Chapter 11
Oz was dirty and tired, but very happy to be back in Texas. They’d been gone for eight days, and he’d never felt such an intense anticipation to get home as he did after this deployment.
Some of what he was feeling must’ve shown on his face, because Trigger nudged him with his shoulder and said, “It’s different, isn’t it?”
“What is?” Oz asked.
“Returning home when you know you’ve got someone waiting for you.”
“I’m not sure anyone is waiting for me,” Oz said.
“Liar,” Trigger said with a smile. “I saw the way you and Riley looked at each other when we were at Grover’s house. I’d say she’s probably going to be very glad to see you.”
Trigger wasn’t wrong. Oz tried to hide his smile, with no luck.
The phone in Trigger’s hand rang, and he was still grinning when he answered it. “Hey, Di, we just landed… Okay…all right…I’m sure it’s fine. I’ll tell him. See you soon. Love you.”
“Gillian okay?” Oz asked.
“She’s fine. But you should know…a few days ago, Logan went back to your apartment.”
“What?” Oz asked, panic rushing through him.
“Hang on, don’t freak. I don’t know all the details, but apparently Gillian called Riley and asked if she’d be all right staying with him at your place. She agreed, and Logan’s been taking his original bus to your place every day after school.”
All sorts of scenarios ran through Oz’s mind.
He had no problem with Riley staying at his apartment with Logan, but he wondered why the change?
Had Logan given Gillian problems? Was he sick?
All sorts of negative scenarios flew through his head.
And when he double checked his phone, he didn’t have any messages waiting from Riley, telling him what was going on.
He was definitely freaking.
“Go,” Trigger told him. “We’ll take care of things here. But we still need to have the after-action review tomorrow,” he warned.
Feeling grateful, Oz nodded at his friend and team leader. “I owe ya.”
“Whatever,” Trigger said. “But drive safely. You won’t do anyone any good driving like a bat out of hell and getting into an accident. Logan’s still at school right now, anyway. So go home, find out from Riley what’s going on, and for God’s sake…take a fucking shower. You stink.”
Oz waved at his friend, but a shower was the last thing he was worried about. He needed to get home. To make sure Logan was all right. And Riley too. All thoughts of the mission they’d just completed flew from his mind.
He didn’t remember the drive from the post to his apartment, except that it seemed to take too long.
He took the stairs two at a time as he ran up to the second floor.
It took three tries to get the key into his lock, and when the door finally swung open, he dropped his duffle bag on the floor and bellowed, “Riley!”
There was no answer, which worried him even more. In the back of his mind, he knew he had no reason to be so concerned, but the change in plans definitely bothered him.
He did a quick search of his apartment to make sure she wasn’t sleeping, only hesitating when he saw a bag on the floor of his bedroom that definitely hadn’t been there when he’d left.
The room smelled like honeysuckle, which again, it hadn’t a week ago.
It was a smell he associated with Riley.
He’d complimented her on the way she smelled a while back, and she’d told him it was her lotion, something called Aerin Mediterranean Honeysuckle.
He didn’t care what it was called; he just knew it would always remind him of her.
He turned and headed back for his door. He wrenched it open, prepared to go next door to find Riley, but stopped in his tracks when the woman he was desperately looking for was standing right in front of him.
He took hold of her shoulders and pulled her into his apartment.
“You’re back!” Riley said with a huge smile. “I heard you through the walls. When did you—”
Oz cut off her words with his lips. He devoured her as if he were dying of thirst, and she was a huge glass of water. And she didn’t resist. Riley opened her mouth and let him in, giving as good as she got.
Pulling away with a gasp, Oz held Riley by her shoulders and ran his eyes down her body. “Are you all right?”
“Of course I am. Are you?”
“Yes. Is Logan okay? Why did he leave Gillian’s? Is something wrong?”
“He’s good. I guess you already know that I’ve been staying here with him,” Riley said dryly.
Turning, Oz pulled Riley into his living room and set her down on the couch before speaking. “Trigger got a call from Gillian, but she didn’t tell him much. Only that Logan was back here with you. What happened?”
“Nothing major,” Riley said calmly. “Gillian didn’t think he was very comfortable at her house and thought he’d like it better being back here.
And she was right. This apartment might be new to him, but it’s home.
