7. Jason
7
JASON
I left the hospital of my own free will.
That’s what I kept telling myself, at least. Mel did not kick me out after I shamelessly flirted with Whitney.
Whitney was a cute little thing, but not my type. I didn’t like the girls who came running, eager to be the Band-Aid for all the issues they assume I have after spending twenty years in the military.
To be fair, I had plenty of issues. It was why I started seeing a civilian therapist after my first deployment. I needed someone to talk to who didn’t report back to my commanding officer.
The carnage I witnessed happened from the air. The enemy combatants were nothing more than a blip on a radar; a target I locked my weapons systems on.
Some would say I was one of the lucky ones. I didn’t know what it felt like to stare an enemy in the eye, turning them into pink mist in close-quarter combat.
Still, taking a life was taking a life. Being able to talk about the guilt I carried was imperative. I was proud of my service, but it wasn’t earned without demons and ghosts.
I steered my truck out of the hospital parking lot.
It was nearing midnight, so the lot was sparse. Jokers would be open for a few more hours. I thought about heading over the bridge and grabbing a beer with my sister, but I didn’t want to be a bother while she was closing up and heading home.
Wherever home was for her.
I hated that Bridget kept so much from me. It’s not like we rarely talked. I used to call her at least once a week to check up on her.
Bee never mentioned a boyfriend, much less a fiancé. She’d occasionally tell me she was going on dates. I blindly assumed those dates were with random guys she was testing driving. Not a guy she’d been with for years. A guy we both knew.
I hit a pothole as I headed down Arendell Street, back toward Mel’s apartment.
I needed to get some shut-eye so I could get up early and leave. That way Mel could get some sleep when she rolled in at seven-thirty.
I was about to take a right off of the main road when blue lights lit up my rearview mirror.
Ah, fuck. It was probably my tail light out again. At least, I hoped that’s all it was.
I didn’t think I was speeding. Then again, the speed limits in Morehead were ridiculously slow.
I put my flashers on and pulled off to the side of the road.
The police car crept up behind me, and I waited as he ran my plates. A minute later, I saw him get out of his cruiser and walk through the grass, holding a flashlight. He tapped on my window. I complied, rolling it down then resting my hands on the steering wheel .
“Evening,” I said.
He shined the light into the cab of the truck. I squinted, rearing back to try and get a look at his face or the name on his uniform.
No luck. He was in plain clothes, but there was a gun and badge on his hip.
“Evening. Do you know why I pulled you over tonight?” he asked.
No request for my license and registration? Weird. “Uh, no, sir. I don’t.”
He clicked off his flashlight.
It took my eyes a second to adjust. When they did, Chase Brannan’s face came into focus.
He grinned. “I pulled you over ’cause Mel texted and said you were flirting with all the nurses again. Said you were causing all kinds of trouble.” He drummed his knuckles on the edge of the window. “Figured I’d drive out here and scare the shit out of you for her.”
I couldn’t help but laugh. “Hey, I only flirted with two nurses this time.”
He chuckled and shook his head. “What the hell were you doing at the hospital this time of night anyway?”
I shrugged. “Not much to do. Figured I’d take Mel something to eat while she was on a break.”
Chase’s phone lit up. He checked it quickly before sliding it back in his pocket. “I gotta go, but, uh—you wanna hit up the range with me next week? I’m off on Tuesday.”
“Yeah, man. Just text me and let me know when.”
“Cool.” He gave my truck a parting slap and sauntered back to his car. “Drive safe.”
By the time I made it back to Mel’s apartment, I was beat. I would’ve hit the couch for some shut-eye, but Bridget texted me the moment I got the door open.
She apologized for not being able to hang out since I had come back to town. Instead of brushing my teeth and calling it a night, I dialed her number and waited.
“Hey,” Bridget said when she picked up. She sounded tired, but I would have been too if I had to deal with the summertimers and their drunken antics.
“How’s my Bumble Bee?”
She laughed it off. “I figured you’d be asleep by now.”
