Claiming Holly (Holiday Cove 1)

I checked in to say goodbye to the rest of the guys, assuring them I’d be back in two weeks in time to ship out. I grabbed my gym bag and headed out to the Black Stallion. It was odd to be leaving when there was still so much daylight to burn. I usually worked a full day, most of the time staying long after everyone else had called it a night, but I had put in for a half-day to get things ready for my leave. As much as I loved my job, and never shied away from work, it felt good to rip out of the parking lot early, knowing I didn’t have to be back again for two full weeks.

“You all set to go, Boomer?” Player asked when I called him later that evening.

I glanced at the bags by the front door, mentally running through my checklist again, before answering. “Sure am. Believe me, I blazed outta work today.”

He laughed. “Yeah right. You’re a chronic workaholic. You probably just got home.”

I smirked and didn’t bother arguing with him. He knew me too well. When he was in the Navy, Player had been a work horse when he needed to be, but he’d also had no problem slowing down and having as much fun as he could get away with. He’d made a fantastic leader because of his ability to rally everyone together and bond over stupid shit, often making up games to play when we were stuck in the middle of the ocean, with no source of entertainment, but he was also a gifted pilot, and I’d fly with him anytime—especially in combat.

“What about your Princess?” He asked, a smile still audible in his voice.

I shifted the phone to my shoulder to crane around and check the kitchen. “She’s busy babysitting my dinner plate at the moment, but yeah, I’d say she’s ready for a little beach time herself.” I snapped my fingers and my yellow lab, Princess, tore her eyes away from longingly staring up at my dinner on the edge of the counter to look at me. She wagged her tail and trotted over to my waiting hand. I scratched her ears and she sat next to my feet. “Thanks again for agreeing to watch after her while I’m gone.” My heart ached at the thought of leaving her behind for six months, something I did my best not to think about normally.

“No prob. I promise to send a gross amount of pictures if that’s what you need,” Aaron replied.

I laughed. “Thanks, man. Well, hey, I’m gonna get to dinner before my girl here beats me to it, but I’ll shoot a text over when I head out in the morning.”

“All right, Boomer. Looking forward to it.”

I hung up the phone and set it on the counter as I crossed back to the kitchen to grab my dinner. Princess followed me into the living room and took her usual place on the couch beside me. I smiled down at her. “I’m gonna miss this, girl.”

I’d adopted Princess as a puppy nearly four years ago, and other than when I was on a tour overseas, she was my constant companion. I even took her to the base a few times a week to keep me company at work when I knew I’d be working overtime. I’d had to leave her behind twice before, and it never got any easier. My parents had always been the ones to watch her in the past, but since they had moved to Florida, Aaron had volunteered to take her.

“You’re gonna love hanging out with Player, Princess. You’ll get to run the beach every day, chase sea birds, sticks, all that good stuff.” She rolled her brown eyes up at me and I wondered if she was sensing that I was going to be leaving soon. I scratched her head again and offered her a piece of chicken from my plate. She perked up right away and gobbled down the scrap. “God, I’m such a sucker.”

Growing up, my family never had any pets. As a military family, we moved from base to base every few years and my mom had always argued that it would be too much to deal with if we had a houseful of pets. Princess was my first dog, and I’d known from the moment I spotted her at the local pet shelter, that I had to take her home with me. She had an easy temperament and was a source of peace and calm that I hadn’t realized I’d needed, until she arrived. Within weeks of adopting her, she’d wiggled her way into my heart—and taken over my bed—and had eased a deep loneliness that I’d been subconsciously ignoring up until that point.

Some of my buddies called me out for preferring to spend a night in with Princess and a movie than go out drinking or dancing, but most of them were a handful of years younger than I was, and while, at age thirty, I wasn’t exactly too old to go out and get messed up, that lifestyle had lost its appeal over time.