Chapter 10 #3
Devyn gestured to Oz and Chance. “Marriage. Babies. That sort of thing.”
“Oh, you aren’t married?” Ember asked. She’d just assumed they were.
“Nope. I love Lucky, and he loves me, and we’re fully planning on spending the rest of our lives together.
But a quick courthouse wedding, or going to Vegas, would never fly with my family.
So since neither of us is ready for the huge shindig up in Missouri that I know my mom and dad want, we’re just shacking up together for now. ”
Ember looked from Devyn to Lucky, then back to Devyn. “Um…then why, when the guys talk about all of their women, do they say ‘wives’ and not ‘wives and girlfriend’?”
To Ember’s surprise, Devyn blushed a bright red. “Um…” She looked at Lucky, as if hoping he’d save her.
“I’m sorry, that was rude,” Ember said, mortified that she’d somehow upset her friend.
“It wasn’t rude,” Craig said with a small smile. He glanced at Lucky. “Told you keeping it a secret wouldn’t work.”
Lucky sighed. “Right. So…the truth is that Devyn and I are married. I wanted her to have the benefits I get from being in the Army and to have the support if anything ever happened. But we haven’t told her family yet.
Or really, anyone outside the team. We aren’t in a rush to get the fancy party her parents want, so for now, we’re pretending we’re just living in sin. ”
Logan frowned and asked his uncle, “What’s living in sin mean?”
“We’ll talk about it later,” Oz told him.
Ember turned to Devyn. “Wow. Well, I’m sorry I didn’t just let it go…”
“It’s okay. I told Lucky I was horrible at keeping secrets,” Devyn said.
“So you two aren’t taking longer than everyone else to do things,” Ember said with a grin.
Everyone at the table laughed, and it was another surreal moment for Ember. She liked this. A lot.
“Fine. We aren’t. But I promise I’m not pregnant yet. We are waiting for that.”
Baby Chance chose that moment to let out an ear-splitting wail. Ember jumped and Devyn chuckled.
“That kid’s got a set of lungs on him for sure,” she said.
Not too long after that, everyone began to get ready to go. Ember was surprised when Devyn gave her a hug.
Aspen approached and gave her a distracted hug as well. It was obvious she wanted to get to the car and take care of whatever had Chance so upset. “It was nice meeting you. See you tomorrow at Riley and Oz’s house!”
Logan also gave her a long hug and said, “Don’t forget! You promised to come to my game and take lots of pictures! Gotta have those when I grow up for throwback slide shows and stuff.”
Ember couldn’t help but laugh. “Got it. I won’t let you down.”
Logan looked her right in the eye and said, “I know. Because you’re Doc’s girlfriend.” Then he spun around and jogged toward the door, where Oz was waiting for him.
“He’s right, you know,” Craig said as he put his arm around her waist and led her toward the door.
Ember loved how he always seemed to want to be touching her when they were together. Holding her hand, putting his hand on her knee, touching her back…it didn’t matter where they were or who was around, he always maintained contact in some way.
It dawned on her then how little human contact she’d had in the past. Her parents weren’t the hugging type, and she certainly didn’t have friends who hugged her like Aspen and Devyn had, and even little Logan. It was another thing she liked a lot.
She said goodbye to the other guys and then it was just her and Craig in his Durango. He was taking her back to her apartment, where she’d knock out her list of errands for the day while he headed back to post.
“I apologize for not telling you about Devyn and Lucky.”
“Why? If it’s a secret that’s being kept between them and the team, you had no reason to tell me.”
“I still feel bad about it. But I love that you’re smart enough to figure it out on your own. I am sorry if Devyn offended you though,” Craig said as they drove.
“She didn’t,” Ember said immediately. “Everything about my account was superficial and fake. But I’m changing that now, and if I lose followers, so be it. It feels good to have control over that part of my life…and to use my platform for something meaningful.”
Craig smiled.
“What?”
“I was kinda talking about her crack about you being good enough for me.”
“Well, I think there’s a good chance I’m not.”
“Wrong,” Craig said immediately in a low tone.
He took a breath and continued. “Sorry. I just don’t ever want you to think that about yourself.
We’re well matched. I think our differences help us mesh together better.
Besides, we have a lot more in common than anyone might think just by looking at us. ”
“I agree,” Ember said softly. She’d been one of those people who thought they were completely different when they’d first met, but everyone was more than their outward appearance.
