Purple Hearts(76)

I unbuttoned his jeans, and they fell. It was time to show each other that we weren’t going to be that boring couple who goes out to eat and farts quietly while they watch TV and meets in the bedroom where they hump each other until they fall asleep.

“We’re going to live together,” I said, lifting my shirt. “And sometimes,” I continued, slipping off my cutoffs, “I’m going to be getting ready for work.”

Toby was still standing there, jeans at his knees, watching me.

I walked past him to the bathroom. “And I’m going to want it so bad,” I said, hopping onto the counter next to the sink, opening my legs. “That you’re going to fuck me right then and there.”

“Wait,” Toby said.

I stared at him. In the twelve on-and-off months I’d been removing my clothes around him, I’d never heard hesitation in his voice.

“I feel like this is special,” he said. He stepped out of his jeans and walked toward me, a soft smile on his face.

That was fine. He didn’t want to dirty talk. I could still work with this. He stood on the tile, kissing me small and slow in a line, starting at my ear, down to my shoulder.

I pulled him into me by his lower back, and noticed he wasn’t hard.

“I’m sorry,” he said, stepping back. “Can we just take a second to talk about the timeline?”

I tried to keep the mood going, hooking my finger in his shirt, looking at him with doe eyes. “Later.”

“It’s also weird to have sex with you while I can see myself in the mirror.” He pointed behind me. “Plus I bet this counter is really dirty.”

“Isn’t that kind of hot, though?”

He scrunched up his face. “Eh. I’m not drunk enough to ignore it.”

“Okay,” I said, hopping off.

“I’m sorry,” he said, his hands circling my waist. “Is it weird that I want to just savor this without a hookup?”

“No need to be sorry,” I said, trying to hide my disappointment. “It makes sense.”

“We’re the real deal now,” he said, between pecks at my neck.

“Yeah,” I said, sitting on the bed.

“Aw, damn, Cass,” he said, running his fingers through my hair. “We’ll try bathroom sex again.” We lay together, Toby draping his arms around me. He pulled me tighter. “We’ll have plenty of time,” he whispered.





Luke


Once Cassie left for Toby’s, I asked Rita if I could borrow her car, and drove to where Johnno used to live, hoping he would still be there. I knocked on the puke-green door, a gym bag full of cash hooked to my cane. Bass pounded from inside. Empty cans of Monster Energy and Lone Star littered the stoop. Under the peep hole, somebody had ground the letters I C U.

Yep, telltale Johnno markings. I pounded harder.

Kaz opened the door, a blunt hanging from his lips. I had forgotten how huge he was. I was six foot two and came up only to his nipples.

“Here,” I said, and lifted the bag. I’d been saving every penny I could of my paychecks since I deployed, and I’d cashed my savings, but I finally had twenty-five hundred dollars. How I was going to find twenty-five hundred for the final payment in a month was a problem for another day.

Kaz took the bag.

“Tell him to come in here and count it out,” I heard Johnno yell.

“It’s all there,” I called. “You know how to reach me if it’s not.” I was borrowing Rita’s car. I had to get back so she could go to her hair appointment.

Kaz grabbed my shoulder and ushered me inside.

Three minutes later, Johnno confirmed it was all there. He lounged on the futon with the gun sitting on his belly, stockinged feet resting on the coffee table next to the pile.

When I stood up to leave, Kaz blocked my way. “We’re not done yet.”

“You’ll get the rest in a month, like we agreed.”

“We have some new información,” Johnno said, picking dirt out of his fingernails.

“What now?”

Johnno picked up the gun, aiming it at me like a teacher’s pointer. “How would you explain your situation with Ms. Cassandra Salazar, in your own words? Go.”

I swallowed. My hand started to fidget on the cane. “Married.”

Johnno waved the gun. “Go on.”

I said nothing. I looked around the room for an answer, a weapon.

“We’ve been keeping tabs on you, bro. Making sure you’re not going to ghost. And here comes Cassie’s hot ass, so natch we’re gonna follow that.”

I was clenching my bum leg, hoping the pain would distract me from the fear rising up. “Do y’all just sit in the Bronco all day spying on people?”

Kaz was on his phone, muttering, “Sometimes we go to Buffalo Wild Wings. That’s some good shit.”

“Shut the fuck up, Kaz,” Johnno said.

Kaz glared at Johnno, then back at me, and continued, “We found out where she works, and where her mom lives.”

“I said shut the fuck up!” Johnno yelled. Even in the midst of dishing out threats, Johnno was such a child. “We also found out that she goes home with some other dude all the time.”

Kaz commiserated. “Why you gonna let her play you like that, bro?”