And with things being rough at school, it’s like a refuge.
I was happy to stay with him until you got home. ”
Oz breathed out a sigh of relief, then what she’d said penetrated. He sat on the couch next to her. “Things are rough at school? How? In what way?”
“I think you should talk to him about it,” Riley said after a moment’s hesitation.
Oz shook his head. “No. I need to know what he told you. I have no idea how to get him to trust me. I mean, I think on the surface he does, but I can tell he’s holding back.
And he obviously feels comfortable with you, if he was okay with you being here and he opened up about whatever’s going on at school.
Please, tell me so I can help him. I’m afraid if I have to wait for Logan to tell me, things will get worse. ”
Her face gentled. “He’s just not making friends like he should. I guess there’s a group of kids who are pretty mean, picking on him and some others, and he just feels lonely.”
Oz let out a deep breath. “But he’s not behind academically?”
“Not as far as I can tell. I’ve helped him with his homework and it doesn’t seem to be too difficult for him. I’m pretty sure it’s just the fact that he’s the new kid and the others aren’t that welcoming that’s frustrating him.”
“Right. I’ll see if I can get him to talk to me,” Oz said. Then he took Riley’s hands in his. “And you’re good? How’s the situation with Miles?”
Riley wrinkled her nose.
“That bad?” he asked.
She shrugged, and he knew she would downplay whatever it was Miles was doing now. “It’s okay. He still thinks I’m holding one of his games hostage.”
“Is he still texting?”
“Yeah.”
Oz ran his thumb over the back of her hand. “Thanks for looking after my nephew for me. I honestly never dreamed I’d dump so much on you that night I came over to ask what the hell I was supposed to feed him for breakfast.”
“He’s a great kid, Porter. And I like spending time with him.”
“So…you’ve been staying here. In my room?”
He watched as a blush bloomed across her cheeks. “I’m sorry. I hadn’t planned on it, but when Logan realized I was going to sleep on the couch, he questioned me about it. Didn’t understand why I didn’t just stay in your room.”
“I could smell you in there. Honeysuckle.”
Her blush deepened. “I brought my lotion over because my skin’s been really dry lately. Sorry.”
“Don’t be. I like it.” Then something else occurred to him. “You’ve been sleeping in my bed…”
She bit her lip and nodded.
“God, that’s such a turn-on,” he said quietly.
Riley’s big hazel eyes were fixed on his own, and he could see her breathing had sped up. He loved the thought of her there. In his space. Using his pillows. Her bare skin against his sheets. He felt his dick twitch in his pants, and his head began to lower.
She tilted her chin up to meet his lips when they heard someone at the door.
Riley backed away from him and looked toward the door. Oz turned his head in time to see Logan walk into the room. The relief at seeing his nephew smiling and in one piece was overwhelming. Oz leapt up from the couch and headed for Logan.
Without thought, he went down on a knee and hugged him tightly.
“You’re back,” Logan muttered into his shoulder.
“I am, Slugger. It’s so good to see you. I missed you!”
“You did?” Logan asked.
Oz pulled back. “Of course I did. I missed throwing the baseball around with you. Making dinner. Even working on those pesky word problems. Being here with you is much better than lying around in the dirt and eating MREs for dinner.”
Logan crinkled his nose. “You do smell pretty bad.”
Oz burst out laughing. He’d forgotten all about the fact that he hadn’t showered in days. He’d been so intent on getting to Riley and Logan that nothing else had penetrated.
“Sorry, Slugger. I was too impatient to get back here to check on you and Riley. How was school?”
He didn’t miss Logan’s subtle grimace before he said, “Fine.”
“Right. I’m thinking there’s some stuff we need to talk about.
I’m not mad that you wanted to come back here instead of staying with Gillian, but we should discuss it.
And I’m not getting happy vibes from you about school.
Not to say school is always fun, but it’s necessary so you can grow up and be smart and not a doofus. ”
Logan’s lips twitched, but Oz kept going.
“But for now, I’m just happy to be home and that you’re good. How about if I shower and then we go throw the ball around a bit? Then we can have some dinner before we chat about everything that happened while I was gone. Okay?”
“I’ll get my stuff packed and head back to my apartment. Get out of your way and let you have some uncle-nephew time,” Riley said, standing from the couch.