“I dropped off some dinner at the hospital for Mel,” I groaned as I lowered down onto the couch and kicked my shoes off.
Bridget snickered. “How friendly of you. I’m sure she loved that.”
“More like hated.” I laughed.
“Jase,” Bridget whined. “Go easy on her. She’s doing you a solid by letting you crash there.”
A flare of anger pricked me like a bee sting. “Why didn’t you tell me about Kyle?” I asked. “C’mon, Bee. I know I’ve been gone a while, but it’s not like we were out of touch. Hell, even when I was on deployment, I texted you all the time.”
There was silence on her end. Did I push too hard? Bridget had never been one to shy away from saying exactly what she was thinking.
“Kinda sucks to realize I missed out on my baby sister getting engaged,” I mumbled.
“Jase, I’m thirty-three. It’s not like Kyle and I were looking for permission.” She paused. “Not like Dad’s here to give it… And Mom…” She didn’t finish her thought, though I knew where she was going with it.
Mom wouldn’t have cared .
Bridget’s words were solemn. There was a strange cocktail of anger, resentment, and sorrow in her voice. I felt it too.
Fuck. “Hey—I’m sorry, Bee. I shouldn’t have brought it up.”
“It’s fine,” she said quickly. “It was twelve years ago. I’m over it.”
“I wish I could have been here more,” I offered.
“You came to the funeral. He didn’t deserve any more than that.”
I closed my eyes and rested my head on the pillow I'd pushed up against the armrest. “I wish I could have been here for you.”
“Well,” she said with a huff. “All that’s behind us now. No sense in rehashing it.”
“Am I ever going to get more than five minutes with you? I wanna catch up. It’s why I came back.” I didn’t want to be demanding of her free time, but damn. If I didn’t know better, I’d think that Bee was avoiding me.
She sighed. “Yeah, I know I’ve been a little MIA. Things have just been crazy, and it’s a super busy week. You should totally come to poker night with Mel, though. It’s at Maddie’s house. We can hang out then, and everyone else will be there too. It’s fun.”
My eyes were slowly growing heavier and heavier. I let out a yawn, stretching until my feet hit the far end of the couch. “Yeah, definitely.”
“Well,” Bridget said. “I’m home, so I should probably get some sleep.”
“Alright,” I mumbled, already thoroughly drowsy. “Talk to you tomorrow, Bumble Bee. Love you.”
“Love you too, Jase. Night.”
The front door opened and closed with a soft click. I peered through hooded eyes, rubbing away the sleep. Mel was at the door, kicking off her shoes. Soft morning light filtered through the curtains, painting vivid streams of swirling dust across the room.
“Hey,” I croaked. My throat was dry, and I was barely lucid.
Mel looked at me as she set her bag by the door. “Hey. Sorry, I was trying to be quiet, so I wouldn’t wake you.”
I waved it off with a barely conscious flick of my wrist. “Don’t worry about me. I was about to get up and go on a run.”
She snickered and padded across the living room to the closet where the washer and dryer were hidden. “You were not.” She opened the door to the washing machine and, without warning, stripped off her scrub top.
If I hadn’t been awake before, I was now.
She shimmied down the matching scrub pants and threw those in, too. Mel’s socks were the last to go in, leaving her in a black sports bra that criss-crossed in the back, and a pair of high-cut black panties that showed off her ass.
My dick was definitely awake now, too.
“Sorry,” Mel said sheepishly as she pawed around in the basket she kept on top of the dryer. “You definitely don’t want to know what bodily fluids those scrubs saw last night.” She shivered with a guttural ick for the full effect.
Her muscle tone bordered on intimidating. For some, it would be.
But not me. Melissa was sexy. There was something so intoxicating about a woman who knew just how powerful she was. The only thing sexier was when a woman like that willingly ceded her power.
I wanted to see Mel’s soft side. I wanted to see what she’d look like when she let go. When her lips part to breathe my name while I made her come.
Fuck.
