Chapter 5 #2
When I finally stopped screaming because I realized my attacker was laughing hysterically, I studied his face, and my shoulders slumped. When he let go of my foot, I almost kicked him again. The mere sight of his face flooded my body with rage.
“What the hell are you doing?!” I shouted.
“Jesus, you are crazy.” Luke stood up quickly, straightening the ball cap on his head, and laughed even harder.
“ I’m crazy? You’re the one who is freaking stalking me! Why are you following me?!”
I was full on panting and trying really hard not to focus on his very, very toned arms peeking out from under his dark-green T-shirt.
“I’m not stalking you. I was going on my morning run, and it just so happens that you run the same route that I do.
And…” He stopped and looked me up and down with heat lingering behind those clear eyes.
I scowled at him in return, almost letting out a growl.
“You have really good stamina. You never once wavered from your pace. I’m impressed.
I wonder…” He brought his hand up to his chin and tapped on it with his finger.
“I wonder if you have that much stamina in bed…”
My eyes almost fell out of their sockets. I reached my arm up and smacked him right on the head, which only made him laugh harder. So hard, in fact, that he had to bend down and place his hands on his knees to catch his breath. Anger sparked through my body, and my cheeks instantly felt hot.
“Wouldn’t you like to know?” I retaliated, turning on my heel and running the rest of the way back. I turned my music up loud this time, because I didn’t even want to know if he was behind me or not.
After that, every day that I came home to run after work, there was Luke in his black Nikes on the bottom of his stairs, about to start his run.
He would flash me his pearly white smile as he passed me, and it made my heart skip a beat every time.
I blamed it on my annoyance with him, but I knew better.
His smile did things to me. Unspeakable things.
I would purposely wait to start my run until after he started his. I didn’t want him watching my ass the entire time, and I wouldn’t admit it out loud, but I liked to watch him. I actually liked to look at him. It was his mouth and manners that drove me up the freaking wall.
Just like right now, with him running his mouth on the baseball field. I wasn’t sure how I’d gotten roped into volunteering here. Oh wait, yes, I do. It was JoJo. It always ended with JoJo. She knew she was my soft spot. She was all I had left in the world.
Being here, volunteering on base, wasn’t the real reason that I was so bothered. What was bothering me was the actual thing we were all out here on the baseball field for. The Marine Corps partnered up with the hospital every year to throw a fundraiser for Families Left Behind (FLB).
Families Left Behind had been around for many years, even before I was born.
All the money raised for FLB went to the families who had lost someone due to war.
That was why being here hurt so much. Because now that I was on the other end of this whole military thing, where you actually had to deal with losing a family member to war, little reminders like this stung.
I knew how it felt now, after losing Alex.
It was like stepping on a bumblebee in the soft grass on a hot summer day; it stung you so fast that you didn’t even realize what had happened.
“Why are you staring over there like that?” JoJo whispered behind me, causing me to jump up so fast I placed my hand over my heart.
“Yeah, I was wondering the same thing,” Becky said from beside me.
Becky and I were the two running the donations table, along with handing out the free water bottles a local store had donated.
The other volunteers from the hospital were at other tables, handing out flyers and giving informational talks about FLB.
JoJo was only over here because she didn’t want to sit alone on the bleachers to watch the extremely boring baseball game.
“I’m not staring like anything,” I shot back, gaining side glances from the pair of them.
Becky’s gaze landed on Luke. “He’s very good-looking. I definitely approve.”
“There is nothing to approve of. He’s a jackass.”
“A jackass with a nice ass,” JoJo snickered.
I needed to change the subject before my reddening face gave me away.
“It’s really not fair that you get to look so cute and I have to wear this volunteer shirt,” I said quickly, knowing it would lead JoJo into a full-on tangent about fashion. It was her weakness; I knew she’d take the bait.
JoJo was wearing her tight skinny jeans and a super-cute, white baseball jersey.
I would have probably looked like a complete idiot in it, but somehow, she made it work.
Her black hair was in luscious waves, and her oversized sunglasses sat perched on her nose.
She looked cute and fun. Then, there was me.
My blonde hair was piled in a high ponytail, and my skin looked rather pale against my dark-navy T-shirt.
At least I was able to pair my volunteer shirt with my best jeans. I had that much going for me.
