Fraternizing (21 page)

He caught my face
in his
hands,
gently smiling before saying,
"don't lie to me, Blondie. There are questions swirling around in there. Ask
them."

I cleared my
throat and smiled, feeling like a chastised child for a second.

"I just
noticed your tattoo."

He let go of my
face, still turned and watching me.

"My
cross?"

"Yes. Who
are the names of those people?"

"Well,
Guadalupe es mi abuela." He stopped and smiled at me. "Or, my
grandma."

"I know what
that means," I responded, laughing at him.

"That's
right. You're from Arizona. You should know some Spanish."

I lowered my eyes
at him.

"How did you
know I was from Arizona?"

"Do you
really have to ask that?" He winked at me again. "Imelda is my mom.
And Adriana is my sister."

I noticed an
accent in the pronunciation of their names. It was cute and added a bit more
sex appeal to him if that were even possible.

"They mean a
lot to you."

The statement
came out more like a question. A large smile spread across his face, clearly
giving me his answer.

"What about
that part you had covered?"

His smile quickly
faded. He took a deep breath, looking down at his plate before answering.

"That was my
ex-wife, Evelyn."

His dark demeanor
halted my questions. I could tell she wasn't a source of pride for him like the
other women occupying areas of the cross, so I let
it go, not
wanting
to sour our meal.

"Hey. Sorry
to go there."

"Nothing to
be sorry about." He picked up his fork and went back to work on his food. "Eat
up. I've got round three to conquer."

"Round
three?" I questioned, instantly feeling the tenderness of my very swollen
area. "I think she's worn out."

"No such thing.
Like anything else with physical activity, she just needs to be properly
conditioned, and I am volunteering to be her trainer. Eat up. You need
energy."

He went right
back to shoving food in his mouth. His words tickled my clit, knowing that he
was serious.

Riley came
bursting through the door, a goofy smile spread across his face. He looked at
me and nodded his head, making me feel at ease. Even though he was an
instructor, and this was probably a bit odd for him, I liked him. I saw the
devotion he had towards Alex, and it put a slight smile on my face.

"Hey,
Cassie." Riley's voice was so casual this time, no awkwardness to be
found, almost as if we were long-time friends.

"Hi, Sgt.
Riley," I responded, not sure how I should address him.

"Just Riley,
Blondie," Alex threw in, rubbing my thigh as he turned his attention to
him.

"What's up,
man?"

"It didn't
take long. I found some shit. You want to come take a look at this?"

He held some
papers up in his hand, putting a smile on Alex's face.

"We'll be
right back," Alex said, quickly moving away from the island.

They walked into
a back room and shut the door. I sat at the island, continuing to eat and
pondering what was on those papers that had him so excited.
 

I stood and
cleared my plate, washing it off and placing it in the dish rack. I stared out
the kitchen window into the backyard, looking at a lush green lawn in the
middle of two patios covered by awnings. There were horseshoes in the grass,
making me smile as I pictured this being the party, hang out house on the guys'
free time. Three single guys living in one house; there was no doubt in my mind
that this was where the fun was had.

Just as I was
turning around to clear the remnants of our meal from the island, I heard keys
jingling at the front door. I quickly turned and took a few steps toward Alex's
room when the door opened, leaving me out in the open for whoever was making
their way in.

Chapter 13

Alex

"Pfc. Bennett, what are you doing here?"

Fuck! What the
hell was Smith doing at my house? I jetted out of the back room, leaving Riley
sitting there with his eyes damn near dangling out of his head. When I reached
the front area, I found Cassie standing there, looking like a deer caught in
headlights. Smith stood staring at her in confusion, obviously unaware of what
a student would be doing at her instructor's home on a Saturday afternoon. I
needed to fix this shit, and fix it right now.

"Hey, man. What
are you doing here?"

Smith's confusion
laced eyes shifted to me. I needed to stay cool.