I rolled to my side and made sure the blanket covered my hard-on. It wasn’t regular ol’ morning wood. Nope. It was because of Mel in those cheeky panties.
I wasn’t one to call a grown woman cute , but Mel was. She was a cute little thing. Spunky, giggly, and bright. But damn . Her body was banging.
“I swear,” she said as she grabbed the canister of detergent pods and tossed one into the washing machine. “As soon as you left, it was mayhem.”
I glanced at the clock. “You’re back on time. Couldn’t have been that bad.”
“Kept everyone alive until 7:05,” she said. “After that, it became the day shift’s problem.”
I chuckled as I stretched and tossed the blanket aside. She was in her skivvies, so I didn’t have any qualms about walking around in my boxers. Mel shut the washing machine door and started the cycle. She turned quickly and ran smack into my stomach.
“Oh…” Mel’s lips parted as she braced her hands against my abs.
She slowly looked up my abdomen, eyes stalling on the gauze that covered my stitches.
“How are the…” She swallowed instead of finishing her sentence. I watched the lines of her neck flex and relax. I wanted to lean down and trace them with my tongue.
“Almost back to normal,” I said in a gruff whisper, staring deep into her big brown eyes.
My dick twitched against the flat plane of her stomach. Mel sucked in a sharp breath, but she didn’t back away.
It would be so easy to set her little body up on top of the washing machine, spread her legs wide, and lap at her pussy like a starving man.
So easy to let myself have what I’d always wanted.
Her .
All the reasons I had hightailed it out of Beaufort flooded my mind.
I had left, joined the Navy, and accomplished what I set out to do. I was a decorated officer for fuck’s sake. I made something of myself.
I was nothing like the piece of shit I shared DNA with. The deadbeat who conditioned me to believe I’d never amount to anything because his blood was in my veins.
Mel’s unusually soft voice cut through the haze of unwanted memories. “I was going to make some breakfast…” Her whisper was breathy, but she didn’t move away. Her eyes never left my body.
I shamelessly watched the heavy rise and fall of her chest as her breasts strained against her spandex bra.
“Let me,” I said gently, trying to distract myself from the way my dick was flexing as it tried to drill its way out of my boxers.
Mel’s fingers pressed into the ridge between my abs. I didn’t dare breathe.
Her hands on my skin felt so good. The memory of her touching me as she changed the dressing around my stitches with steady, competent motions had me aching for more. Her breath was warm against my body. Little puffs of air melted into me as she steadied her breathing.
“I can fix something,” she whispered. Even now—paralyzed with an unmistakable attraction—she was being feisty with me.
I slid my hands from her hips to the bare skin of her waist. I stroked her exposed ribs with my thumbs. “No offense, but your cooking is a biohazard.”
A slow smile crept across her mouth before splitting into a wide grin. “You’re such an ass.” She laughed, swatting at my chest before turning away.
I took advantage of the moment and tried to make my erection as discreet as possible. “I’m serious, Goose. I’m pretty sure the scrambled eggs you tried to make the other day were radioactive.”
She dipped into her room and threw on a pair of pajama pants and a tank top. “Well,” she called back through the open door. “At least you won’t have to worry about me turning the kitchen into a nuclear waste facility tomorrow.”
“Why’s that?” I hollered from the bathroom as I smeared a line of toothpaste onto my toothbrush. It was still in the travel case—a stark reminder that this was all temporary.
“I’m going to lunch with Erica tomorrow, then I’m going on that date. Remember?”
Right. Her date. The date she got that sexy outfit for. The one I got to test drive, but not the real thing.
“Uh, yeah,” I muttered as I turned on the tap. “I remember.”
Mel padded down the hallway, lingering in the bathroom door. “I have high hopes for this one. We’ve been texting here and there for a few weeks, and he seems like a catch.” She left me with a smile, heading to the kitchen for a bowl of cereal before she went to bed. “If all goes well, you’ll have the whole apartment to yourself tomorrow night.”
Well, fuck.