Chapter 9
SANTIAGO
Today had gone seriously sideways. It wasn’t the first time I’d taken on a male cadet for hitting on a female, but it was the first time I’d let it go that far. In the past, I’d stopped them before they’d actually quit.
As I shook my head at myself for the umpteenth time since it had happened, I decided to shut it down for the day. It was late and I’d been raking myself over the coals mentally for hours. What was done was done, and to be fair, I had warned them.
More than that, those guys I’d had to teach a lesson to in the past hadn’t gone quite as far as Bruce had. It was one thing to hit on a fellow cadet, it was another to call them a cock warmer and tell them that their only future if they made it through was to be a barracks bunny.
I hadn’t even heard that term used in reference to a coast guard employee before, but that didn’t matter. We’d all known what he meant and it’d been beyond demeaning.
Diane, a Chief Petty Officer who had come up just after me, had even stopped by my office earlier today to congratulate me for what I’d done. It wasn’t that I was feeling guilty about it, but I was uncertain about my motivation for it.
As much as I wouldn’t have let him talk about any woman that way, in this particular instance, the fact that he’d been saying it to Layla Perkins had made me see red. She was worth ten of that asshole.
Whatever it had been, I reached out and turned off the computer in my office. I needed to get some sleep, or I was going to be as useless tomorrow morning as they were.
As I walked outside, however, a flash of movement at the wall caught my attention again, and I frowned as I looked around, but there was no one out here to send to get whoever it was back to their bunk.
Sighing as I realized I was going to have to do it myself this time, I slid my thumbs into my pockets and walked over.
Fuck my life. Does it really have to be her? Again?
“Perkins,” I said just as she huffed out a frustrated breath. “What are you doing out here so late?”
Instead of being the dick I had been to her so far, the question was sincere this time.
Her eyes widened as she spun around, her ponytail messy from having been at it for so long.
Tendrils of hair had escaped from the tie and framed her gorgeous, heart-shaped face, and not even the sheen of sweat on her brow was putting me off right now.
“I’m going to make it over this wall,” she said, her voice quiet but determined. Her eyes were bright too, instead of being as bleary as I’d have expected them to be. “Is it against the rules to be out here at this time of night?”
I shook my head, even allowing a tiny grin to touch just the very corners of my lips. “It’s not against the rules, but it is against common sense. You do realize that you’ve only got about seven hours to sleep, get ready, and meet me out here again, don’t you?”
“I do.” Her gaze locked on mine, those green eyes turning soft for the first time ever when they were focused on me. “Thank you for what you did in the mess hall today. I had it under control, but I appreciate you standing up for me like that.”
Fuck, so she knows I did it for her. I didn’t want to acknowledge that part of what she’d said, though. I’d be toeing a fine line if she found out I really had done it for her, and I’d literally just made someone quit for crossing said line.
I couldn’t very well go doing it myself just a few hours later. In an effort to avoid the obvious, I motioned at the wall. “You’ve got weeks left to master it. There’s no reason to work yourself to death trying to get there tonight.”
Her shoulders slumped, but her eyes remained steady on mine. “I plan on working on it every spare minute I’ve got until I can do it every time I try. I will not let this thing beat me. I can’t.”
“With that attitude, it won’t beat you, but you need to get your rest. If you don’t, it might not even end up being this that defeats you. It’ll be something small that you would otherwise have been able to do.”
To my surprise, a small smile touched the very corners of her lips in turn. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you care about whether I make it or not. Of course, I do know better, so I’m not saying it, but you don’t have to worry about me. As long as I get about four hours of sleep, I’m good.”
I waved a hand in the vague direction of the city. “Maybe that’s true out there, but here? Here, you should try to get at least six.”
I didn’t bother telling her that I’d always only needed four myself. She lifted a pointed eyebrow at me, though, like she knew it even if I hadn’t said it. “Well, thankfully, you just told me that I still have about seven left, so I’m still good.”
“It’s just a wall,” I said, once again trying to sound nonchalant about it. “There’s more than enough time left during daylight hours to work on it. Take it from me, cadet. You don’t want to burn out on this so soon after we started.”
“I won’t,” she promised almost sweetly, then turned back to the wall. “I’ll just do a few more minutes for tonight, and then I’ll head back to my bunk.”
“Okay,” I agreed, raising my hands as I started backing away from her. “Just see to it that you’re not dead on your feet in the morning. I’m not going to take it easy on you if you’re a zombie just because I know why you stayed up so late.”
“I know. It’s not just a wall to me, though. It’s a challenge and it’s one that’s standing between me and making my dreams come true. I refuse to let it win.”
“Admirable,” I said. “Na?ve but admirable. Get back to your bunk, Perkins. I’ll see you at oh-four-hundred.”
“See you then, sir.”
As I finally turned and walked away, I was not ignorant to the fact that hearing her call me sir in that sweet tone of voice had made my dick wake up. It was absolutely ridiculous. People had been calling me that for years now, and it’d never had that kind of effect on me before.
It simply was what people called me, but with her? In this moment? It was a damned good thing that I’d already been turning to leave her alone to work on that wall. If not, there was every chance that I might’ve pushed her up against it instead of trying to help her get over it.
Only if she wanted me to, of course, but I couldn’t find out if she did. God forbid, I find out that she’d enjoy it as much as I did.
My fingers curled into fists at my sides as I turned the corner. I really needed to get over this silly little infatuation I had with Ron’s daughter. It didn’t matter if everything about her got under my skin in a way no one else ever had before.
I’d probably just been on the Station for too long. I needed to get out. To get off. To go grab a beer with Neil and do whatever it took to get little Perkins off my mind. I didn’t know when I was going to get a chance to do any of that, but I needed to make time—and I needed to do it soon.
Before I screwed up my entire damn life just because of my inability to stop thinking about Layla Perkins, her curves, and her mind.
Yeah, I really need to get out. Soon. Before I do something we’re both going to regret for the rest of our lives, like find out if her lips are really as sweet as I think they are.