Finding Solace (35 page)

 
"What
are you doing here?" came out of my mouth before I could think of
something better to say.

 
"I
could ask you the same thing?" He still looked in disbelief.

 
"This
is my house, your turn."

 
"This
is your house?"

 
"I just
said that. I don't mean to be rude but why are you here?"

 
Just then
Kaleb came up the steps and took in the situation. Then he walked over and
said, "So you found it okay?"

 
We both just
stood there staring at each other. Not saying a word.

 
"Sadie,
do you remember Ash Williams from school? He just got out of the Navy
yesterday. I hope you don't mind, but I told him if nobody answered the door,
it was probably because we couldn't hear it from downstairs.
So
to just walk in."

 
Say what?
The Navy.
I met up with this guy a little over a year ago.
He wasn't in the Navy. He sold stocks and trades. What the hell is going on?

 
"No, I
don't mind and yes, I remember him, but not so much from high school. He and I
saw each other up at ‘51’ last year. Right, Ash?"

 
"So you
live here?"

 
He avoided
my question like he couldn’t get past the first part. I was lost with it all
too. Kaleb saved the day by answering for me.

 
"Yes,
this is her place. We’re all down stairs. Why don't you come down and say
hi." Ash followed Kaleb down the steps while I walked over to my couch and
plopped down. What the hell! My life couldn’t possibly get any more confusing.
I must have sat there awhile because the next thing I knew, Lindsey was asking
me why I wasn’t with everybody else.

 
"Oh I'm
sorry. I just had to think about something. It’s okay. Let’s go."

 
I took her
hand and led her back down.

 
When we
reached the bottom, my eyes immediately found Ash. God was he HOT! I had
thought of him from time to time. You know those chance encounters that stay
with you and turn into what would have happened if this were different or that?
He didn’t look up, but I knew he was fighting it. The chemistry between us
never left. The second I saw him in my house, it hit me. The last thing I
remember is him helping me into a cab and saying he would give me a call. I
would like to say I had been waiting on that one but to be truthful, I
completely forgot. I walked over to the table and grabbed the chocolate vodka.
I poured it into a cup instead of a shot glass. This was going to be a long
night.

 
Ash was
talking to Jeremy and Jameson about the Navy. He apparently worked on an air
craft carrier. That sounded pretty exciting, but he didn’t sound too excited
when he was talking about it, so I guess it wasn’t. I was sick of standing in
one spot eavesdropping on his conversation, so I went upstairs to use the
bathroom. When I got there and closed the door, I started to freak. All of the
memories were coming back to me. I practically had sex with him on the dance
floor of ‘51’, twice! "I can do this" kept going over and over in my
head. I finally managed to pull myself together and opened the door to get back
to my friends, when I ran smack into Ash, again! The eight
pack
was still there. Yep. I counted again. You would too.

 
"Sorry
about that. Excuse me." I never looked up and he never moved. So my hands
never left his stomach. Which was starting to stir something in my girly parts,
if you know what I mean? I switched to walk around him but he moved as well. We
danced like this until I was willing to look at him. When I finally did he
said, "I'm sorry about the way I acted when I got here. It was just crazy
to get to see you again."

 
"Yeah, uh, me too."

 
"You’re
looking good, Sadie.
Real good."
He said it as he
stepped back far enough to take me in from head to toe. Chills erupted,
covering my body. How can he make me feel like this in a matter of seconds? I
finally stepped around him and went to the fridge for a beer. As I reached in
to grab one, I heard him take in a breath and then he followed that by saying,
"The view isn’t too bad from this angle either."
That
comment made me want
to either stay right where I was or drag him up to
my room. Neither was going to happen, so I just stood up, didn't acknowledge it
and asked if he wanted one also.

 
"If it
means you get to bend over like that again, then yes, I'm very thirsty."

 
"Nice
try, Jack, now you can get it yourself."

 
He walked
over to me and lifted my chin to look in his eyes. "My name is Ash, not
Jack. I would tell you that you will be screaming it later, but I'm not that
kind of guy." That’s it. My panties just melted.

 
"So
you’re not the kind of guy that can make a girl scream your name or..." He
grabbed my face to kiss me. I just knew that was what was coming but Nicole
came up the stairs and Ash immediately pulled back. "To be continued"
is all he said and then walked back down the stairs. I smiled at Nicole but
once she walked into that bathroom, my ass was up the stairs changing my
panties.

 
When the
party started to die down, I was drunk. I didn’t want to get too wasted. I
wanted to have a night with Ash that I would remember. And I really was looking
forward to tonight with him. We had been trading glances all night. So when he
offered to stay and help me clean up, I was jumping up and down clapping my
hands inside. I said goodbye to everyone and thanked them for coming over.
Kaleb seemed to be the only one who acted like he thought it was strange that
Ash would stay. But then again, he is the only one I told I was seeing someone,
and then Colt came and picked me up that one time. Is it wrong what I was
doing? I looked over at Ash and thought, nope, nothing about this man was
wrong. We finished picking up and sat down on the couch. Both of us were tired.
I had so many questions I wanted answers to.

