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“Ah, come on,” I said, pushing on his arm. “Lighten up, Barrick. I’ll eat if you smile for me so I can see your dimple again.” I batted my lashes at him. “Please? Pretty, pretty please?”
“Now, Mia, what happened to that double-standard speech you just gave that drunk girl?” Braxton reminded me with a straight face from the middle of the back seat. “If a guy asked you to smile for him, you would cry sexism.”
Barrick and I both turned around to look at him skeptically before all three of us burst out laughing. Seeing Barrick’s dimple, I poked it with my index finger and brushed it through his beard to satisfy the desire to feel it. “Hey, I’m hungry. What’s a girl have to do to get a taco around here?”
Catching my hand, he cupped his around my fingers until we were one fist and laid our joined hands on his thigh. “Coming up, firecracker.”
Chapter 6
Mia
Barrick and Braxton lived together in a single-story brick house just a few blocks from campus. While Braxton cleaned up the aftermath of our takeout boxes, Barrick gave me a tour of the place.
For two guys, they kept the house neater than my mother’s housekeeper, Gail, did our house back in Malibu.
“Four years in the Marines will teach anyone to stay clean,” Barrick commented as he opened the door to Braxton’s room and flipped on the light.
Sasha the German Shepherd lifted her head from a pillow and wagged her tail tiredly. “Hey, girl. Come meet Mia,” he called to her.
Slowly, as if her bones hurt, Sasha climbed off the bed and walked over to us. I crouched down, rubbing her under her chin. “Hello, sweet girl,” I greeted, letting her lick my cheek.
“Sasha is seventeen,” Barrick explained. “She’s been through a lot and is the best dog I’ve ever met. She’s the only one who can make Braxton smile when he’s in one of his moods.”
Giving the dog one last scratch, I straightened. “So, you were both in the Marines?” I asked as he opened the door behind him.
His bedroom.
“Yeah. It’s kind of a family thing. Both my dad and stepdad were in the Marines. I went in, and then three years later when Brax graduated high school, he followed. His mom is still pissed at me for that, not that I can blame her after what happened. He never would have signed on if I hadn’t.” He flipped on the lights and motioned me in before closing the door.
The room was perfect. Bed made, no dirty clothes on the floor. It even looked like it had been recently vacuumed. Both my brother’s and Jordan’s rooms were disasters. You couldn’t tell where the floor was because there were normally so many random things scattered across it.
I was almost afraid to touch anything for fear I would mess it up.
“What happened, exactly?” I asked, sitting carefully on the edge of his bed. “I mean, I saw his leg this morning, but I didn’t want to be rude…”
He grimaced as he dropped down beside me, his eyes stormy. “IED while he was deployed. It nearly killed him, but he had a good field medic who stayed with him until they could get him to base. From there, they had to fly him to Germany.” He scrubbed his hands over his face. “That was a year ago. He spent four months in the hospital in Germany before they sent him home.”
I touched Barrick’s back. “I can’t imagine how scary that must have been.”
“I was already out by then, but I flew to Germany to be with him. His parents tried to keep me away, said I was nothing but a bad influence and the only reason Brax was even there. But Brax is stubborn as hell. He’s going to do whatever he wants to do. It’s not like he’s some lost puppy following after me just so he has direction in his life.” I wasn’t sure if he was explaining it to me or trying to convince himself, because there was guilt shining out of his dark eyes, and I ached for both him and Braxton.
“His parents treat him like he’s helpless now, and he can’t stand it. So, he moved in with me.” He lay back and glared up at the ceiling.
Lying on my side, I propped my head up on my hand. He was quiet for a while, and I didn’t like him being lost in his head with unpleasant thoughts. Boldly, I stroked my fingers through his beard, enjoying the tickle of the well-trimmed hair against my fingertips.
In my experience, there weren’t many guys who had full beards at twenty-four, but it suited him so much.
He closed his eyes, and he pressed into my touch for a moment before covering my hand with his own. “You were a surprise, Mia,” he murmured, opening his eyes to meet my gaze. “I wasn’t expecting…” Voice trailing off, he clenched his jaw and shook his head before pressing my palm to his lips and getting to his feet.
Turning back to me, he offered his hand. “You’re too tempting like this. Come on before I lose my mind and do something we’ll both regret in the morning.”
I hesitated, staring at his hand as I remained where I was. “Who said I would regret it?”
With a curse, he dropped his hand and walked away. Reaching the door, he flipped the lock and started back toward me with that predatory look in his dark eyes. I watched him approach with my heart beating me half to death, my breaths already coming in little pants as I anticipated his first touch…
My phone ringing had us both jerking like we’d been hit with an electric shock. Grabbing it, I groaned when I saw it was Momma. “I have to take this,” I told him regretfully.
He nodded, combing his fingers through his hair frustratedly. “Maybe it’s a good thing. We don’t want to rush this. Right?”
