My girl is already army strong and doesn’t even realize it.
“I can practically hear you thinking,” Shayne says into the darkness of our room.
“I’m going to miss you.”
“I know.” Her voice is soft, and I detect a slight tremor.
“Can I tell you something?”
“Of course you can.”
“I want you to keep an open mind. This isn’t something that I take lightly, and I feel as though I need to tell you.”
“Is everything okay?” She tries to turn to look at me, but I keep my arms locked around her, preventing her from moving.
“Everything is perfect.”
“You can tell me anything.”
“Shayne,” I say, my lips just a kiss away from her ear. “I love you.”
She gasps and turns to face me. This time I let her. “What?”
“I love you. I’m in love with you. I know it’s soon, but I’m telling you this is real. The way my heart misses a beat when I hear your name. The way it races when you walk into a room.” I press my lips to hers. “The way your pussy feels gripping my cock. All of it. Everything from the moment I laid eyes on you is overwhelming and real, and it’s… everything. You’re everything.”
“Ford, I—” I stop her with another kiss.
“I know you’ve been through so much, and I know this is fast. I just can’t drive away from you tomorrow without telling you what’s in my heart. I don’t expect you to say it back. I don’t expect for you to feel this strongly, but I refuse to run from it. I just need you to know that I’m in love with you.”
Her arms fly around my neck as she pulls me into an awkward hug. Her grip is fierce as she presses her face into mine. I can feel her tears, and even in the dark of the room, I know they’re not tears of sadness. They’re tears of joy. We’re that in tune with one another.
“Shayne?”
“I love you too,” she says, her voice cracking. “I love you, and it scares the hell out of me. I don’t know why I trust you so easily, but from day one, my guard has been down when it comes to you. I want you to know that I’m going to be here waiting for you. I don’t care if it’s a two-day leave or ten. I’m going to be here. No matter where you are in the world, I need you to know that my heart is with you, and I’m going to be right here waiting for you. I’m going to try and shift my schedule for some three-day weekends so I can come and visit, and I’ll send you care packages, and I promise you we’re going to do this, Ford. We’re going to kill this long-distance thing.”
“Fuck yes, we are.” I kiss her hard. I put everything into this kiss that I want to say but can’t seem to find the words. Her words are like a fist around my heart. I had once thought that Sara would be the one saying those words to me, but that didn’t happen. I often wondered where she and I went wrong, and now I know.
It was because of Shayne.
I was always meant to meet her. It was always supposed to be us in each other’s corner. I may not know the meaning of life, but I sure as hell know the meaning of mine.
Her name is Shayne Danner.
Chapter 20
Shayne
“What happens today?” I ask over breakfast, almost afraid to find out the truth. It’s Sunday morning, which means at some point, Ford and Chad return to base so they can report first thing tomorrow morning.
And I return to Kentucky.
“Well, I was thinking about that while you were showering off the early morning jacuzzi water,” he says, between bites of bacon, smirking in satisfaction at taking me in the jacuzzi tub about the same time the sun came up. “We have to report at 0600 tomorrow morning. It’s not too long of a drive, but we were talking about heading there later this afternoon.”
“Oh.” I swallow over the thickness in my throat. “That soon?” I don’t know what I thought. Of course he has to return today.
He wipes his hands off on the napkin on his lap and reaches for my hand. The pancakes I just consumed sit like a lead brick in my stomach. “We could drive it in the morning, but neither of us think that’s a good idea. That calls for an early departure, and even though traffic will be light, we risk running into a delay. So, we decided to go today. I’m hoping you’ll go too.”
“Me?” I ask, confused by what he’s saying.
“One night isn’t enough, Shayne. I want to spend every last possible second with you before I have to return, so if we get a hotel just off base, we can stay there and be practically next door in the morning. We won’t have to leave nearly as early.”