Page 12 of Keel

“Camping. Walking all day, then setting up a place to sleep under the stars. I had time to think. Sitting out here, watching the sun rise, the waves come in, let it heal you. We’ll eat breakfast in the morning, and we can go for a walk after. Spend some time just being with yourself.”

“Okay.”

She wanted this process to be easier. Wanted to snap her fingers, or throw money at the problem, not that she had any money. It was easier to party like crazy and ignore everything. But she’d tried all that, and it didn’t work. Nothing worked. Maybe Keel’s way would be the solution.

Chapter 7

Sleep didn’t come easily, and she woke early. She didn’t want to bug Keel, but then she heard him out on the patio. She opened the door and moved to the rail, leaning out to watch the sunrise.

“Good morning,” she said without looking over. Hopefully, he had clothes on.

She heard him stand and move to the rail, his coffee mug casually dangled over the edge in one hand. The coffee smelled delicious.

“Good morning. You ready for breakfast?”

“Your coffee smells great.” Her breath caught as she turned and met his gray gaze. The man looked beautiful. She knew guys didn’t like beautiful used to describe them, but Keel was beautiful.

“I’ll get you a mug. Do you want milk and sugar?”

“Yes. I like it a little sweet. I know that’s bad.”

“It’s not bad. I’ll fix a mug. Do you want to come over and watch the sun rise from here?”

She shouldn’t, but she wanted to. “Sure. I’ll be over in a few minutes.”

“I’ll prop the door open.”

The first thought she had was that he was a fool for propping the door. He lived in a different world than she did. A guy like him wouldn’t be attacked if he left the door open. Not here. This wasn’t the hood. It was a vacation destination.

She made her way through the apartment, taking a deep breath before checking outside the peephole, seeing if it was clear. Forest was an idiot, but she didn’t think he would come back so soon.

The coast was clear, and she opened the door, checking the lot, not seeing the shiny car Forest had been driving. Relief spread, and she knocked before opening his door, then made sure the door was firmly shut and locked after she closed it.

“Hey, coffee is ready. Come on, let’s go out before the sun actually comes up. I think we have a minute or two.”

She picked up the mug and took a sip. It tasted like heaven. “Thank you. This is good.”

“Thanks. I’m a coffee snob when I’m not in the field.”

He stepped out onto the patio, and she followed. The clouds were painted in pinks and oranges.

“Beautiful,” Keel said.

“When I was a kid, we came here. I loved the sunrises. My mom hated that I woke early, but I’ve never been a good sleeper.”

Keel chuckled then took a sip of coffee. “I used to drive my parents crazy. I’d climb trees, and they thought I was going to die. A few times, I got stuck really high and couldn’t get down. One time, the fire department had to be called.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. I was always into stuff, doing crazy things.”

“I was very obedient. I did what my parents told me. I didn’t drink, didn’t smoke. My friends took pills and did edibles. I was a goody two-shoes.”

“My parents were strict. I loved them, but they took punishment to the next level. It’s why I left home so young and joined up. I needed an escape, and part of that escape was getting with Shana. She said she accepted me. I enjoyed basic training. I got to do stuff like climb towers and do fun exercises where I climbed up rope ladders and ran obstacle courses. We camped out under the stars and swam naked in lakes and streams. It was good.”

“It sounds like you made the most of it.”

“I did. I was one of the weird ones who liked training.”