My Ranger Weekend (16 page)

“
I don
’
t Reg. This is kind of
embarrassing to say out loud.
”

“
Spill it,
”
she commanded as she took a drink of her margarita.

I took a deep breath and exhaled as I mumbled,
“
I stripped before our
last time together to Maroon 5
’
s
“
Secret.
”

“
HOLY HANNA,
”
she exclaimed before chugging the rest of her drink.
“
That is so freaking
hot.
”

“
Yep.
”
I signaled the waiter
for another round.

“
Wow. You guys really
did a number on each other.
”

“
Yeah maybe.
”
I swore to myself that
I did not want to admit to anything else.

“
What do you think the
last two songs mean?
”
Reggie asked. I
shrugged in response trying to keep true to what I just promised myself.
“
I think he is telling
you he would be jealous as a green-eyed monster if someone else had you and
that he wants you to wait for him.
”

“
I don
’
t know. Maybe,
”
I paused as the waiter sat our drinks down.
“
My parents are
obviously pushing Garrett on me again. And I mean he has been pretty cool and
kind of sweet since seeing me with Flint.
”
I wanted to see what
Reggie thought about this and she did not disappoint.

“
That kind of sweetness
will rot your teeth.
”
I burst out laughing.

“
Amen sister, amen.
”
I knew exactly what
she meant. And I did not want a sweet Garrett but MY RANGER who was so hot he
could melt my panties with one smile.

Flint

God, I miss her.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Flint

Six fucking months and five days and now my plane was
delayed.
I mean come on.
I was stuck in fucking Denver on a layover to
San Diego. I was three hours by air from where I wanted to be and an additional
90 minutes by car. I could be at O
’
Malley
’
s Pub in five hours once we took off. But Lord only knew when
that was going to be. The flight was already delayed by two hours.

I was glad I came home though. My dad was doing a lot better
than when I had left last year. He was dating a new lady friend as he called
her and it looked like she was cooking for him as he was no longer just a bag
of bones going through the motions. He looked happy, like real happy.

Once I was home I tried to find Ryan
’
s actual address on the
internet to no avail. But while I was searching, I saw an article announcing
Ryan as the winner of the MTV contest. It showed a picture of the model who was
wearing Ryan
’
s
dress at the MTV awards, the metallic one I had suggested she submit. My heart
swelled with pride as I read the article and learned of her winning this award.
As I got to the bottom of the article, I froze as I stared at the picture of
Ryan and the model, Charlotte Moore arm-in-arm, smiling at the camera.
God,
she
’
s beautiful.

On the third night at my dad
’
s, he asked if there was something bothering me. He said he
could tell I was carrying something with me. He asked about the CD I sent him
and asked him to mail to Ryan. I do not know if it was the four beers I had
that night since dinner or if I just needed a fresh outlook on what I was going
through, but I told him everything. I told him about Ryan and the weekend we
had together, minus all the sexy details. I told him about how all I did was
dream about her every night and imagined what she was doing all day. My mind
never drifted far from her, even in the darkest of places we went on this op
she was the light that kept me grounded and focused, all with the hopes of
making it back to her. I told him how I had bummed a few sleeping pills a
couple of times so I would not dream of her. I either woke up with a raging
hard-on or choking on emotions. On an op as intense as ours was, I had to keep
my shit together and thinking about Ryan every fucking second would not cut it.

My father listened and took everything in before turning to
me and said,
“
Son,
no one deserves you more than a woman who shines light on your dark places.
That is what Margaret did for me. I was in a dark place after your mom died and
Margaret was the light that showed me it is more fun to dance in the sun then
cry alone in the dark.
”

“
Dad,
”
I paused,
“
I want to spend every day in Ryan
’
s light and not another
dreamless night in the dark.
”

“
Then go get her son,
”
he directed.
 

And now here I stood anxiously awaiting the plane to arrive.
Amen.
A voice came on alerting us that our plane had landed and that once the
plane was unloaded and cleaned we would be up in the air. I smiled feeling the excitement
of being one step closer to Ryan. I still had three and a half weeks of leave
before I had to report back to base and I was going to spend every minute of
that time getting Ryan back. The plan was simple; go to O
’
Malley
’
s the minute I was in
town and then to Reggie
’
s parents
’
house tomorrow to try and find her. I was going to prove that
I wanted to pick up where we left off and make something of this, of us.

I stuck in my headphones as I scrolled through my playlist.
My thumb hovered over
“
the best weekend of my life
”
playlist. I had not
listened to it since being stateside as I tried to make the trip with my father
worth it for the both of us. The constant pull I felt to remember Ryan came
rushing back as I hit the playlist than shuffle as Maroon 5
’
s
“
Secret
”
filled my ears, and memories flooded my mind of Ryan in her
pink lacy matching bra and panties. I did not have to keep my thoughts of her
bottled up. I was finally going home.

Ryan

“
You ready?
”
called Reggie from her bedroom. I did one more quick look in
the mirror and called out,
“
Yep.
”
We were at her parent
’
s again since they were
out of town.

“
Damn girl, you
look hot.
”
Reggie whistled and I laughed in response. The strapless
dress was a sky blue color to match the blue in my unique eyes. It was chiffon
and I cut it to fit like a glove on my body, leaving nothing to the
imagination. I topped it off by making my hair pin straight and pulling it up
into a high pony tail. I wore tan, almost nude wedges. I looked good and felt
great.

