20. Jason
20
JASON
N urses’ schedules were asinine. Mel worked her last night shift, then crashed for a few hours before forcing herself out of bed. She piddled around the apartment for a bit, taking care of laundry and catching up on a trauma certification she was studying for. When she fell asleep on her laptop, I scooped her up in my arms and carried her back to bed.
I stayed busy by helping Pops out at the airfield. There was always something to be done. One of his planes needed work. There was a hangar door that was sticking and wouldn’t roll back. Hell—I’d hopped on the lawnmower and taken care of the grass that was slightly overgrown.
It felt good to be active. Turns out, after a lifetime of traveling faster than the speed of sound, I didn’t exactly do well sitting still.
Some guys probably would have been insulted after being handed a weed-eater and being told to trim up the side of the hangars. I didn’t care. It helped me keep my mind off Mel and her date on Friday night .
The date I ordered her to go on.
Taking the biplane up on a test flight helped take my mind off it. Flying had a way of clearing my head. It had been a long ass time since I’d flown something manually. Pops ragged on me for being soft and depending on fly-by-wire.
Did I need a state-of-the-art system to help me fly? No. Did I want the state-of-the-art system when I was flying a plane that had eleven weapons stations loaded with armaments ready to vaporize anyone in the kill zone? Hell yes.
There was a certain rush that came with locking on a target and turning colored smoke markers into rubble when blasting by at a thousand miles per hour. Knowing that the enemy barely had time to blink before I was there and then gone was an addicting high.
I loved flying for more reasons than what I had done in the military. I loved getting back to the nitty-gritty of aviation, which is why an aircraft like the biplane was so damn fun. I couldn’t wait to take Mel up with me.
My truck rattled as I pulled into the parking lot in front of a strip of warehouses. One had a sign for a brewery that was coming soon. Another was a place you could go to throw axes. The third unit on the end was the one I was looking for. Beaufort CrossFit.
Melissa had invited me to work out with her and her tire throwing, battle rope swinging friends. She had the day off, but had been at Steve and Erica’s place, babysitting their two kids so that Erica could have a little time to herself.
Mel’s date was tonight, and I was starting to regret telling her to follow through with it. I knew I had good reasoning for pushing her to go, but that didn’t mean I liked it.
Mel was getting out of her car when I pulled in. Her face lit up when I hopped out, and damn if that didn’t make me feel ten feet tall .
“Hey,” she said, skipping over. She had on an old Marine Corps t-shirt. The arms had been cut off down to the hem, giving me a good look at her bright red sports bra and firmly toned abs. Her hair was braided in two thick French braids that stopped at her shoulders.
I fingered the shirt, pinching the fabric and inspecting it. “Next time you think about wearing something other than the Navy, think again.” It was a caveman thing to say, but being around Mel brought the Neanderthal in me to the surface. “You can wear my shirts, or you can wear nothing.”
She snickered. “I think my father would have an aneurysm if he saw me in anything other than Marine attire.”
I winced. It wasn’t obvious, but I couldn’t help but flinch at the mention of her dad. At the things he had said to me over the years. As far as I could tell, Mel didn’t know about any of it, and I wanted to keep it that way for now.
“Good thing you’re a nurse,” I teased as we headed into the gym.
Thick rubber mats covered the floors. On the far side of the warehouse, garage doors were open to bring in a cross-breeze. Large, industrial fans whirred, drawing in fresh air. Rock music thumped through the speakers as a few gym goers flew through reps on the pull-up bars.
A big guy with short blond hair and ripped arms waved. “Hey, Mel!”
Melissa smiled and returned the wave. “Hey! You’re back!” She jogged over, popped up onto her tiptoes, and threw her arms around his neck. “Recovered?”
“One hundred percent.” He grinned, hugging her. “Feels good to be back at it.”
“Good,” she said with a laugh before dropping back down to her feet. “I almost beat your PR the other day, and I would’ve hated to kick your ass when you weren’t here to defend your title.”
He smirked. “Guess you’ll just have to beat me when I’m here to cheer you on.” His eyes lifted and caught on to me lingering a few feet away. “And you brought a friend?”
Mel laughed. “Don’t act like that, you big lug.” She waved me over. “Y’all might remember each other. Aus, this is Jason McGrath—Bridget’s older brother. Jase, this is Austin Hale.”
No shit. I laughed and slapped his hand mid-air as he pulled me in for a bro hug. “No fucking way,” I laughed. “Austin Hale. You’re still in Beaufort?”
He shrugged and grinned as we stepped back and gave each other a little breathing room. “Like I’d ever leave.”
Austin Hale and I were kind of friends growing up. Not friends in the way of hanging out in our free time. More like friends in the way of him having the decency to ask me if it was okay before he asked Bridget to the prom.
Rumor had it, Bridget asked Austin to ask her since Chase was too chickenshit to pop the question. He was a good guy.
“So, what are you doing these days, Hale?” I asked.
He pointed to the sweat-soaked Beaufort Fire Department t-shirt that was stuck to him like a second skin. “Full time with the fire department. Part-time helping run this place.”
