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“Oh.”
“Feels amazing out here,” he said, his eyes flicking to the firelight.
“It does.”
“You’re really here for good?” he asked.
“Yep. No other place I want to be.” Ian picked up our bottle and refreshed our glasses.
“Right now, with this view, I have no argument.” I sank further into my seat as the sun set, a wine buzz, and the music drifted between us. I’d only ever shared my bubble with Jasmine. I felt strangely comfortable doing it with Ian. Because though the man in front of me was a far cry from the boy who chased me through the sand, he wasn’t a stranger.
With a bottle between us and the false courage that went with it, I studied him.
“So, tell me about the Marines. Is the training really as hard as it’s made out to be?”
“Worse,” he muttered. “It didn’t matter, I was up for it and I had already been training for months before I went in. But it wasn’t a breeze by any means. God, that seems like another lifetime ago,” he whispered almost inaudibly.
“So, you got out right away?”
“I served four years and I could have served more, but I had a baby coming, I wanted to be out.” He pulled at his lip and nodded. “I didn’t want to miss anything.”
“How old is she?”
“Just turned fifteen.”
“Wow.”
He stoked the fire as I swallowed a little intimidation.
Ian had been married, divorced, and was raising a daughter. The longest commitment I’d had was with my Mac, who I murdered on my way out of the city.
I chuckled.
“What?”
“I was just thinking of how much further evolved you are than I am. You’ve already had a marriage and are almost done raising a kid.”
He shrugged as he dug his feet into the sand. “What’s the rush?”
“No rush, well actually, at this point…”
Prodding eyes flicked my way.
“I have no plans past today, and those are my plans tomorrow.”
“I like your life. I wish I had it so easy.”
“Trust me, I pay for it. My mother is pissed and my dad is utterly confused with my choice to stay here. I tell them constantly they should have had another child, at least then they could do that fun comparison thing. It’s not my fault my mother was worried about her figure instead of procreating, and they were forced to place their hopes on one kid.”
“Some pressure, huh?” Ian grinned. “I guess since my parents adopted I lucked out.”
“Trust me, in regards to your mother, there is no disappointment in the slightest when it comes to you. Rowan is wonderful and thinks the world of you.” I said with a smile. “We caught up briefly last summer, but I don’t remember much of her when we were kids, but I do remember her banana pops. God, what was in those?”
Ian grinned. “I’ll teach you.”
“Really?”
“Yes,” he said as he filled our glasses again. “If you fancy them that much.”
