“I’m real. We’re real.”
“But what if—”
“Shhh.” He kissed my forehead, and I inhaled slowly. “I’m not going anywhere. I fucking promise you. I’ll be here in the morning. I promise we will get it all solved by noon. You’ll go out with your family, and maybe if timing works, I can take you to dinner.”
“Dinner?”
“Second first date,” he stated, and my eyes went wide.
“Our second first date?” I repeated, raising a brow. He was freaking adorable. He might have been—or for all I knew, still was—a hot, badass Marine, but he had a marshmallow romantic center.
“Yes. But I have bad news for you.”
“What?”
“It’s gonna be both of our last first dates ever.”
“Is it now?”
“Hell yeah. I’m not stupid enough to make the same mistake twice. And, Nina, this time… you and I… it’s for keeps,” he laid out confidently, like an alpha male would in a romance novel, and I smiled so big I probably looked like a lunatic.
Lucky for me, Brandon Chu seemed to dig slightly crazy.
Brandon
She fell asleep first.
My hand in her hair. Her body curled up into me. My whole world righted and making sense. Everything I was and everything I’d been through to get to this point, was for this very moment. This time when I fell asleep, I drifted off with a huge weight off my shoulders and a content heart.
Chapter Seven
Nina
“TWO COFFEES. BLACK. Half a dozen cronuts. Enjoy!” Macie announced, setting everything on the counter, a cheesy smile on her face.
“What’s all this?” I asked. I’d just walked into the kitchen when Macie had walked in from the front door with her hands full. I smiled as I looked at the box of goodies. My mouth watered. Cronuts were my favorite.
“Breakfast. My treat.”
“Babe—”
“I wanna know everything!” she whispered with excitement as the shower ran in my room, and my own smile matched hers before we both burst into girlish squeals and giggles.
“He’s taking a shower?” she asked, her green eyes wide with surprise.
“Yeah—”
“Naughty girl!” She winked, not letting me get a word in, so I laughed, shaking my head.
“It’s not like that.” And it wasn’t. Nothing had happened. Just a peck on my cheek after we had woken up to my phone going off.
Waking up next Brandon had always felt right. The couple of weekends we’d been able to spend together that first summer, and then those two years, that had always been one of my top three favorite things to do with Brandon Chu. It always made sense. There was magic to those first seconds of a new day. Opening your eyes, seeing nothing but your favorite person next to you come into focus. What a way to start a new day with you.
“So, what is it like?” She wagged her eyebrows, and I shrugged.
“My parents called and woke me up. I guess they decided they wanna do brunch instead of lunch. He was just going to take a fast shower and head back to his hotel.”
“And that’s it?”
“Yup.” I smiled, not sharing the fact he had been sporting major morning wood he hadn’t let me touch. He’d held me close and kissed the tip of my nose before rushing off to the shower. I’d forgotten how stubborn Brandon could be when he was determined to play things out his way.
“Hmm… I believe you, but I feel like you’re leaving a bunch out.” I totally was. “Lucky for you, you’re temporarily off the hook from having to share since my last shift at the restaurant starts in”—she looked down at her phone and frowned—“forty minutes.” She groaned. “I gotta get going.”
“You got this. You coming home after?” I was hoping I could talk to her before Brandon returned to take us on our second first date.
“I wish. Not right away. I have to go look into that storage unit downtown.”
“Oh, that’s right.”
“Say hi to your parents and give your Ita a hug from me. I should be back about six-ish… You gonna be home?”
“I, umm…”
“I’m picking her up at seven for our date,” Brandon announced as he stepped into the kitchen.
“Date?” She looked at me, and I could tell she was fighting from giving me a cheesy smile.
“Brandon and I are going on a date.”
“Second first date,” he clarified, and she looked to him and back to me. Her eyes glittered with joy and so many questions.
“I see you kept your word,” she said to him, and now I was the one with questions.
“Morning, Macie. Thanks for the coffee.”
“Very welcome. Just remember, in an effort of being completely transparent with you, as her best friend, I need to tell you if that smile leaves her face, I can guarantee so do your balls.”
“Macie,” I hissed and turned around to look at him, ready to say she was joking when I caught the expression on his face. Warm and soft, two words that didn’t usually describe Brandon.
“I respect that,” he simply said, leaning down to kiss my cheek. “Her smile’s not going anywhere,” he ended saying, melting my heart even further. Holy crap, this was real. This was really happening.
“Okay, then.” She shrugged before looking at me, “If you need me… call me.” She winked at me, and I could tell she was fighting from smiling. Knowing Macie, she’d start doing some kind of happy dance that resembled a mix of the running man and the floss if I didn’t get her out soon.
“Have a good day!” I said as she grabbed her things. Call me, she mouthed, and I nodded.
We watched her walk out, the sound of the front door shutting and being locked from the other side almost deafening, and nerves started to set in. We were alone. Alone for the first time in over two years. There were so many things we needed to talk about, yet I had no idea where to start. Especially since I had to hurry and get ready to meet my family.
From standing beside me to right behind me, he moved his hands to my hips, and I was highly aware of the fact I was still in my pjs. Pjs that had seen better days and were pretty worn in and threadbare. “I like these on you,” he said, leaning his face into my neck, my eyes fluttering closed.