“There’s my number one fan!” Ryan exclaimed, sweating profusely as he jogged over to the table.
I looked around the field and realized the baseball gods had finally answered my prayers.
The game was officially over. I was ready to get the hell out of there and back to my cozy home so I could throw on some sweats and put on Netflix, while casually drinking a glass of wine—that would, no doubt, turn into the entire bottle.
Right as I was putting the water bottles back in their case, someone snatched the very one I was holding right out of my hand. Its plastic casing crunched as it was jerked out of my grasp, and I was ready to smack whoever it was for being so incredibly rude.
A cool voice flooded my ears.
“Hey, Cammie.”
I rolled my eyes and stared right into his clean-shaven face. Sweat was dripping down his forehead, all the way down to his grinning mouth.
“Luke! Here’s some water to quench that thirst of yours.” I pretended to hand him an invisible water bottle. “Oh, that’s right. You just snatched it out of my hand without so much as a grunt of appreciation.”
He ignored my comment.
“Soooo, whatcha got planned for tonight?”
I stared at him in disbelief. What?
He looked up at the sky, tilting his head back.
“I was just wondering, because I’m concerned.”
“Concerned?” I placed my hands on my hips .
He looked down gracefully, then back up at me.
“It’s just… I’ve noticed you don’t have much of a social life, and that’s not healthy for a woman your age…”
“What are you doing? Peeping out your windows at me?” He was totally embarrassing me on purpose. Concerned, my ass.
“Nope, it’s just pretty obvious that you don’t really do much other than sit out on that porch of yours and watch me and my dates every single night.”
“I do not!” I yelled defensively. It was pretty freaking hard not to notice. “Just because my eyes happen to wander over to your annoying, squealing little minions doesn’t mean that I willingly do it. It’s hard not to glance over when it sounds like there’s a hyena next door.”
I heard a few laughs from around us and noticed out of the corner of my eye that a crowd of sweaty men in their camouflage uniforms had gathered.
I didn’t dare let my gaze waver from his, though, because I knew if I did, I’d see that his uniformed sleeves were rolled up to his round biceps, and it would make my mouth go dry.
Once you saw a man as attractive as Luke wearing a uniform that only enhanced his already impressive muscles, you were doomed for life.
I scowled.
“You’re a pig! You have a different girl at your house every night. It’s disgusting.”
I stifled a laugh when I heard grunting and oinking from some of the younger Marines. Luke whipped his head in their direction and glowered, causing me to laugh out loud.
Luke’s gaze landed back on mine.
“Well, apparently women love it when I act like a pig. They certainly do while they’re in my bed…”
Then, he winked at me. My core went into flames. Goddammit . I clenched my teeth so hard that they might have cracked.
I felt a small flush creep up from my neck, and I retaliated. “Well, I have a date tonight anyway. So, thankfully, I won’t have to hear any of your snorting!”
I briefly heard JoJo whisper, “You have a date?” And then to Becky, “ Who does she have a date with?”
Becky answered, “Some really hot doctor,” just loud enough for Luke to hear. Thank you, Becky, for being on my side.
“Well, I can’t wait to meet him tonight!”
“What? You are not meeting my date!” I exclaimed as I placed my hands back on my slender waist.
“Yes, I am,” he said casually, but I heard the sharp tone lingering at the end.
I snarled, “No, you are not.”
“You get to meet all my dates, so it’s only fair that I get to meet yours.”
“I don’t meet your dates! Plus, I wouldn’t even want to. They’ve gotta be some type of crazy to be going out with you.”
The laughter from the group beside us got louder, and I smiled on the inside. That’s right, take that!
“I’ll see you later, Cammie.” He smiled the most conniving smile that I had ever seen in my life.
As soon as he was out of earshot, I looked over at JoJo’s furrowed brows.
“Get me a date tonight. I don’t care who; just get me a freaking date.”
I bit my lip and watched as Luke sauntered away toward his incredibly sleek car. The younger Marines trailed behind him like he was the freaking Pope.
“Whatever you say…” she said .
I craned my head back toward her.
“When I said ‘I don’t care who,’ I meant anyone but the caveman.”
JoJo laughed, and her eyes twinkled with mischief.
This ought to be interesting .