“No!”
Oz and Logan both said the word at the same time.
Oz grinned at his nephew before turning back to Riley. “Why don’t you come with us to the park? You can critique us. I’m sure you’ve been working hard this week. Why don’t Logan and I make you dinner tonight?”
“Like you haven’t been working hard,” Riley muttered. Then said louder, “I don’t know, you guys need some bonding time.”
“We’re good. Aren’t we, Logan?” Oz asked, hoping the kid would agree with him.
“Yeah, we’re good. Please, Riley? Stay?”
Oz knew she wouldn’t be able to resist that puppy-dog face, and he was right.
“Oh, all right, but only until after we eat.”
Standing, Oz smiled huge at her. He’d missed her too. Of course he’d missed his nephew, but not in the same way he’d missed Riley.
“I’ll go change and get my baseball stuff together,” Logan said as he dropped his backpack in the middle of the hallway and headed toward his room.
Oz shook his head but left the backpack where it was. Then he walked over to where Riley stood. He took her face in his hands. “Sorry I stink,” he said.
She chuckled. “It’s okay.”
“Tell me, did you shower here? Or wait until Logan had gone to school before going back to your apartment to get ready?”
He saw her swallow hard, and the blush that had faded from her cheeks returned.
“Here,” she admitted softly.
The thought of her being naked in his shower was erotic as hell. “Tell me you slept naked,” he pleaded.
Riley laughed. “No way in hell. Not with your nephew down the hall.”
“Darn,” Oz complained.
“You’re crazy,” she said, shoving him gently. “Go shower. You really do smell pretty bad.”
“So if I wanted to kiss you again, you’d tell me to go to hell?” he teased.
“No. But by the sounds coming from your nephew’s room, he’s about two seconds from coming back. He’s gonna be impatient to get to the park, so you’d better get your butt in gear.”
Oz loved this. Loved the teasing banter with Riley. He didn’t feel as if he had to watch every word he said with her. “Maybe I should get you just as stinky as me, then you wouldn’t mind that I haven’t showered in days.”
“I don’t mind it now,” she admitted. “It means that you were out there in the world doing what you could to make it a safer place. I admire what you do, Porter. It makes me proud to know you.”
Even not knowing what the hell he’d been doing, or where, she was still proud of him. That made Oz more determined than ever to keep her.
He kissed her, making sure not to touch her with any part of his dirty black cargo pants and uniform top.
He glanced at the hallway, not seeing Logan, and felt safe enough to nuzzle her ear and say, “I’m gonna go shower, and imagine you being in there, wet and slick with my soap.
Then I’m gonna jerk off to get rid of this hard-on I can’t seem to lose since coming home to you.
I want you, Riley. Whenever you’re ready, though. No pressure.”
Then she blew his mind by pulling back so she could meet his eyes, and saying, “I want you too, Porter. And turnabout is fair play.”
Oz frowned. “What?”
“You masturbating in the shower. It’s only fair…since I’ve been doing the same thing in your bed.”
Oz almost choked. The thought of her getting herself off in his bed was enough to make him reach down to grab hold of her hand.
He’d taken two steps with Riley in tow, his only thought to pull her into the shower and take her the way he’d been dreaming of for weeks, but Logan appeared in the hallway, blocking them.
“Got my stuff!” he announced. Then frowned. “You’re supposed to be in the shower,” he accused. “It’ll be dark if you take too much longer!”
Oz heard Riley giggle behind him, and she dropped his hand. He felt her pat his arm. “Go on, He-Man, we’ll be waiting right here.”
“Later,” he warned her in a low, husky voice.
“Can’t wait,” she admitted.
As much as he didn’t want to leave her, he walked past Logan and ruffled his hair. “I won’t take too long,” he told his nephew. “Why don’t you pick your backpack up off the floor and maybe start on homework while you’re waiting. That way, you don’t have to do it later.”
“All right,” Logan said in a tone that revealed he wasn’t too happy to do any kind of schoolwork right then, but he wasn’t about to disobey either.
Oz looked at Riley and felt his cock twitch. It was definitely time to get in the shower. But he consoled himself with the thought that soon, he’d have her in his bed—while he was there too. He couldn’t wait.