'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.
