Chapter 44
Deacon
The early-morning light filtered through Willow’s window, the sheer white curtains in sharp contrast to the dark red walls.
Falling asleep with her in my arms the last few days, her warm body pressed to mine and her curls tickling my chin, had felt surreal.
Her hand fell across my obliques, and I grinned as I slowly opened my eyes.
“Holy shit!” A long snout and two accusing eyes were inches from my face.
I jerked back, and Willow stirred behind me, mumbling in her sleep before rolling to her side.
Gus was unyielding as he studied me. Guilty, he seemed to say.
How could you do this to my human? The dog would have made a good MP—his expression was cold and implacable like military police, but when I reached out to scratch behind his ears and said, “Food?” I was off the hook, and he barreled toward the door, pausing to look back at me.
I shuffled toward the door, glancing over my shoulder at Willow, who’d thrown the blankets off herself and was sprawled on the bed in shorts and a tiny tank that she’d come out of the shower wearing, the fabric so delicate and thin I’d had to bite back a groan and harness all the willpower I’d stored up, especially when she asked if she could kiss me again, looking up at me with those big eyes as if I might deny her.
She gave a little snore and buried her face in the pillow, and I followed Gus through the house to let him outside.
Gus took off for the back of the yard, peeing and then doing an inspection of the perimeter.
The morning air was chilly, and I regretted not putting on a shirt, but after Willow peeled it off me the night before when that one kiss led to us spread out on the bed together, I’d never put it back on.
That would have meant taking a break from holding her, something I wasn’t sure I’d ever be able to do now that I’d gotten used to it.
Gus loped toward me, tongue out once his inspection was done, and I scratched him behind the ear again.
“Cruz will be back soon,” I said, leading him into the house and filling his bowl with kibble.
The dog’s ears perked up at his owner’s name, and he looked up eagerly waiting for the eat command.
“Okay,” I said, pointing at the bowl. Cruz really should open a dog training school when he got home.
I pictured Cupcake, who we’d given up on after the sit command.
I left the dog to eat. Gus seemed to have forgiven me for my transgressions, but this morning, walking through Cruz’s house, I wondered if his owner would.
Willow had become like oxygen to me, but Cruz had been my rock for a decade.
I left a note on the nightstand, not wanting to wake Willow.
I needed to move and luckily had a gym bag in my truck.
I tapped out a message to Cruz on my way into the rec center asking how he was feeling.
He’d let Willow know he’d be home soon and hopefully the drugs were on tap for a few more days, and I wanted to find out when he was going to be stateside.
“You following me around or what?” Bryce’s voice startled me as he spoke from behind me, a basketball under one arm.
“Seems the other way around,” I said, extending a hand.
“Where are you heading? I’m meeting some folks for a basketball game—nothing too serious, but we could always use another body. Want to join?”
I opened my mouth to decline—I’d planned to swim and then run.
That was where I could think, but I’d spent so much time sinking into my own thoughts the last few days.
I used to play all the time with the guys in the unit and the other folks on base, but it had been ages since I’d done anything with a team.
It struck me then how much I missed it. “Yeah,” I said. “I have a little time.”
He nodded toward the courts, where I saw Kelly and a few other people warming up.
There was a running track on the level above, and we passed a few people on their way to the pool, but we were the only ones on the basketball courts so early in the morning.
“Now, do I want you on my team or Kelly’s? ”
I laughed, following him to the courts. “Depends. Do you like winning?”
“My team it is,” he said.
I pulled into the parking lot for the flower shop on the way over to Willow’s.
After basketball where my team narrowly eked out a win and then lost the second game, a few of us had gone out for breakfast at a greasy spoon near campus.
The bacon was burned, the eggs were too runny, and it was the best time I’d had outside of hanging with Willow or my roommates in ages.
So, when Bryce asked if I wanted to study for econ—we had a test on Monday—I bit back my knee-jerk response to decline and agreed.
Deacon: There in a few.
Willow: I’ll be there at the same time—took an extra volunteer shift at the clinic. I have all this extra time now that I’ve taken the admissions test. Poor Gus has been alone all day.
Willow: Dr. Theo says hi.
I scowled at my phone, just for a moment, remembering him flirting with her. But, he’d hooked her up with this volunteer gig and she said he’d been really helpful with her vet school application. I probably needed to let it go. She’d told me jealousy was not a good look on me.
Deacon: I’m sure he misses me.
I jogged into the store, looking around for red flowers.
We didn’t have anything in particular to celebrate, but I also felt like we had everything to celebrate.
And she’d been pushing me to get out there and meet some new people.
I wanted to show her how much I appreciated it.
Appreciated her. Loved her. I reached for a bouquet of red roses sitting in a black bucket but paused.
There was a rose plant nearby, a picture of big red blooms on the label, which also read “bare root.” It looked like a collection of cut stems, but the clerk assured me it would produce blooms within a few weeks.
I handed her my credit card—something told me Willow would like planting something herself, like her mom had done.
“Hey,” she said, hopping down from the bike right behind my truck once I’d pulled into the driveaway. “What’s this?”
“I brought you roses,” I said, handing over the plant. “I think. Or I bought you sticks. Either way, it’ll grow and bloom kind of like you.”
She smiled. That one that lit up her face. She admired the plant before setting it down and said, “Kind of like us.” Her arms went around my neck and I loved the way my hand fit perfectly on her lower back. “It’s perfect.”
“You’re perfect,” I said, dropping a kiss on her lips. It was cheesy as hell, but I wanted that smile every day. I needed those kisses.
“Will you help me plant it?”
“Sure.” I trailed a few fingers up her neck and unhooked her bike helmet. “I’ll play in the dirt with you.”
“Including lots of dirty talk?”
I laughed and stepped back so we could walk the bike into the backyard.
I carried the plant while we walked her bike in a way that felt like we were completely in sync.
She wore the scrubs the clinic had volunteers wear, and even that professional clothing made her look completely devourable.
“Talk about dirt or actual dirty talk? I’m good either way. Just want to prepare myself.”
She unlocked the gate, then grinned over her shoulder and beckoned me forward with one finger. The action was so playful and sweet in concert with her grin, but the second I reached her, her lips grazed my ear. “The kind of talk where I beg you to fuck me.”
My body went suddenly hot and tense at her words, and I pulled her body flush to mine. “You didn’t use the letter.”
“I’ve been practicing,” she said, letting out a gasp when my hand lowered to palm her backside through her scrub bottoms. Willow’s body was lush, and I imagined all the different ways I wanted to explore her. “I’m pretty good with the word now.”
“Say it again,” I growled against her neck in the doorway, not giving her time to speak before I was searching out the spot that made her squirm.
“Fuck me,” she whispered.
“Low.” I guided her inside the house, quickly pushing the door closed behind us. “There’s nothing I want more.”