“Good for you, man,” I said.
He turned his attention to Mel. “I won’t be here next week. Brenna’s covering for me.” Filling me in, he said, “Brenna owns the gym. I’m just her lackey.”
Mel’s brows furrowed. “Fire department stuff?”
He shook his head. “I’m helping my sister move. She just accepted a job in Chapel Hill. The cost of living out there is ridiculous, so she got a place in a little town in the middle of nowhere called Falls Creek. I guess she’s gonna commute. ”
Her mouth dropped. “No way! I just had a friend move there. That girl Chase Brannan was seeing—Layla Mousavi. She worked with me in the emergency department.”
“No shit,” he said, rolling the information around in his head. “I think I met her once or twice.”
“Yeah, she’s a flight nurse now. Her base is in Falls Creek.” Mel laughed. “Small world.”
“Getting smaller every day,” he said, pulling up the hem of his shirt to wipe the sweat from his face. “I’ll have to tell Bethany. She’ll probably be glad to know there’s another newbie in town.”
“You sticking around for a workout, or are you heading out?” Mel asked.
He jerked his thumb over his shoulder toward the door. “Nah, I gotta get going. I was just logging a little time in here before I gotta head to the station for my twenty-four.”
“Well, it was good to see you,” Mel said. “And I’m glad you're all healed up. Stay safe, alright?”
He nodded. “I’ll try not to bother the ED for at least a few weeks.”
Mel snickered. “I’ll have the antibiotics and gauze on standby in case you get crispy again.”
While Austin headed out the door, Mel showed me over to the spot where she stored her things.
“So,” I said as I stripped my shirt off. “Hale’s a firefighter now?”
Mel nodded. “Yeah, I usually end up seeing him in the ER every few months or so. He got caught in a structure fire a few weeks ago and ended up with some pretty serious burns. It sidelined him for a while.” She looked over her shoulder where Austin was walking out to his car. “He saved the woman who was trapped in the building, though.”
I didn’t like how wistful her voice got. Like she was watching fucking Superman strut out of the gym. “And have you and him ever…”
She shook her head, but there was a little blush on her cheeks. “Who? Me and Austin? No. We’ve never been a thing.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Okay.”
“What!” She laughed. “Seriously, nothing but friendly first responder respect there.”
“Not even one of those rough nights on the job that makes you desperate for companionship ?” I questioned with a stupid smirk on my face. I liked getting under her skin.
Mel rolled her eyes. “No, Jase.” Her voice turned harsh, lips pursed in a thin line. “You don’t get to judge me for my dating life. You’re literally forcing me to go on a date that I don’t want to just so I don’t see you as a consolation prize or whatever the fuck that’s supposed to mean.”
She turned to walk away from the conversation, but I caught her, my hand wrapping around her wrist and pulling her back into my orbit.
“Hey,” I said, softening my tone. “I was just teasing you.”
“I don’t like it,” she clipped, leaving absolutely zero room for an argument. “I’m not your kid neighbor anymore. This—” she motioned between us “—is an even playing field. I don’t care that you’re older than me. I don’t care if you’re Bridget’s brother. I don’t care that we grew up together. I don’t like when you tease me, and if you do it again, I’m not putting up with it.”
Leave it to Mel to make me feel like I’d gone ten rounds in a knock-down-drag-out brawl with just a few sharp words.
I nodded. “Yes, ma’am.”
She punished me for the petulance with a grueling workout. The woman was a sadist. There was no other way to explain her drill sergeant mindset. I could still hit my Navy PRT goals and only break a mild sweat .
Mel’s workout would have killed half the Navy.
Melissa was fucking Wonder Woman, and I was merely the puddle of sweat she stomped through on her way to kick ass.
“Dear God, no more,” I groaned as I lay on the rubber mat. “I can’t feel my legs.”
Mel let out a maniacal laugh as she took a long swig from her water bottle before handing it to me. My arms were useless. I bobbled the Nalgene and cursed the fact that I was spilling water on my chin.
“Then it’s good that the last thing on the agenda is a few rope climbs. Just arms. You game?”
I looked at the ceiling where the thick ropes dangled above us. Twenty feet high, by my guess. Flashbacks of middle and high school gym class made bile rise in my throat. I’d always been fit, but rope day sucked ass for everyone.
Everyone except for Mel, apparently. She looked downright giddy.
I managed to push up to my forearms. “You’re evil, you know that?” My arms were about as useful at climbing ropes as cooked spaghetti.
“C’mon, flyboy,” she said, grabbing my hand and pulling me to my feet with one tug. “One rep, and then you can run back to the apartment with your tail between your legs. I’ll give you some privacy to lick your wounds while I’m on my date.”
I narrowed my eyes on her, and she had the decency to stifle a smile. “This is payback for me telling you to go on that damn date, isn’t it?”
She put her hands on my hips and leaned in like she was going to kiss me. Instead of her lips on mine, she said, “It’s absolutely payback, Lieutenant Commander McGrath.” She patted my chest and turned toward the ropes. “See you at the top.”