"Jensen
asked me to come here and grab some stuff for him since I'm headed down to Palm
Springs tonight."

His eyes quickly
swept back over to Cassie. She stood statuesque, tiny swallows making their way
down her throat. Her nerves were fried. I could see the evidence of it piercing
through her sparkling green eyes.

"What is
Pfc. Bennett doing here?"

I wasn't about to
lie to him, so I came right out and said it.

"She's here
with me."

His mouth just
about hit the floor as his eyes bulged from their sockets. To say he was in
shock would be an understatement.

"What the
fuck, man? Do you know how much shit you could land yourself in?"

He walked over to
me, placing his hand on my shoulder and looking over to Cassie.

"Your
promotion, Alex. What the fuck, dude?" The elevated tone of his voice
eerily put me at ease. He was concerned for me, and where there was concern,
there was loyalty.

"Caleb, calm
down. I'm well aware of the repercussions."

"Then
why?"

His eyes flashed
between Cassie and me, then to Riley who was slowly making his way out of the
back room.

"You knew
about this, Riley? What the fuck?"

"Hey, man. I
just found out about it today," Riley said, looking very defensive.

I coasted over to
Cassie, who still looked a bit shell shocked, if not completely frazzled. Putting
my arm around her, I calmly said, "Riley just found out and I already know
what could happen to me. That's why I'm being very careful."

"Careful?"
Smith shouted. "You call this careful? Having a fucking student in your
house where fellow instructors live. Does Jensen know about this too?"

"Not
really," I growled, growing more annoyed with him and all of his
questions. "He thought something was up, but I shut him down."

"Well, does
Newsome fucking know?" he mumbled, finally setting me off.

I turned to
Cassie and whispered in her
ear,
"Go into the
room while I handle this."

She looked at me
with reluctance, but I didn't want her here when things got bad as I felt they
were about to do.

"Go."

She turned and
walked away. I waited until I heard the click of the door before I went to work
on Smith.

"Look, man. This
shit wasn't meant to happen. I didn't go in search of a student to start
fucking. I met her at Coyotes that night and had no fucking clue who she was
until Monday morning during formation."

"Then what? You
just decided that since you'd already started something you'd go ahead and
finish it?" He stopped for a second, the wheels whirling around in his
head. "Wait. This is why you asked me about Pfc. Dalton, isn't it? You
wanted to get your competition out of the way."

"Caleb."
My stern, baritone voice bellowed out.

"What? You've
either lost your mind, or you've gone fucking stupid."

"You better
watch yourself, Caleb," I warned. I was beginning to feel like a wild
animal backed into corner, and there was no telling what I was capable of if
pushed too far.

"I think
it's the other way around, Alex. Now you've pulled the rest of us into this
mess, over what? Pussy? You can get pussy from anywhere. Why a goddamned
student?"

"First of
all, I didn't pull you into shit," I roared, my eyes zeroing in on him,
the veins throbbing in my neck as I took slow, deliberate steps in his
direction. "Secondly, she isn't just pussy, so you better watch how the
fuck you refer to her. Believe me, I've gone over this shit in my own mind,
wondering if it was even worth it, and every time I convinced myself it wasn't,
something would come flying back, telling me it was."

"So you're
willing to take the rest of us down with you?"

"I'm not
doing shit with you. I didn't pull you into this. You, unfortunately, walked in
on it. So now you can either stand with me, or against me."

He looked me
over, occasionally taking glances at Riley who stood stoic, not flinching or
making a sound. I could see the wheels of debate turning in his head
,
 
the
last thing
I ever wanted to do was get these guys mangled up in it, thus putting their own
careers on the line. But now that I was knee deep, I needed them to hold me, to
make sure that my dirty fucking secret remained a secret until I could let it
be out in the open.

Smith blew out a
slow, deep breath. Running his hands over the back of his head, he finally
said, "Fuck, man. You know I'm always
gonna
support you. I just wish it didn't have to be in fucking secret."

