Chapter 10
Hearing from Link brought a smile to Ansley’s face. He’d texted back. Less than twenty-four hours, well, maybe a little more than twenty-four hours after she sent the text, but he’d replied. That had to mean something.
It would take a month for her to leave. The military had taught her to be patient. Waiting to see Link wouldn't kill her. She would get through the wait and learn it had been worth it, even if they just ended up friends.
A few hours after he’d sent the first text back, he sent one asking if she wanted to arrange a time to chat on the phone. She’d replied fast, telling him she would like that.
They arranged to chat on Saturday afternoon. That would give her plenty of time to go grocery shopping in the morning and clean her apartment.
Friday dragged past, and she had a hard time getting to sleep that night. She kept thinking about Link, wondering if she was putting too much into him.
Her alarm rang way too early on Saturday morning, and she thought about hitting snooze, but then she remembered she would be talking to Link in the afternoon. That lit a fire under her.
She was still moving slowly, but moved as fast as she could manage to the bathroom and showered. Getting clean had felt so good, especially washing her hair after spending so long without the ability to shower.
After getting back to California, she'd started working out, just not hard. She should work out this morning, but she didn't want to be late for her call with Link, so she skipped it, vowing to work out before she went to bed.
The trip to the grocery store took longer than she wanted, but she was home long before noon.
She put away the groceries and cleaned her apartment.
Before the time for Link to call, her place looked good and uncluttered.
She'd planned on throwing away some stuff before she moved.
Since she wanted her place to look good if they did a video call, she'd gone ahead and tossed a few items she didn't want to move with her.
When her phone rang, her heart rate picked up. She was excited that Link called when he said he would. She had to remind herself they were just friends.
“Hello,” Link said when she answered.
His voice sounded good, and she had to bite back a moan. “Hey. It’s good to hear your voice.”
He made a noise that sounded like maybe he was smiling. She hoped he wanted to take this to video.
“I’m glad you’re safe and at home.”
“Thank you. You and your buddies saved my ass.”
“Too bad we couldn’t save everyone. I’m so sorry you lost so many people.”
She nodded. "Yeah, that was a bummer. Two of them had spouses. I went and talked to them. It was hard. They're angry that their spouses died, and so many of the single people lived."
Link grunted. "I get that. I've lost friends, and sometimes their spouses are okay with everything, other times they are just mad at the people who lived. People dying in war isn't easy to understand or easy to accept."
“No, it’s hard to accept. I’m seeing a therapist, and it helps, but even with that, I’m not really accepting it.”
“I’ve read the reports, and it doesn’t look like you all did anything wrong.”
His words surprised her. “You got the reports?”
He let go of a heavy breath. "We do a breakdown on all of our missions.
It allows us to adapt. It's why we started leaving small drawings in dirt or on buildings to let our teammates know where to look for us.
Going through everything from the moment the mission starts, which is long before we arrive, until we leave, is paramount to future success. "
“That makes sense. I know some of the Recon forces do breakdowns. Our unit does to an extent. But it’s nothing like what you’re talking about.”
“So your CO was okay with you leaving?”
"She knew I was going to leave. We just ended up being stuck in the country longer than we'd expected, and then we were captured the day before we were set to head home.
I should have been home a long time ago, but things happened, and we were stuck there.
Now I'm home, and I'm glad it's almost over. "
“I bet. That kind of sucks that you all ended up captured right before you were set to leave.”
"It does. I should have given up my apartment, but it was only supposed to be three months overseas. We were covering for a group that lost ten members. It was one of those last-minute things."
“Wow, that really sucks. So you all shouldn’t have even been over there.”
"Nope, I was supposed to be in California, but we ended up over there and everything went to shit."
“I’m sorry you all went through that.”
She shrugged, though he couldn't see her. "It's military life."
“Yeah.”
“Have you ever found yourself in a situation like that?”
Link blew out a breath and shook his head. “Yeah. I was captured and held hostage for a few days. The torture was brutal. I was able to escape.”
"Wow. That's awful and terrible, but I'm impressed you escaped."
His chuckle sounded hollow to his own ears. He didn’t want to talk about that mission, not right now. It had been rough. He’d almost not made it home.
“So when you stay here, I’m thinking about taking two, maybe three weeks off.”
“Is that to spend time with me?”
“Yeah, are you good with that?”
“I am. I think it would be nice to get to know you.”
“We could hang out here for a few days, then head to the condo at the beach.”
“That would be good.”
"Just so you don't think I'm being sneaky or sketchy, the condo has one real bedroom and a loft. I'll sleep up in the loft."
“Oh.”
“Is that okay?”
She didn't say anything for a few seconds. He wanted to see her as they talked, so he could gauge her reaction and she could see his.
“How about we hop over to video?” he suggested.
"Sure," Ansley said. "Give me a second to transfer to my laptop, then onto FaceTime."
“Same for me.”
It took them about thirty seconds to set everything up, and when her image came through, he sighed. She was prettier than he remembered. Of course, she had washed her hair, and the bruises and cuts on her face had almost fully healed.
“You look good.”
Her smile widened, and he swore she blushed. Maybe it was just the video, but he was sure her cheeks were pinker.
“Same to you.”
“So, are you okay with me sleeping in the loft?”
She shrugged. “I know this is weird. It seems like we’re skirting around the real talk here.”
He nodded. "True. Let's get real. I think you're sexy and I want to get to know you better, not just to be friends, but for more."
“Okay, there you go. That’s what I’m talking about.”
“So what about you?”
"I think you're very good-looking. I'd be lying to say I wasn't thinking about kissing you. But you're right, we don't know each other and we shouldn't hop into bed as soon as I get there."
Her words warmed him, and his cock filled out a little at the idea of sleeping with her. He was glad he was sitting at his desk and not with his shorts in view where she could see his cock getting harder.
“Good. We’re on the same page. I want to get to know you. We can chat on the weekends, and text to get to know each other a little better before you come here, but still, we need to spend time together.”
Her smile warmed him. “I’m glad you don’t just want to hop into bed,” Ansley said.
His chuckle was deep and maybe a little dark.
“I mean, I’m a guy and I do want to hop into bed.
But I know that type of relationship won’t lead where we want it to go.
I could go out to a bar and pick someone up to fuck, but I’m tired of that.
I want more than meaningless sex. I want something real with someone stable. ”
Her eyebrows shot up. “You think I’m stable?”
This time, his laughter was lighter. "Well, you are a Marine."
She threw back her head, laughter spilling out. It felt good talking to her. She got his humor, and he got hers.
They talked about basic training, the shock they went through, and their first assignments out of basic. Because she spoke languages other than English, she'd been moved to counter terrorism. That's why she'd gone into a more dangerous area, because she was a translator.
“So how many languages do you speak?” Link asked.
“Speak conversationally, I’d say four. But I know enough of seven languages to be useful for the military.”
“What do you think you’ll do for a job after you’re out?”
"No clue. For now, I've signed up to teach English online. It will be enough to get me by for a while. I'll have to come up with something more after the first year, but I'm set for a while."
“That’s good.”
They ended their call with promises of talking next Saturday. On Sunday, he wanted to call her again, but he didn't want to be too clingy. If this relationship happened, it would have to develop naturally.