“Thank God! I’ve been dying to get you alone since he surprised you in the bar last night. Time to spill.” Quinn cocks one eyebrow at me and I tell her everything.
“Jesus, less than three weeks ago, I left you in an airport on the way to a family Christmas. Now you have a boyfriend who is planning a ?
?long term strategy’? How the hell does this happen. Not to mention, it’s the same guy you’ve been in love with since you were in middle school.”
“Not sure how it happened, but I’m not questioning it.”
“No, but what happens now?”
“We go back to school and finish the semester. Maybe I can go home, or have Bryce come to Virginia for spring break.”
“Are you going to be okay with the distance?”
“I have no choice. If I want to be with him, that’s the trade off.”
“What about after he and Nate graduate?”
“That’s where things get a little shady. They’ll both have to go to Officer Candidate School in Rhode Island for at least twelve weeks. After that, I don’t know.”
“I think it’s safe to say he’s into you Devon, deep. OCS won’t change that. So can we discuss something serious?”
“Of course.” I look at her nervously.
“If this thing heads down the aisle, promise me you won’t make me wear a pink bridesmaid dress. Actually no pastels at all.”
“Quinn! That’s your serious discussion? You’re insane. A little soon to talk about that. Besides, I’m only nineteen.”
“Yes, but you’ll be twenty soon. Your parents got married young.”
“Stop, we aren’t talking about this. At all. Jinxing it before it even has a chance to start.”
“Okay, but I reserve the right to bring it up again when I think things are that serious.”
“Fine!” I huff and roll over. Her chuckle irritates me but I smile as I doze off.
Cold water dripping down my arm wakes me. The cabana bed dips and I roll into a rock hard, wet body.
“Bryce! What are you doing?”
“Staking claim.” His arm slips under my waist and he pulls me half on top of him.
“We’re at the beach, in public.”
“I know.” He kisses along my jawline.
“There’s a question I’ve been dying to ask, but it’s really rude.”
“Try me?”
“How did you afford all this? The flight to Colorado, the flight here, the ocean front room?”
“I’ve got a decent savings account. The Navy Reserves pays a little and I’ve been doing some work in Knoxville. Bouncing at a bar a few nights a week.”
“You work in a bar?”
“Yeah, pays decent and they work with my schedule.”
“I can’t believe I didn’t know. Why didn’t you tell me?”