CHAPTER NINE #2
Charley opened her mouth to deny it, then closed it again, because she couldn’t. Alyvia had read her like a book.
She was excited. More than excited, if she was being honest with herself.
Pierce had a way of settling into her thoughts when she least expected it, showing up in the quiet moments, and even during stressful times.
And that should have unsettled her more than it did.
Instead, it just made her want to hear his voice.
Alyvia’s grin came back, slower this time. “So, when is this coffee date happening?”
Charley let out a small laugh and finally gave in to the smile threatening her lips. “I don’t know yet. He hasn’t called yet.”
Alyvia tipped her head in the direction of the phone. “Why don’t you call him?”
Charley thought about it. There wasn’t anything holding her back from reaching out first.
“I might,” she said, giving Alyvia a small smile.
“That’s a girl,” Alyvia said as she stood up. “I think everyone else already left. Do you want me to lock the main door when I head out?”
“Yes, please,” Charley said. “I’ll be here for a while. This mountain of paperwork isn’t going to file itself.”
“We need to get you a clone.”
Charley laughed. “Trust me, if I could clone myself, I would in a heartbeat.”
They exchanged goodbyes, then Alyvia disappeared down the hallway. Suddenly, the building fell very quiet.
Charley pulled up a music app on her phone that played a variety of music. With an upbeat pop song filling the silence, Charley’s eyes drifted back to the paper lying on her desk. She reached for it, flipped it over, and stared at the three names written on it.
“What are you trying to tell me?” She said aloud as she turned toward her computer and typed in the first name on the paper, Calvin Henderson.
Within seconds, listing after listing for the name Calvin Henderson popped up on the screen.
She shook her head and sighed. This wasn’t going to help. There were too many to look through, and she didn’t have time right now to start down a rabbit hole that she wasn’t sure would even pan out.
She folded the paper up, slid it back into the envelope, and placed it in the top drawer of her desk. She’d come back to it later.
Turning her attention back to the stack of papers on her desk, she focused on sorting them into smaller stacks.
As she flipped through invoices and contracts, she thought about what Alyvia had said about calling Pierce.
She took another glance at the phone. Ugh! She knew she wouldn’t stop looking at that thing until she did something.
She nibbled on her bottom lip as she contemplated whether or not she should call him.
What really had her holding back was that she didn’t want to bother him, knowing he probably had his hands full with recruits.
Maybe a text would be better than a phone call, she thought to herself.
She could send something short and casual.
She didn’t want to appear too eager, like she’d been sitting around waiting to hear from him, but enough to say she hadn’t forgotten about him.
“As if,” she muttered to herself. There was no way she could forget him, especially that sexy dimple of his, and those light brown eyes that looked like they could see deep into her soul.
Snapping out of it, Charley gave herself a mental eye roll. Daydreaming about sexy dimples and soulful eyes wasn’t getting her anywhere.
“Fuck it,” she said, as she reached for her cell phone and pulled up Pierce’s contact. Before she could talk herself out of it, she typed out a short message.
Charley: Hi Pierce, hope your week’s going well. Any chance you’re free for that coffee soon?
She hit send before she could overthink it. It was simple, friendly, and direct.
She set the phone down, fully expecting it to sit there for a while because she was pretty sure he wasn’t sitting around waiting for her to contact him.
But less than a minute later, she heard the ping, and her heart jumped.
Pierce: Hey Charley. How did you know I was thinking of you? Coffee sounds great, though this week is a little crazy for me. Can I give you a call this weekend and we can set a date?
Charley stared at Pierce’s reply, reading the message. He was thinking about me?
The only thing she had going on over the weekend was moving into her apartment. But she would make the time for him.
She typed her reply back.
Charley: Perfect! I’ll wait to hear from you.
Pierce: Great! I’ll give you a call on Saturday once I’m finished here on base.
Charley: Sounds good.
Pierce: Later
A warm feeling spread through her chest. She was smiling like an absolute idiot as she placed her phone beside her coffee cup.
She chuckled. “Alyvia would be so proud of me,” she said out loud.
The weekend couldn’t come fast enough.
