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With wide eyes, we looked at each other. This couldn’t be possible, could it? That we could somehow end up in the same place at the same time? Finding a way to stay together had been impossible ten minutes ago, and even now, with the letters in our hands, the offers in writing so that we couldn’t say we’d imagined it…it felt unreal.
When neither of us could say anything, Commander Levy cleared his throat. “Understandably you’ll need time to review your options, so please take the rest of the weekend to think it over. We’ll need your decisions first thing Monday morning.” He went to turn away, but then added, “Of course, if you choose not to reenlist, you also have the option to take on a civilian job.”
“That won’t be necessary, sir,” one of us said, but I couldn’t tell if it was me or Panther because my whole body had gone numb. I couldn’t feel a fucking thing.
Commander Levy gave us one last nod. “Enjoy the rest of your evening, gentlemen, and congratulations again.”
Panther and I didn’t move a muscle as Commander Levy walked away. Maybe Panther was as dumbstruck as I was. Actually, there was no maybe about it. I could feel the shock pouring off him, and it was long after Levy had left when we finally turned to face each other.
“I don’t think I’m processing what just happened,” Panther said.
“Neither am I.”
“Did we really just get offers, plural?”
“We did.”
“So I didn’t just make that shit up?”
I shook my head. “Nope.”
“Fuck me.” When Panther tried and failed to shake off the dazed look on his face, I wrapped my arms around him, uncaring of who was around or the fact that we were in the presence of some of the higher-ups that had just offered us a job. I needed to hold him, my anchor, the one person who could keep my feet firmly planted on the ground even when my head and ego were swelling to the size of a hot-air balloon.
“We did it,” Panther said. “You and me.”
I pulled back just enough to look at him. Those blue eyes were lighter than I’d ever seen them before. Pure, unfiltered happiness radiated from them, and I grinned at the excitement vibrating out of every pore in his body. Hell, it matched my own.
Unable to stop myself, I kissed him, stealing his breath and taking it for my own. His mouth opened without hesitation, hungry for what so obviously belonged to him. The kiss was both velvety soft and utterly ravenous, melting my brain to liquid the way only Panther could do. Minutes, hours, they meant nothing when we joined together like this.
“Get a room!” Gucci shouted, and cheers and whistles followed.
Reluctantly, I let my lips fall from Panther’s, a temporary pause, because they’d be right back on him in a few hours.
“You know.” Panther cocked his head, his arms still firmly around my waist. “I think I’m liking this winning thing.”
It wasn’t what I’d expected him to say, and laughter bubbled out of my throat. “Yeah? Well, I think we’re gonna be pretty damn happy with this winning thing when it’s all said and done.”
“Mhmm. I guess we have a lot to think about, huh?”
“Yeah. I guess we do.”
As we stood there wrapped in each other like no one else in the room existed, I knew that no matter what we decided, this thing we had, this bond, was stronger than whatever job we took, whatever obstacle we faced. Nothing in the world had ever been so right since we’d found each other, so whatever happened next? Piece of friggin’ cake.
“Tell you what,” I said. “How about celebratory drinks first, make the hard decisions later?”
Panther’s handsome face broke into a brilliant smile, the one I lived and died for. “With you? Abso-fuckin’-lutely.”
Epilogue
2.5 YEARS LATER
PANTHER
“HOW THE HELL did all this stuff fit in our tiny-ass apartment? Are you sure they didn’t pack up someone else’s house?” Solo craned his neck up at the full-to-overflowing moving truck that had just arrived and shook his head. “That can’t all be ours.”
“It better be. We’re paying these guys by the hour.”
“Shiiit. Maybe we should’ve bought a bigger place.”
I hooked my finger over the waistband of Solo’s jeans and tugged him toward me so he faced our amazing view instead of the overwhelming pile of stuff we were leaving the movers to deal with. “Look at this place. If you think there’s anything better in the world, you can think again.”
Solo looked over my shoulder, and I knew he was taking in our dream house and the unbelievable views. “We’ve waited two years for this. I wouldn’t care if we moved in with just a mattress and some ramen. It would still be worth every second of living on base to finally get here.”
