Fraternizing (8 page)

I took another
long gulp of the water in my hands, trying to squelch the flames in my body
that had nothing to do with the heat from the rising sun. When the world
finally stopped spinning around me, I focused, only long enough to find Sgt.
Castillo's gaze fixed on me, a deep scowl accompanying it. She didn't turn away
when my eyes landed on hers, and neither did I. For what seemed like a long
couple of minutes we stood, in the middle of a field, glaring at one another.

She walked over
in my direction, her perfect posture and swift movements taking me by surprise.

"Good job
out there today, Bennett," she said, a sly grin spreading across her
petite face.

"Thank you,
Sgt. Castillo," I replied, unsure of her motive. She looked me over, her
eyes landing on my chest that was still standing erect thanks to my hardened
nipples that were on display for everyone to see.

"I'm
watching you. Just be aware of that," she quickly added, no hint of
friendliness in her voice whatsoever. She turned and walked away, leaving me
angry and confused. If what Angelica had said about her and Cruz were true,
maybe she saw me as a threat.

I wasn't sure
what she knew, or what she thought she knew, but she was beginning to make me
very uncomfortable.
 

Chapter 5

Alex

Sitting
in my office, staring at my computer screen, it dawned on me that I was
probably much too close for appropriate instructor/student contact, and I had
to work even harder at staying away from Cassie Bennett in any capacity that
could get me caught up. The only problem was, I liked the magnetic pull she had
on me. Her scent seemed to linger in the air, reeling me in like a bee drawn to
honey. I was beginning to think that there was no way I’d be able to function
in my normal capacity, not with her figure popping up on my radar with every
turn I took.

Watching her
bend over out there, even if it was out of sheer exhaustion, put pictures in my
mind that had me wanting to yank her somewhere and hide her away until I could
fulfill every sordid fantasy I had about her.

Her PT gear,
although unflattering and scruffy on most, still showcased the most ample set
of tits I think I have ever had the pleasure of setting my sights on, and her
ass-- oh her ass-- invited me over with each inch that she bent over. How I
managed to keep my composure with her standing and bending, showing off and
enticing, had me racking my own brain. I knew the kind of blunt asshole I could
be, so I shocked myself by refraining. It just wasn't something that I would
normally do.

Irritation
settled within me the second I heard her yell out while up on that pull-up bar.
Hearing her cry out like that put thoughts in my head, all of which started and
ended with
me and her,
tangled up somewhere.

M
e
,
driving in and out of her
...
her
,
yelling my
name being the sound oozing from her lips
...
          
Frustration
of the highest caliber washed over me as I walked away from her, and I couldn't
quite put my finger on what had me so riled up. Was it the fact that I wanted
to take her and do all sorts of dirty shit to her, or was it that fuckin'
Dalton kid? Just thinking about him set me off, so part of it must have been
him. He reminded me so much of Riley and the way he’d irked me when I’d first
met him. He was always around, always smiling, and always pissing me off. Dalton
had the same affect, only my annoyance with him was that he was snaking his way
into the girl that I wanted to get into, and there was no fucking way in hell I
was about to let that happen.

The fact that I
had found out that she was the only female in that barracks room put me in a
bad place. I wanted to jump up from my meal and run over there, then pull her
out and spank her ass for putting herself into that sort of situation. Young
male Marines—especially overly testosterone, two second
nutters—were not to be trusted when they found themselves in a situation
like the one that Bennett put herself into. Her naive mind had me angry and
excited at the same time. I'm sure she saw it as just another way to make
friends in this shit hole town, while curing the ceaseless spouts of boredom
that often times crept in. But for me, it was a punch in the gut, a kick to the
chin, a stab in the heart.

My appetite was
lost at the news of her being in that room without anyone there to properly
defend her. I couldn't let Castillo know that it had damn near sucker punched
me, but it had, and I wanted to tear out of there at the sound of it. Sure that
Dalton kid was there, and I guess she looked at him like a friend, but
honestly, something about that kid had me puzzled. I wasn't sure if I could
trust him around her the way that she trusted herself around him.

A quick knock on
the door broke me from my thoughts, prompting me to fix myself and remove the
sweat from my brow before Smith came striding into the room.

"Riley said
you wanted to see me, man."

"Yeah. Just
got a quick question. That Dalton kid from your class, what do you know about
him?"

Smith pondered
for a minute before Dalton apparently popped into his head, sparking his
memory.

"He's a
good kid from Wisconsin.
Company Honorman in bootcamp.
That's all that really stood out to me. Why?"

"Just
wondering. He's on my radar and I just wanted to know what you knew."

"Nothing
bad from what can I tell.
"

I nodded, but
deep down I still wasn't convinced. An aching in my gut was telling me that
there was something about this kid that he was hiding.

"Anyway,
man. We're hitting up the bowling alley at lunch. You coming? Dollar games
during the lunch hour for military in uniform."

"Yeah, I'll
be there. Puttin' you assholes to shame."

"Right. We
aren't putting the bumpers up, man. Gutter balls count."

"Fuck
off," I replied, finally able to laugh.

Smith turned and
walked out of my office. I quickly changed over to my cammies, grabbing my
cover and placing it on my head as I strolled out, trying to think of anything
other than the fucking student who had done nothing but mentally destroy me
since I first laid eyes on her.