 
"So
when did you go in the Navy and why are you home already if you enlisted. Don't
you have to be there for four years or something?"

 
"That
is a lot to answer. Well first, I joined right after I last saw you. I pretty
much hated my job and decided it was time for a change. I went into the Navy
branch because I wanted to be an on carrier fire fighter. They had me take all
the tests and I passed with flying colors. After boot camp in Chicago, I went
to what they call ‘A’ school in Memphis. Then they stationed me in San Diego,
California. That's when everything went to hell. They fucked up my paper work
somehow and had me assist in the launch of air crafts. I kept talking to my
superiors and they kept telling me it would get straightened out. It didn't.
Well not until a few days ago when they told me it was all fixed but I would
have to start my time over. I had already been in over a year. I didn't want to
do that, so when they offered me an out with an honorable discharge, I jumped
at it. They told me I could be home by my birthday which is today by the way.
So here I am. Are you asleep because I know that story could put you there?”

 
"Not,
at all. Don't get me wrong, you’re very long winded but it was interesting. Is
today really your birthday and you’re just now telling me this, why?"

 
"Now
who's long winded? Yes, it’s today. I'm 25."

 
"Well
then, happy birthday, stud."

 
"Thanks.
You’re pretty hot there yourself."

 
"So
what do you plan to do now? I mean, if the Navy is out, then what now?"

 
"I
don't know. If I stick with what I really wanted to do in the first place, I'm
going into the fire academy. It doesn't pay that well, but it would be
something I love."

 
"Then I
totally think you should do it."

 
"What
about you? What have you been up to all this time?"

 
"How
much time have you got? No, I'm just kidding. I have work and friends. That keeps
me pretty busy."

 
"Still
hanging out at ‘51’?
Because my stalker nature was going to
take me there tomorrow night to see if I could run into you again."

 
"Seriously?"

 
"No.
Come on now. Do I look like I need to stalk a girl to get her to go out with
me?"

 
"I
don't know. You were doing a pretty good job of it up at the bar with me."

 
He grabbed
me and tickled me until I needed him to stop. He let up, but by this time we
were in a position that could lead to something else; which I wanted so badly.
So when he sat back up, I sighed.

 
"What
was that sigh for?" Did he just call me out?

 
"What
are you taking about?"

 
"Really,
Sadie, do you think I'm that easy? I told you, I'm not that guy."

 
Well, that's
a bummer. Mood kills in over drive.

 
"What
kind of guy are you?"

 
"The
kind you will never forget." He stood up and walked to the door.
"Unless your number has changed, I still have it. Can I call you
tomorrow?"

 
I was
floored. He really was leaving.

 
"Yeah,
it’s the same number."

 
"You
didn't answer about the call."

 
"I'm
not that kind of girl."

 
"And
what kind would that be?"

 
"The
kind you don't have to work for."

 
"Oh, I
plan to work.
Harder than you can possibly imagine.
You'll just have to wait and see." With that, he opened the door and
walked out. I threw myself back on to the couch. Did that really just happen?
Just then a text came through my phone. I got up to look at it. It was from a
number I didn't recognize. But I knew exactly who it was from when I read,

 
GET READY
FOR ME.BECAUSE I'M GOING TO HAVE U. BY THE WAY, LOVED SEEING U
THROW
YOURSELF ON THE COUCH. U
DO
HAVE A WINDOW RIGHT THERE. NO STALKER HERE.

 
GOOD NIGHT
SADIE AND DREAM OF ME. I PROMISE U WILL BE THE SPOT LIGHT IN MINE

CHAPTER
34

 
I
thought I would have heard from Colt by now. It had been three days since he
left. The only thing I got was this morning and it just said WILL DO. I'm
getting so tired of this ignore-Sadie-while-I’m-out-of-town thing. I do not
expect much. Texting is pretty easy to do
now a days
. I
drove over to Tony’s instead of sulking. He answered his door with his usual
smile and hug.

 
"What
brings you by, girly?"

 
"I was
bored and wanted to spend some time with you. Is it a bad time?"

 
"Not at all.
I was just getting some stuff together for
a case I’m working on. How was your little get together last night? Go
okay?"

 
"It
went great. But something crazy happened. Do you remember me telling you
anything about a guy named Ash from up at ‘51’?"

 
"That's
the only guy you have made out with besides me, since Colt came along,
right?"

 
"Right.
Well he showed up last night."

 
"Where?
Your house?"

 
"Mutual
friends got him there, but yeah. Isn't that crazy?"

 
"Did
you guys hook up again?"

 
"Nope.
He wouldn’t let it happen. Something about being
the kind of guy I wouldn't forget or he needed to work for it or some crazy
talk."

 
"Sounds
like my kind of guy."

 
"You
fucked me the first chance you got. Don't ‘my kind of guy’ me."

 
"And
look where it got me, the friend’s zone. Not that I want to go there again, but
you see my point. Men and women are not all that different. Losing respect can
happen fast if it is given away too quickly. It needs to be earned by both
sides. We already had that. That's why we are okay."

 
"I get
it. So it probably doesn't help my cause that I was practically drooling all
over him and at one point needed to change my panties?"