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“I don’t have kids, and to be honest, I’ve never really thought about it. I never thought I would ever even have any kind of prospects in the love arena.”
My gaze drifted across to Logan. He was so happy here. I liked seeing him laugh and relax and drink beers with his friends. I felt like a stupid girly-girl when he drank from his beer and I got all turned-on at the way his throat worked as he chugged that beer down, making me react in all kinds of stupid ways.
Ashton laughed. “Checking out your man?”
“Oh. He’s not—” I quickly averted my gaze. “I mean, we’re not . . ..” I turned to her. “I don’t know what we are.”
“I do.”
“You do?”
“Yeah. You’re in that ‘should I or shouldn’t I?’ phase. You’re having all of these new, unfamiliar feelings that you’re scared of, but at the same time, you want to see where they take you.”
“You’re incredibly insightful,” I told her.
“Well, hey. It wasn’t too long ago that each of us was in the same predicament.” Ashton jerked her chin towards the other ladies.
“Do you have any advice?” I asked.
Ashton took a moment to think about it. “Feel, don’t think. See where it takes you. And maybe fuck his brains out, because he is hot, let me say!”
I cringed. “Oh. Um, I-I don’t know . . . how to.” Before Ashton could make a comment on that, I quickly added, “Besides, I’m only here for three weeks before I go back to Brooklyn and my job there.”
“I couldn’t help but overhear,” Catherine said. “But know that they’re ex-SEALs, Aria, and we’re SEAL wives. We’re pretty much used to long-distance relationships. If you guys want to give a relationship a go, I’m sure you’ll work it out.”
I had heard military spouses were a special kind of people. They became accustomed to being apart for months on end, seeing their men sent off to dangerous places with the chance of never coming back again, and sometimes coming back in a casket. They were required to run a household and raise families more or less on their own. They had a heck of a lot of ‘me’ time if they didn’t have kids.
Logan was an ex-Navy SEAL. If I wanted to attempt a long-distance thing, he would be the best person to do it with. I also wanted to keep my independence and be able to smash my career goals. Maybe Logan would be the kind of guy to give me that freedom? I’d never know if I didn’t give it a shot.
I glanced over at Logan again, but this time he caught me. One side of his mouth curved up in a half-smile, which made my heart skip. I attempted to cover up my reaction by hiding my face with my glass as I drank from it.
Ashton nudged me. “Don’t think.”
I was grateful for the distraction when Arabelle raced over to me with some other children in tow. “Princess Aria, you’re here!”
“Hello, Arabelle.” I bent down and hugged the little girl. “Who are these other kids with you?”
“They’re my family.”
“They’re all our kids,” Catherine said, indicating everybody.
“Wow, it’s onebigfamily. You’re so lucky, Princess Arabelle.”
“I know,” Arabelle said with a shrug. She turned to her entourage and waved her hand at them. “Let’s go!”
The group of kids ran off to the swing set.
Lee laughed quietly. “My daughter is so spoiled.”
“At least she’s cute,” I countered.
Mark and Jackson carried over two platters containing steaks and burger patties on one and grilled fish and shrimp skewers on the other. Before this holiday was over, I figured I probably would have consumed twice my weight in seafood. Logan set a bowl of grilled corn into the centre of the table before sitting down.
“Kids! Lunch!” Gretchen called.
The children raced over, and a couple of their parents got them settled at the kiddie table. The mothers and fathers all fussed over their children and made sure they all had their meals before they settled at the adult’s table.
I pulled up a chair between Logan and Natalie.
