracle, then remember the guy who would be driving it. I’m not exactly in the mood to face off with him again.”
“We’ll be fine,” I tell her. “I just want to check it out. If it is, we can get the boys,” I tell her as we get closer.
“Fine,” she groans before hurrying along.
We reach the car and the first thing I notice is the purple disco ball hanging from the rear-view mirror that I hung two years ago when Cami insisted that I wasn’t in enough of a Christmas spirit. “Shit,” Cami says as she notices the same thing. “You think the guy would have taken that down.”
“Right?” I grunt as I study the car further. A yellow stripe down the left-hand side where I scraped the car along a pole; check. A dent in the bonnet where a truck flicked up a rock; check. The tiny bit of red nail polish on the driver’s door handle where my manicure hadn’t quite dried yet; check.
There’s no doubt in my mind that this is my car.
Hmmmmm, what are my options here? Call the guys or the police and wait for them to get here while risking the guy returning to my car only to steal it from me again, or I could steal it right back.
“Let’s get the guys,” Cami says, already turning back.
“We don’t have time,” I say as I strip off my hoodie and wrap it around my hand. I rear back and punch through the window before a shooting pain flies right up my arm. “Shit,” I bark as I shake it out while the car alarm instantly screams to life.
“What the fuck are you doing?” Cami seethes.
“Breaking the window,” I groan as I hold my hand close to my chest. “I saw the hot guy
from Fast and The Furious doing it,” I explain.
“Shit, Ry,” she says. “You could have broken your wrist.”
“Yeah, I’ve got that,” I grunt before I reach through the hole in the window and unlock the car from the inside.
As soon as that’s done, I climb in that familiar seat and reach across to open the passenger's side door for Cami. She pulls the door open and drops herself into the seat. “You know,” she muses, “That would have been a lot easier had you used a rock.”
I roll my eyes and don’t dare give her the satisfaction of admitting she’s right. “Come on,” she begs. “Let’s go.”
I search around, before remembering the one important thing you need to drive a car. “Shit, Cam. The keys.”
“Fuck,” she grunts as she looks at me. Not a moment later, her eyes widen in fear as I’m grabbed by the back of my shirt and hoisted out of the car. I scream out as whatever has got me, has a huge chunk of my hair right along with it.
“Rylee,” Cami screams after me as she bolts out of the car and around to my side. She does something that I can’t see and suddenly the hold on my shirt is released.
I flip myself around and come face to face with the same mugger who held me at knifepoint and stole my damn car. Rage rushes through me. This bastard is not getting away with it a second time.
I run full speed ahead at the guy who currently has Cami clinging to his back.
"Get off me, you fucking bitch," he yells as Cami brings her elbow down in his neck. "Fuck."
Cami holds on for dear life as he tries to fling her off and I run into help. I bring my knee up the same way Cole had shown me after he insisted that he teach me a few more things, just in case I ever needed to protect myself. Apparently, he was right, these moves are proving helpful now.
The man claws at Cami's arm and she screams out in pain. I bring my knee up again, but this time I get him right in the junk. He doubles over causing Cami to fly from his back. "You're not so fucking tough now, are you?" I question.
Cami kicks at the back of his knees and he falls into me. His body squishes me into the side of my car and I grunt out as the air is expelled from my lungs.
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