◆◆◆
Pierce stood on the beach watching as the medical team checked over some of the recruits a short distance away. Those who had already been cleared were stretched out in the sand.
He couldn’t help but chuckle. They were all exhausted, and it showed.
But that’s what happens during BUD/s. Those brave enough to undertake the grueling training are pushed beyond their limits, both physically and mentally.
What many people don’t realize is that BUD/s is more of a mental game than it is physical.
In Pierce’s opinion, BUD/s is about eighty percent mental and twenty percent physical.
He shook his head, still grinning as he turned toward the shoreline. The tide rolled in steadily and calmly, waves hissing softly against the sand.
This was the quiet moment after the chaos, when the day’s work settled, and the ocean reminded him why he loved this place.
He stared at the endless stretch of blue.
He took a deep breath, letting the salt air fill his lungs.
The ocean was powerful, unforgiving, and beautiful all at once.
It didn’t apologize for what it was. It reminded him that no matter how rough the storm was, the tide was always pulled back, but it always returned.
There was comfort in that. In knowing some things didn’t run when things got hard.
He was pulled from his thoughts when he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. Normally, he would have ignored it until after he was finished for the day, but since he had a few minutes to spare, he pulled his phone from his pocket.
As soon as he saw Charley’s name he felt something shift inside of him. His chest tightened, and his heart felt like it had skipped a beat. But then a slow grin tugged at his mouth before he could stop it.
As he read her message, he felt his smile grow. She was asking about that coffee date he had asked her about.
His first reaction was to say he’d meet her right now. But he knew that was out of the question. And the rest of his week was a shitshow due to the training schedule. He texted a response.
Pierce: Hey Charley. How did you know I was thinking of you? Coffee sounds great, though this week is a little crazy for me. Can I give you a call this weekend and we can set a date?
He got a reply immediately.
Charley: Perfect. I’ll wait to hear from you.
He grinned again as his heart did a little dance. He couldn’t believe how a simple text from her made him react this way.
He had all intentions of reaching out to her next week, once training settled a little. But it made him happy knowing that she’d reached out first. It showed she was interested. And hell, just seeing her name pop up made his whole fucking day.
“Why do you look like you just won the lottery?” Ray’s voice came from his right, dripping with suspicion and amusement.
“What do you mean?” Pierce asked, trying to play it cool.
Ray snorted and gave Pierce a look that meant “don’t even try to blow smoke up my ass.”
“That’s the face of a man with a reason. Spill it.”
Pierce shook his head, but the grin wouldn’t leave. “Charley texted. Asked about grabbing coffee.”
Ray’s eyebrows shot up. “Oh, look at you.” He slapped Pierce’s shoulder hard enough to jolt him. “See, I was right about the whole ‘meet cute’ thing.”
Jesus, not this shit again, Pierce thought to himself.
“It’s just coffee,” Pierce said, though he could feel his ears heating.
“Yeah, and I’m the Easter Bunny,” Ray quipped. “Good for you, though. She’s great. Don’t fuck it up.”
Pierce rolled his eyes, but the compliment landed. “Thanks, Ray.”
Ray clapped him once more on the shoulder. “Alright, lover boy. Back to work. I need your help. We had three separations today.”
“Any of them a surprise?” Pierce asked.
“Holcomb, Wells, and Babcock.”
Pierce’s eyes snapped up toward Ray’s. “Babcock? Seriously? Man, I had him in my top ten who were locked in. What the hell happened?”
Ray grimaced. “Medical. He’s got something going on in his lungs. Hopefully, he can get it treated. But from what I hear, it doesn’t look good.”
“Damn. That’s a shame.”
“It is,” Ray agreed. “Holcomb was a DOR, and Wells got performance dropped.”
“Those two don’t surprise me,” Pierce said. “Wells thought he knew everything better than everyone. Now look where he is.”
“Yep. I told you after the first day that this class started that prick wouldn’t last through the first phase.”
“You did say that.”
“Now tell me a little more about this soon-to-be coffee date,” Ray said as they started walking.
Pierce chuckled and rolled his eyes as he fell in step with Ray as they made their way toward the offices.