“The pjs?”
“Mmm.” I felt his mouth open, and my body trembled.
“Thought we needed to talk.”
“You’re distracting.” His voice tumbled against my sensitive skin, and I leaned back into him. His hands moved from my hips to under my tank and spanned the soft curve of my belly.
“I am?” I gasped as his tongue dragged and his lips nipped the bottom of my lobe. “Bran.”
“Fuck, I missed those sounds. Jerked off to those sweet sounds.”
“You did?” I asked, turning my head back to look up at him. We were both barefoot in the kitchen, but he felt so much taller than before. Broader and stronger, a raw masculinity that made me feel petite and feminine. That was just his body. His eyes, his dark inky gaze, was what set my blood a couple of notches warmer and close to overheating. Brutal hunger stared right at me.
“Countless times.” He turned me, and I felt his thickness between us. “We need to talk before we do anything, and the clock is working against us.” He leaned in and kissed my lips softly before pulling his mouth away and moving all the way until his back touched the kitchen counter, putting space between us. Even then it didn’t lighten the electric current popping between us.
“Okay.”
“I’m out of the Marines. I didn’t reenlist,” he shared, and I blinked once, then twice.
“Just like that?”
“Just like that. I’ve been a civilian for about two weeks.”
“What are you doing now? Where are you now?”
“Honestly?”
“I prefer it.”
“Sam, my buddy, and I, have been traveling. Saw my folks, and then we did a little road trip, I guess. Saw the Grand Canyon. Mt. Rushmore. Then we came her
e.”
“Here?”
“You gotta know, baby, I didn’t come to your graduation on a whim. I couldn’t make any decisions about the future until I saw you. If you were with someone and happy, I would have figured the next step out on my own.”
“And now? I mean, you know I’m single—”
“You were,” he clarified seriously, his sexy bossy side making an appearance, and it made my lips twitch. “So now, we talk. See where you wanna go next.”
“I…” The words died off, and I looked down, my world tilting and righting itself. I hadn’t made a decision about where I wanted to go after graduation. I had an amazing offer on a great job back in California I’d wanted to take, but the idea of being surrounded by so many memories of Brandon had been a tough one to swallow. The other was an okay job in Florida. If I was being honest, I’d been leaning toward Florida in hopes to avoid going home. Or going home without Brandon. But now, he was here. With me. And it all felt right. I looked up at him and nervously asked, “How do you feel about going back home?”
“That’s what I did.”
“What?” I whispered, my attention completely on the man in front of me.
“Finding you. Coming here last night. That was me coming home. You’re my home, Nina.” His words washed over me, and I didn’t care that he wanted space or wanted to do things in a certain order.
I rushed over, closing the distance, and jumped right into his waiting arms. He lifted me up, and I reached for his handsome face with both my hands and kissed him with everything I had. With every bit of my soul, I poured all I had felt the last two years into this kiss. Longing and passion. Heartache and love. We kissed until the second melted into minutes and time stopped making sense. We kissed until his taste was as familiar as my own and we blended into one. Breathless and panting, we pulled away to fill our aching lungs.
“You need to get ready,” he reminded me. I didn’t want to let go of him. I wanted to stay in his arms with him holding me up, my legs wrapped up around him like some kind of spider monkey until his arms fell off. Well, not really, but you know what I mean. I didn’t want the moment to end.
“Five more minutes?” I asked, and his jaw twitched. The memory of the past was alive inside of both of us. He sat my ass down on the counter, and we pressed our foreheads together as we looked into one another’s eyes.
Those five minutes slowed and melted to gentle seconds as I got lost in his inky stare.
By the time those three hundred seconds were over, I knew everything was going to be better than okay.
Brandon
Leaving her apartment was tough as hell, but I was riding on a new high. I had a chance.
My second chance with Nina Montenegro, and this time, I wasn’t going to fuck it up. This time, I was going to make it count.
For the long run.
“You’re back,” Sam said, lying on his bed as he watched TV. I looked at the screen and recognized the car racing franchise movies. I should have guessed. Sam loved them.
“I’m back,” I agreed, and he turned to me, his blue eyes staring at me.
“So?”
“So?” I pretended not to understand his question as I sat on the edge of my bed and crossed my arms. He muttered something under his breath and shook his head.
“Since you’re not stumbling in drunk and pissed, I’m guessing she gave you another shot?”
“Shut up.” I laughed, though he wasn’t wrong. If last night had gone differently, that’s exactly how I would have come back.
“I’m so right,” he muttered with a smirk, his attention still on the movie playing on the screen. “What’s next?”
“I need your laptop,” I told him, and he picked up the TV remote and paused the movie before turning to me.
“For?”
“To email my parents, then I seriously have to find a place, man.”
“Here?”
“Nope. SoCal. You gonna come back with us?”
“Us. You and Nina?”
“Yeah.”
“Good job, man.”