Back at the
schoolhouse, I went ahead and got the class started for the day, focusing on the
various types of radio communications we used in the fleet and in what capacity
they would be used. Newsome worked tirelessly in the corner, putting together
the test packets for the first test that the students would take later in the
week in neat and orderly piles.

"What is
the job of a zero-six in the Marine Corps, Bennett?"

Her eyes widened
as she looked up from her manual.

"To set up
and operate all radio equipment for field missions."

I looked at her
with lustful, unrelenting eyes, nodding my head before going into my spiel
about how, without communications, people die. I had given the speech quite a
few times, and in all actuality, it was true.

Jensen went more
in depth with the functions of each radio system that was commonly used in the
fleet while I took over the roaming of the classroom, making sure that every
bit of pertinent information was being written down so as not to fail their
test later in the week.

Allen, the beast
from the PFT who was screaming his head off like he'd just murdered and eaten
something after his pull-ups, wasn't taking down very many notes, prompting me
to keep an eye on him. He seemed to possess brute strength, but his classroom
skills were not on par. He was definitely one to look out for.

I took a seat in
the back of the room, studying the class while trying to mentally place them
into the categories that I thought they fit into. Most of them were pretty easy
to distinguish. There were the obvious science
nerds
who loved anything with numbers and currents, then there were those who were
willing to do anything other than infantry, and then there was Allen, Ruiz, and
Bennett. None of them seemed to fit into any category. Allen, in my opinion,
seemed like a picture perfect
infantry man
. He was
big, rugged, and tough, so it puzzled me as to how he ended up in Comm. Ruiz
and Bennett were odd ones here because if I had met them in bootcamp, I would
have pegged them for Admin girls. Ruiz and her grit out on the PFT field showed
that she had a rugged side, but Bennett, I didn't want to see anything rugged
about her, except maybe for how well she could hold up against me in bed. Besides
that, I wanted to see her as the sweet smelling flower that plastered smiles on
my face, perked up my day, and brightened my night.

"You'll
have an hour for chow today.
 
Be
back here at thirteen thirty," Jensen called out, promptly dismissing the
class.

I seemed to have
gotten lost in my thoughts in the back of the room and lost track of time.

"You coming
to the bowling alley, Cruz?" Jensen asked.

I swallowed,
trying to bring myself back into the here and now.

"Yeah,
let's go."

We walked out of
the schoolhouse, sunglasses pulled down over our eyes, covers thankfully
protecting our heads from the broiling rays of the sun as we made our way over
to the base bowling alley. When we walked in, Castillo and Collins were already
sitting down at one of the lanes, motioning for us to join them. Shortly after
we sat down and got situated, Riley, Newsome, and Smith walked in, meeting us
in our area.

"Let's put
a friendly wager on today's game," Riley called out, making the rest of us
shake our heads. "Whoever scores the lowest is footing the bill all night
at Coyotes on Friday."

"That's not
a good bet. Cruz has duty Friday night. He won't be around to pay for our binge
fest," Jensen answered, making everyone break out in laughter, including
me.

"I'm not
that fucking bad. And I'll take your shitty little wager, Riley, because I'm
damn near certain that it won't be me paying up to kill your livers."

Everyone else
nodded
their
heads, agreeing to the bet.

Before long, we
were five frames into the game and I was holding on to second to last place. Collins,
luckily, was pulling up the rear. It was my turn to throw when I heard that
annoying voice of Pfc. Dalton making his way into the bowling alley. When I
turned around, I found Bennett and two other Marines whom I didn't know walking
in with him. The female I had never seen before, but the male looked like he
was in
Smith's
and Riley's class; perhaps a friend of
the kid who made me want to spit nails.

I turned and
cracked my neck, trying to erase her presence from my mind. It wasn't an easy
task. In fact, it was downright shitty because the more I tried not to think
about her, the more she was there, smiling that perfect little naïve smile that
had hooked me from the very beginning.

I walked up to
the lane, throwing my ball and cursing aloud as the ball made its way to the
gutter for the first time in the game. Of course it would have to happen when
she was around, possibly looking over at me.

"You better
hope Collins rolls a gutter too, or else your ass is flying solo in last place,
Cruz," Riley yelled out. My eyes narrowed at him, or so he thought it was
him, but truth be told my eyes were focusing in on Bennett in the background,
getting what looked like a back rub from Dalton as she prepared to make her
first throw.

Son
of a bitch.

My insides were
turning, pushing me to stomp over there and remove his hand from any part of
her body. Innocent or not, it was pissing me off that he could touch her and I
couldn't. And I hated being told no.
 

She stood,
grabbed a ball, then walked up the lane and situated herself. When she threw,
she knocked down seven pins, leaving a very simple spare to pick up extra
points. Dalton made sure to high-five her, holding on to her hand a bit too
long for my liking. I had completely checked out of our
game
as I remained focused on what was happening down the row from us. She threw her
second ball and easily picked up the spare, throwing her hands into the air
while the rest of them clapped and hollered for her. Her
easy
going
nature had me wrapped around her finger without her even having to
say much to me. She was so different from me, so carefree, and I liked it.

Fuck, I loved
it.

I tried hard to
come back to our game, but I couldn't get my mind or my eyes to keep from
wandering to where Bennett was driving me mad, even though she was unaware of
the affect she had on me. She high- fived Dalton when he walked back after
throwing a strike, their fingers lingering as they pulled away. His excessive
celebration was grating my nerves, and even if there was technically nothing
wrong with what they were doing, I just couldn't take his flirtations with her
any longer.