I discreetly blew
out the breath holed up in me.

"Who the
fuck you telling, man?" I finally allowed a smile to creep across my face.
"But, you can't say shit to Jensen. So far, I don't think he'll back
me."

He nodded
briefly.

I pulled him into
a guy hug, patting him on the back, then looked over at Riley.

"I have
enough fucking problems at the moment, and this guy here," I said,
motioning towards Riley, "is helping me out. The last thing I need is for
you guys to blow the lid off of this for me."

"You've got
my word, man," Smith sternly replied. I'd known him long enough to know
that his word was everything. If he said he would back me, he would definitely
back me.

"Alright. Better
hurry up and get Jensen's shit. I better get back there to Cassie. She's
probably scared shitless right now."

"Cassie,
huh?” Smith asked, shaking his head and laughing slightly. “Well, I'm sorry if
I scared the living fuck out of her. I was not expecting to see her hot ass
standing in your house."

"Watch it,
asshole," I jokingly warned. "That's my hot piece of ass you're
talking about." He held up his hands in a mocking show of defense.
"Have fun in Palm Springs. Riley, I'll get back to you in a minute."

I turned away
from them and quickly made my way back to my room. When I opened the door,
Cassie was lying face up on my bed, holding the broken boot bands in her hands,
worry engrained in her.

"Hey. You
okay?"

She sat up in the
bed; her eyes looked like tears would erupt from them at any moment.

"Not really.
But I'm more worried about you."

"Don't worry
about me. I'm fine."

I sat down on the
bed next to her, my hands instinctively making their way up to her face, gently
moving her hair behind her ear.

"Smith isn't
going to say anything. He's on our side too."

"How do you
know that?" Her voice grew weak and shaky, splintering my heart with every
sound she made.

"Because I
know my boys. Right now, the only ones I know aren't with us are Newsome, but
he doesn't know." I paused for a second. "And Jensen."

"I know. It's
Jensen I'm worried about."

Her response made
my blood boil.

"Why? What
has he said to you?"

"He hasn't
said anything to me directly. I just see the looks he gives me, like he hates
me."

"He doesn't
hate you. He just sees you as a student, and he is too fucking fixated on what
the Marine Corps says. He forgets sometimes that we're human, and our thoughts
don't always line up with what the Corps says-- I've been guilty of that too,
up until now."

"I never
planned on this. I never wanted to ruin anything for anyone--"

"And you
aren’t. Stop that shit. I put myself exactly where I am. If anything, I could
possibly be hurting you."

"No, you
aren't. I wanted this too."

"Then that's
it."

"What's
it?"

"This. You
and me." She stared at me in amazement. "Look, the Corps is designed
so that we can't work. And up until a week or so ago, I backed it
wholeheartedly. But I see shit now. The rose colored glasses are off."

"But you
love the Marine Corps. It's who you are."

"I still
love it. It's made me who I am, but with the rules comes the ability to learn
to lead, and learning to lead means being able to think for yourself."

I needed her
closer to me in that moment, so I pulled her to me, moving her to sit on my
lap.

"Me and you,
what we have, what we're doing, is a crime. But I want you. I chose you. And
I'm ready to jump off this fucking bridge if you're ready to jump with
me."

Her little nose
wrinkled as she laughed— the first
soul soothing
laugh I had heard from her in what felt like forever.

"Now, take
these clothes off. You've just given me the fucking erection from hell."

She made quick
work of her clothes, needing the physical closeness just as badly as I did.

I sat on the bed
in my same spot, taking in the show as she swiveled her hips to get out of her
shorts. I twirled my finger before me, signaling for her to turn around. Her
ass was a sight for sore eyes, and I reached out for her, running my hands over
it as my dick sprung to life, eager to have her full and undivided attention. I
roughly grabbed her, bringing her down on my awaiting cock that was damn near
stabbing through my shorts.

"What are
you going to do about those shorts?"

My eyebrows
twitched in amusement.