Page 34 of Blue Moon

Chapter 14

Sol

Sawyer and I spent the night together, but we didn’t have sex. I couldn’t believe he had actually turned me down, especially since I could tell how much he wanted me, not to mention how hard he’d been when I’d practically thrown myself at him. But everything was different now. He had asked me to be his girlfriend. I wanted to scream it from the rooftop.

Or better yet, announce it on Instagram.

But I couldn’t do that. I didn’t want to piss him off. I knew how he felt about social media, and I wouldn’t disrespect him.

It was so hard for me to live offline though. If you date someone and don’t post about it on social media, does the relationship really exist? The answer, surprisingly, was yes.

I packed up some clothes and tidied up my condo so I wouldn’t be embarrassed when the house sitter arrived, then I picked up the phone and called Kelli. She answered on the first ring.

“Hey, Sol. What’s up?”

“Hey! I just wanted to give you a heads-up that I’m heading to Seattle for a few days.”

Kelli laughed. “Are you serious? You wouldn’t happen to be going with a handsome, daredevil pilot by any chance, would you?”

Ugh. I did not want to lie to her. But I also didn’t know if I could trust her to keep the details of my love life to herself. She had access to my Instagram account, after all. She could post whatever and whenever she wanted. I didn’t want to do anything to risk my fledgling relationship.

“It’s just a weird coincidence—I have a friend from college who lives up there. I need a change of scenery. I’ll make sure to get some good pictures.”

She paused. “Fine.” The sudden change in her tone confirmed that she hadn’t believed a word I’d just said. “Please email me about which theme you want to use in Seattle. Coffee is always great. Or seafood. I can arrange to get your hotel comped. And I’ll send over a list of restaurants so I can arrange posts. I’ll also contact some touristy places. Feel free to send me any ideas you have on your end. We might have to accept whatever we get because this is so last minute.”

Right. This was my job. I could never have a trip that didn’t involve business. I regretted not just absconding into the night and ghosting her. “Sounds good. I’ll let you know the details. I do want to eat at Etta’s. Not sure about the hotel yet because I may stay with my friend.” Boyfriend, I wanted to say, but the “boy” was silent for now.

“Oh, right. Your friend from college. Okay. I’ll be waiting for your itinerary. Bye, Sol.”

Ugh. She was so on to me. “Bye.”

I stared at my phone’s glowing home screen for a few seconds after the call disconnected. Damn, that was tougher than I’d thought. If I continued dating Sawyer, news of our relationship would get out eventually. But I’d deal with that later.

Sawyer was already on base so he could prepare for the trip to Seattle, so I took an Uber to meet him. He greeted me with a big kiss. I giggled and just stared at him. This was so surreal.

Officer Daly smirked. “Miss Sol. Nice to see you again. You must be some woman to tame Sawyer. You can call me Beck.”

“Hi, Beck. Thanks. I’m excited to go to Seattle. I haven’t been in years.”

“It’s beautiful there. My fiancée will be joining us, so maybe we can all get together for dinner?”

Wow, I was being embraced by Sawyer’s friends already. “Oh, I’d love that. I know this great restaurant in Seattle.” I’d be getting paid to eat there and post about it, but he didn’t need the details.

Beck shook his head. “Oh, let’s skip the restaurant. Paloma’s an amazing cook. I know I probably sound biased since she’s my fiancée, but I think she’s the best. She makes everything from scratch. Since the pilots travel so much during the year, we try to have home-cooked food whenever we can. We’re basically one big family.”

That sounded amazing. I loved how close they all were. No wonder Sawyer didn’t need social media followers—he had real-life friends. What a radical concept.

“I’m so excited. That sounds wonderful. Thank you for welcoming me.”

“Sure thing.” Beck kissed me on the cheek and walked away.

I turned to Sawyer. “Wow, he’s so nice.”

Sawyer laughed. “Who, Beck? Beck is not nice. He’s an excellent pilot, a good man, and a great dad, but he’s definitely not nice. He’s a hardass.”

“Dad? Oh, how old are his kids?”

“His daughter Sky is a year and a half. His wife, Catherine, passed away during childbirth. Paloma was Sky’s nanny, so that’s how they met. She and Beck just got engaged.”