“
When did you make that
and when can I get one in purple?
”
She asked, walking
around me in a circle to check out the new dress I made the weekend before.

“
I made it last weekend
while you were in New York. And to answer the second question, I already made
you one.
”
I looked to her with a big smile but was only met with a
slight frown and eyes full of pity.

“
Oh baby,
”
she said. Each muscle tensed at hearing the pity in her
voice.

“
You sure you want to
meet up with Garrett?
”
Her eyes searching mine
for a different answer than what she knew was going to come out of my mouth.

“
Definitely. No more
waiting. No more crying. According to Romeo they have been home for five days
and nothing from Flint.
”
There were no more
tears to cry. I waited like he cryptically asked me to and now nothing from
him. Romeo called Reggie the minute he landed in New York five days ago.

“
Maybe, he just needs .
. .
”

“
Stop Reg,
”
I interrupted, putting my hand up for her to stop. I knew she
was trying to be a good friend but I could not handle it tonight.
“
No more, okay?
”

“
Ok,
”
she relented.
“
Let
’
s go and have some fun.
”

We walked into O
’
Malleys for Throw Back Thursday right as
“
Karma Chameleon
”
by the Culture Club started to play.

“
I love this song,
”
Reggie called out over the music. We paid our cover and made
it over to the bar. Garrett and a few of his friends were already there
laughing and drinking. The minute Garrett saw me his eyes popped as he looked
me over from head to heel.

“
Hey gorgeous,
”
he said as he met us. He kissed each of my cheeks before
putting his hand on my lower back directing me towards his friends. I took a
big step forward not ready for him to touch me just yet.
 
I needed some liquid courage so I could get through this
night.
“
Hey Reg,
”
Garrett said as he led us to the bar.

“
What would you two
ladies like?
”
Josh, Garrett
’
s best friend, asked.

“
Captain and diet coke,
”
Reggie and I said at the same time.

“
Jinx,
”
we called out laughing.

“
Your turn,
”
I said as Reggie turned to the bar to get shots.

“
You look so sexy,
”
Garrett whispered in my ear as he took a deep breath.
“
You smell so good.
”
I winced at his proximity but played it off as a shiver.
“
I see I affect you just
as much,
”
he cooed as her ran his nose from behind my ear to the crook
of my neck.

“
Here you are,
”
Reggie said interrupting us,
“
a kamikaze.
”
I snorted as I tried to
hold in my laughter. This shot was our universal sign that the dude or dudes
with us had crashed and burned and that is was time to call it a night.

“
Too soon,
”
I responded as I washed my laughter back with the shot.

“
It
’
s never too soon for
shots,
”
Garrett said, totally misreading the situation. Reggie and I
both laughed.
“
Girls
Just Want to Have Fun
”
came on making Reggie
clap her hands and scream,
“
Hell yeah,
”
as she dragged me to
the dance floor. We danced for a few songs before our thirst won out and we
headed back to the bar. Garrett immediately engulfed me in his arms as he
handed me a fresh drink.

“
You looked hot out
there,
”
he slightly slurred.

“
Thanks,
”
I said as I took a drink of the very strong Captain and Diet
Coke. I stepped out from his arms to stand next to Reggie who was talking to
Josh about plans after graduation.

“
Didn
’
t you hear?
”
Reggie questioned Josh as he asked what she and I planned to
do. He shook his head no.
“
Ryan
’
s design won the MTV contest. We even found out who will wear
the dress, super model Charlotte Moore. Can you believe it!
”
I laughed at her over the top theatrics.

“
Holy shit,
”
replied Josh, along with a few
“
no ways
”
from the other guys.
“
Did you get to meet
her?
”

“
Yeah. She is really
cool and really nice,
”
I replied.

“
And really hot,
”
Josh laughed.

“
Yeah, that too,
”
I agreed.

Garrett sat there the entire time with a smug look on his
face. He was at my parent
’
s house helping my father the day the phone call came
through. He claimed in front of my parents that he knew it all along, like he
had not been pushing my parents
’
agenda since senior
prom.
Whatever.

“
Yep,
”
Reggie beamed as she hugged me to her side. Now it seemed
like nothing was going to keep me from fashion school. Even my parents were on
board as my dad
’
s firm began to represent me in negotiations with Target who
showed an interest in putting some of my dresses in their stores. Everything
was happening so fast and I should have been thrilled but it was like I was
watching it happening not living it. All of the excitement I thought I would
feel was nowhere to be found. I was just going through the motions.

“
She is a true gem,
”
Garrett shouted over the music as he pulled me to him on the
stool. He positioned me to stand in between his legs. His smile held a hint of
pride and awe, earning him a genuine smile back from me. A chaste kiss to my
lips followed as I stood frozen to my spot, partly shocked at his boldness and
pissed at myself for allowing this.
Did he notice how stiff I was?

Movement out of the corner of my eye drew my attention across
the bar to a table in the corner against the wall. I blinked once, twice,
swearing my eyes were playing a mean joke on me.
He
’
s here!
Flint, my Ranger, was here, right before my very eyes. I greedily
drank him in as I took in every square inch of him. My eyes wandered over the
white t-shirt he wore that barely contained his muscular physique. His day old
scruff added to his devilish good looks.