“So? What do you think? LA rent sucks balls. California has some of the most ridiculous gas prices around. I’ll need a roomie,” I threw out there. Sam Santino was solid. Salt of the earth type of guy. Slightly goofy and super chill. We’d hit it off at boot camp and had remained friends through the duration of our time in the Marines. We’d even lucked out and been stationed in different places together. Where I’d had my large Korean American family, nosy and all up in my business to go back to after I’d gotten out, Sam was alone. His parents had died in a car accident when he’d been a kid, and the uncle who’d raised him after had died three years ago. Since he was my best friend, my family had instantly taken him in as one of our own.
“I love your folks. Some of your aunties like me way more than they like you.”
“Fuck you.”
“And Cali has nice weather. Why not,” he said with a shrug, a small smile on his lips as he turned the movie back on. I shook my head at my laid-back bud. He acted like picking a spot to pick up living was no big deal.
“I’m happy for you, man,” he said after a while, the TV still blaring as some car chase happened.
“Thanks for coming with,” I said, my gratitude crystal clear.
“For sure. That’s what brothers are for, right? I have your six. You got mine?”
“Most def.” I jerked my chin as I pulled up a real estate website. My eyes were drawn to the duffel bag I’d brought. Or more specifically, the pocket that held a small black box.
Everything was gonna work out. I could feel it.
Chapter Eight
Nina
“FUCK,” HE CURSED under his breath the moment I opened the door, and I swallowed all the emotions I was feeling. His gaze roamed from the tips of my open-toed heels to the top of my head before it met my eyes. “You’re beautiful.” His voice sounded scratchy, and I smiled.
“Thanks,” I whispered. “Those mine?” I pointed to the small bouquet of wildflowers.
“Yes. Here.” He handed them to me, taking a step forward, and in his smooth Brandon manner, with one gentle but firm hand on my hip, he pulled me in and kissed me.
Soft.
Sweet.
Perfect.
“I don’t usually kiss on the first date,” I mumbled against his lips
“Liar.” He winked, and I laughed. We’d kissed before we’d made it to the movie we’d gone to see on our first first date.
“You ready, my niña linda?” I loved how he called me his lovely girl. Those first days that first summer, he’d done his best to learn Spanish. I’d asked why, and he’d said he liked the idea of being able to talk to my family. I was too impressed by him to break his heart and tell him they all spoke great English.
“Nina? You ready?” he asked again, his eyes curious, probably knowing my mind was wedged in a memory.
“For you?”
“For us,” he said, and I exhaled a shuttered breath I didn’t realize I’d been holding.
This was it.
The start of us.
Our road might have hit a bump and we had been on a standstill, but we were ready. Ready for our journey to continue. I couldn’t wait.
“Always,” I mumbled against his lips before kissing him one more time and leaving the apartment.
_______________
“You didn’t!”
“I did.” He grinned, sitting back in his chair, taking a sip of the bourbon he’d ordered. Such a difference from the guy who drank old Bud Lights his older brother had hooked him up with. “I’ve jumped about eight times on leave.”
“You skydive for fun and sip bourbon now.” I smiled, resting my chin on my hand as I leaned closer to him, my free hand in his.
“And you paint and know all sorts of things about wines.”
“We grew up.”
“Maybe.”
“Do you think we’re crazy?” I asked cautiously.
“In
what way?”
“I mean, doing this. Jumping back in, just, headfirst into this, after so long?”
“What’s the alternative?” he asked, curiosity in his voice, not an ounce of anger. That was new too. He was patient and a better listener than he’d been before. A million times over.
“Getting to know one another. Taking things slow.”
“Slow?” he repeated in a low tone, and his gaze went into an instant smolder. God, Brandon’s eyes were definitely the window to his soul and his libido. They drifted down to my neck and collarbone then back up to meet my own. Jesus, he was sexy. One look from Brandon was all it ever took to get me in the mood. I knew exactly what was running through his mind, because I was thinking the same. He was picturing us making sweet, slow love. So slow and tender, he’d make me lose my mind and beg for him to fuck me hard. He smirked, and I shook my head knowing my face was turning red. How can we be on the same page after being apart for so long?
“Because we know one another,” he said as if reading my thoughts. I took a long gulp of my water. His thumb grazed over mine, and I glanced up through my lashes. “I’ll go whatever speed you need it to be, Nina. I won’t rush you. But I will tell you exactly where I want you and me to end up, relationship wise,” he said, and there was something incredibly sexy about the way he was talking to me.
Taking charge, being honest and understanding. I was getting to see a whole new side of him. One that had matured and could compromise when he wasn’t getting his way.
“And where is that?” I bravely asked, my heart picking up speed, hoping it was exactly what I wanted. What we had once both wanted.
“Sleep deprived,” he said, and I felt my brows knit together as his lips twitched, his thumb still grazing mine. “Raising four kids but deliriously happy with the family and life we’ve created.”
Talk about a mic drop.
Brandon
“Four kids?” she repeated, the shock obvious on her face. I brought her hand to my mouth and kissed it.
“Four kids. But I’m willing to compromise. Two minimum. Kids deserve siblings,” I shared, not able to take my eyes off her, especially when they softened sweetly. We’d both agreed a long time ago, even though siblings could be a pain in the ass, they were great to have.
5 More Minutes (Timeless Series Book 1) Page 4