Instead of climbing, I lingered a few feet away and watched as Mel stood at the bottom of the rope. She grabbed some chalk out of a communal bucket to get the sweat off her hands, then dusted them off on her thighs. The chalk dust left streaks across her skin.
I liked seeing her get a little messy. Chalked up, sweat-soaked, hair falling out of her braids from a grueling workout. She was so perfect all the damn time. Messy looked good on her.
Mel lifted her arms and jumped, grabbing the rope as high as she could. With her four-foot-eight frame, it wasn’t a huge advantage. Still, she didn’t need it. Dangling from the rope, she pointed her toes out in front of her in the pike position. Her body formed a perfect ninety-degree angle as she used one hand over the other to scramble up the rope and back down again.
“You’re in beast mode, baby girl,” I said just loud enough for her to hear.
Mel smiled. Her face was flushed red as she neared the bottom. The bashful look she wore whenever I called her baby girl was like a goddamn drug.
She dropped back down to the mat. I was going to take my turn when she stepped away, but Mel went down, favoring her right leg and taking the weight off her left.
“What’s the matter?” I asked as I dropped to my knees beside her.
Mel was clutching the back of her knee, keeping her left leg off the mat. Her breathing was labored; calm and steady but definitely pained.
“Talk to me, Goose,” I clipped as I looked for blood and bones splintering out of her skin. Luckily, there was none to be found.
Mel shook her head and waved me off with a flick of her wrist. “I’m fine,” she croaked out. “Just a cramp. Probably went too hard on the sleds earlier and didn’t drink enough.”
“Hamstring?” I asked.
She nodded .
“Hold on.” I jogged to her gym bag. She usually had an emergency Gatorade stashed in there. I grabbed it along with her foam roller and ran back. “Drink,” I ordered as I uncapped the red bottle and handed it to her.
Mel didn’t bother arguing. She just took a long pull, wiping the stray drops away from her mouth with her forearm. Gently, I put one hand under her calf. With the other, I braced the back of her thigh and slowly straightened her leg to be flush with the floor.
She let out a little whimper that shattered my heart. Her eyes were squeezed shut, blocking out the pain. I pulled her shoe off and slowly pushed her foot back toward her body until it started stretching her calf and thigh. She leaned forward, deepening the stretch.
“Breathe through it,” I said gently. “It’ll only hurt for a minute.”
Mel cracked a smile. “Why do I have the feeling I’m not the first girl you’ve said that to?”
I chuckled. “Are we really doing the body count conversation right now?”
“Hell no. We’re never doing the body count conversation,” she clipped. “I don’t want to know.”
“Maybe I’m curious how many notches are on your headboard.”
“You’ve seen my headboard,” she said as she sat up. “No notches to be found.”
“I know you’re not a virgin,” I said as I moved forward on a bent knee and forced her to lay back on the mat. I settled myself between her legs, grabbing the back of her cramping thigh and pressing it up to her chest.
Mel groaned, but I didn’t relent. The skin that her itty-bitty spandex shorts covered was less than optimum.
I forced myself to stare at the spot above her head. I needed to avert my eyes from where her ass cheeks peeked out from under her shorts. And I definitely didn’t need to look at the spot where a narrow strip of fabric stretched across her pussy.
“And how do you know that?” she retorted.
“Grapevine,” I mused. “And you told me yourself that it’s been a while. While implies you’ve done it.”
Mel rolled her eyes. She laced her fingers around her knee and held it to her chest herself. If she thought she was getting rid of me that easily, she was sorely mistaken.
I shifted, my knee and thigh nuzzled up against her pussy. With my thumbs, I started massaging the back of her thigh. It took everything in me not to bend over and kiss up and down every inch of her exposed skin. That didn’t even begin to cover the perfect parts of her that were covered that I wanted to wreck.
Mel’s lips parted. Her eyes fluttered closed, and her breathing was erratic. I shifted, rubbing her pussy with my leg. She let a greedy moan escape from her lips.
To distract herself from what she so desperately wanted, Mel turned the inquisition to me. “Don’t say stuff like that about me and then pretend you’re some celibate boy scout. A decorated officer in the Navy? You’ve got the rank, the pilot wings, and the sexy face and muscles. I’m sure you had droves of wannabe Instagram models with Dependa painted across their foreheads chasing after you.”
I dug my thumbs into the back of her thigh, hitting the cramping muscle. She grimaced and bit her lip.
I leaned forward, bringing us chest to chest. My mouth grazed her ear as I said, “Do you really want to talk about other women when I know that if I pulled your little shorts to the side, I’d find your panties soaked?” I rocked my erection against her core, punctuating my point.
Mel’s lips parted, but nothing came out.
“You want to know about every single woman I’ve ever been with?” I pushed hard against her thigh, drilling my hard-on between her legs before standing up. “Because I’ll tell you,” I said as I stared at her, spent and exhausted, lying on the floor. It was exactly how she was going to look when I finally had my way with her. “But none of them matter. Not since I saw you.”