Chapter 10
CHAPTER TEN
Levi
It’s been a week since Felicity and Armando were kidnapped.
I’m still waiting for my girl to come back to Lake Renegade.
Her brothers won’t let her leave and I understand.
Tristan and I are hoping to be discharged today.
Tristan made the mistake of telling Giovanna that she was being mean.
She hasn’t spoken to him since. That was three days ago.
“Good morning, Giovanna,” Tristan chirps as she walks in.
“Good morning, Levi. How are you feeling?”
“I’m ready to go home.” I smile.
“Aww. Come on, Gia. I said I was sorry.”
I laugh as she rolls her eyes.
“I think you’re both ready to head home. Are you still thinking of heading to Wintervale?”
“I would like to, as long as you okay it.”
“Kiss ass,” Tristan mutters from his bed.
“Maybe I can come with you. Declan has two weeks off and we talked about going somewhere. Rowan would love to play with Luke, Kaito and Miyuki. And then everyone can meet Lorcán.”
“You’d do that?” I smile at her.
“Family.”
That’s what they all say. Just that simple word. Family. That makes everything better.
“I’ll get the paperwork for you and Dribble.” Giovanna says.
“Okay, I need to know how you got the name Dribble.” Grady laughs.
I start laughing as Tristan’s shaking his head no.
“Well…”
“Don’t even.” Tristan squints at me.
“If you want Giovanna to speak to you again, we have to tell her.”
“Fuck me,” he mumbles.
“Okay, so it was our first week of boot camp. And we all went out for drinks. Tristan decided he wasn’t going to listen when our CO told us to watch how much we drank…and well, he just kept drinking—”
“I was nervous, okay?” he grumbles.
I chuckle. “At the end of the night, he was lying on the barracks floor and well…he was drooling. Most of us were drunk, and one of the other guys said, ‘look at Dribble.’ And that’s how it started.”
Giovanna giggles as she leaves the room.
“Fucking great. Now she’s gonna tell everyone that story.”
“Well at least your nickname isn’t ‘mini Petey.’”
Tristan laughs. “True. I heard they still call him that.”
“Poor Petey.”
“Okay, you’re both free. Get dressed and I’ll finish signing papers.” Giovanna pokes her head in.
“Oorah,” Tristan and I say together.
We get to the house we’re staying in, which is on the property. It’s a spacious two-story house, with four bedrooms and four bathrooms. Which is really nice because in our house in Japan, we have to share a bathroom. And Tristan likes to take his sweet ass time doing things in there.
Last night, I finally got a good night’s sleep. Hospital beds are some of the worst beds to sleep on. Which is kind of funny, considering you’re supposed to recuperate there.
“Did you want to come to Wintervale with us?” I ask Tristan as we’re eating breakfast.
“Yeah, I’d like to see Wintervale if that’s okay.”
“Sure, it’s a cute town. Kind of like Lake Renegade, but more touristy.”
“That sounds like fun, are we coming back here before we have to get back to base?”
“Yeah, I haven’t heard when I’m supposed to report yet. Have you?”
“Nope. Last time I heard anything was a few days after surgery. They said they’d get back to me and that I would get about two months off to recuperate.”
“Yeah, that’s what I was told too. So if that’s the case, we have about a month and a half left.”
“So we’re spending a couple of weeks in Wintervale?”
“I’d like to. I’m hoping Felicity will come back with me and spend some time here. But I’m not sure what her brothers will say.”
“She’s the baby, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Good luck with that. Especially after what just happened.”
I sigh. I get that Felicity’s brothers are worried. But I need her to be here with me. Looks like I’m going to be talking with them while I’m there. I just hope they understand that I’m in this for the long run with her. This isn’t just a fling.
There’s a knock at the door and before I can get up to open it, Tristan yells, “Come in!” I frown at him.
“What? It’s not like it’s a stranger, no one can get on the property.”
He’s not wrong…but still. Obviously, being a Marine hasn’t taught him any self-preservation.
“So when do you want to head to Wintervale? Are we driving or fly…ing…” Giovanna side-eyes me.
“Well, driving seems to be safer lately…but if you guys want to fly, we can fly.”
“No. That’s up to you. If I was the one that just been in a plane crash, I’d make that decision. But I wasn’t.”
“We’re going to have to get on a plane to get back to the base. So I might as well start now.”
Tristan sighs while he eats.
“Okay, I’ll make the reservations. You want to leave today?”
“If we can, that would be awesome. I can surprise Felicity.”
Giovanna chuckles as she leaves.
“We should get packed. Giovanna will have our reservations in no time, and then she’ll say it’s time to go without any notice.” I chuckle as I head to my room.
I already talked to Felicity earlier today, so she’s not expecting me to call again until this evening.
Since our flight will take about four hours, we should be in Wintervale around three or four pm.
Which is perfect timing. I can surprise her at the store.
Piper Vandenberg is married to Paxton and she’s a romance author.
They have a signing at the store for her once a month.
Today is that day. I love being able to surprise my girl.
I quickly pack enough for two weeks. If I need more, I’ll do laundry.
Giovanna: We need to leave in 30 minutes
Levi: LOL. I told Tristan you’re fast
Giovanna: I’m also excited to see our Wintervale family
Levi: Who’s coming with us?
Giovanna: You, Tristan, me, Declan, Rowan, Lorcán, Grady, Eros and Noah. My papà wants us to take a few more than normal because of what happened to Felicity. And we’ll have Armando too
Levi: Sounds good. We’ll be ready
It’s taking a lot for me not to call Felicity and tell her I’m coming. I’m so bad at keeping secrets, my sisters will be the first to tell you that.