They drove the rest of the way in comfortable silence, and Ember couldn’t help but feel disappointed when Craig pulled up near the entrance to her apartment building.
“I’m sorry Gillian wasn’t there today so I could ask her what we should bring tomorrow,” Ember said.
“It’s okay. We’ll figure it out.”
“I like your friends. They’re really nice.”
“They are,” Craig agreed. “And now they’re our friends. When you get settled, they’ll help with anything you need at your gym space too.”
Ember nodded. Having people to rely on and share her passion would take some getting used to.
“Don’t cook tonight,” Craig told her. “I’m gonna stop and get us something on the way home …if that’s okay. I thought I’d come over and hang with you here tonight. It’s your first night in your apartment, I figured we could celebrate.”
“I’d like that,” Ember told him, thinking of all the ways she could celebrate with Craig.
“And don’t look at me like that,” he said with a laugh. “I’ll have you know, I’m not that kind of guy.”
It was Ember’s turn to burst out laughing. “I don’t think I’ve ever laughed as much as I have since meeting you,” she told him.
“Good.” He leaned over and kissed her on the temple. “Go on. Get to work. I know you have a list at least two pages long to get through today.”
“You know me so well,” she said with a smile.
“I’m trying,” he returned seriously. “Go on. Scoot. I’ll text you when I leave post.”
Ember nodded and climbed out of the car. She paused before shutting the door. “Craig?”
“Yeah, Em?”
“I’m happy.”
The smile that crossed his face was so beautiful, it made Ember want to cry.
“I am too. Later.”
“Later,” Ember responded and shut the door. Craig gave her a chin lift before pulling away.
Ten hours later, Ember was sitting on her couch, in her very own apartment, with a belly full of delicious Mexican food Craig had brought with him.
He’d also bought a double chocolate cake, her favorite.
She hadn’t allowed herself to indulge in something so decadent in a long time, and it tasted even more delicious as a result.
The cake had “Happy Birthday” written on it, and Craig had blushed and said it was the only thing they had left.
It didn’t matter what it said, or that the icing was smeared on one side where it had gotten smushed against the side of the box.
All that mattered was that Craig had wanted to make her first night in her apartment special.
He’d also brought over a six-pack of Ziegenbock beer. Apparently it was brewed in Houston and only sold in Texas. She wasn’t much of a beer person, but she had to admit that it tasted delicious after a busy, tiring day.
Ember had thought long and hard about what to post on social media earlier, knowing she needed to be careful and not post anything that would indicate where she’d moved.
She was enjoying the anonymity at the moment.
She’d settled for taking an artsy picture of the parking lot at the new gym she’d bought.
There were weeds coming up between the cracks in the concrete and it looked pretty sad.
But she knew very soon, the weeds would be gone and the lot would hopefully be full of cars.
The caption she wrote was, There’s beauty in everything…
especially knowing you’re about to make a difference.
“There’s a chance we’ll be deployed in the next few weeks,” Craig said out of the blue.
Ember looked over at him. He was sitting next to her on the couch, there were boxes all around them, and she hadn’t had time to hook up her TV yet.
The place was a mess, but she felt no guilt about it.
She’d had a productive day and she’d much prefer to sit here with Craig than try to get her place put away.
“That’s…good, isn’t it?”
“Good?” Craig asked with a raised eyebrow.
“Right. I know you can’t tell me where you’ll be going or what you’ll be doing, but you’ve left enough hints lately about Sierra and how worried everyone is about the situation over in Afghanistan with missing contractors.
I might not have a college degree, but I’m smart enough to put two and two together.
Which reminds me, thanks for sending her picture to me, by the way.
I’ll get that posted tomorrow before the thing at Riley and Oz’s place. ”
“I’m sorry, I’m just so used to deflecting any and all questions about what the team is doing. And you’re right. The tension in our meetings is palpable, and Grover is holding on to his patience by his fingernails. None of us blame him. We’re just worried about him doing something rash.”
“Like what?”
“I have no clue. But I’ll tell you this…” Craig’s eyes were locked on her own, and Ember couldn’t look away. “If I knew you were in trouble, I’d do whatever it took to help you. Even if that put me in danger.”
“Craig,” Ember whispered.
“I can’t explain how I know you’re it for me,” he went on. “People don’t believe love at first sight exists, but from the second I saw you, something clicked inside me.”
Ember swallowed hard.