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They were sitting at a little diner not far from the base. They would’ve usually preferred to get a coffee and bite to eat from Summer’s bakery. But this time they were discussing things they didn’t want her to overhear.
“I’ve been thinking that we should ask Summer to be ours,” Lucas murmured. They’d already discussed this several times and came to the same conclusion.
Chase sipped extra sweet coffee with lots of cream, mulling over his friend’s words. “You’ve said that. Hell, so have I. It would be great, but a long-distance relationship just won’t work. Don’t act like you’d be happy giving up sex for most of the year, not being able to see her in person.”
Lucas was quick with his usual reply. “We’re Marines, that’s what military men do. How many guys are overseas right now with wives and kids back home waiting for them? You don’t think they make it work somehow?”
“Summer’s not our wife, and we don’t have any kids together. We’ve only known her for a few weeks. It does feel like a lot longer though, doesn’t it?” Chase frowned into his coffee, taking an automated sip.
“It sure does.” They sat in silence for a while, looking out the diner window from their fake leather booth. “Well, if you’re not willing to make that kind of a commitment after all this time, maybe I could?”
“Are you asking or telling me?” Chase smiled crookedly, and gave up pretending to drink the coffee. They’d never fought over a girl before. If any woman could make that happen, Summer was the one.
Lucas glared at him. “Of course, I’m asking, bro. Shit, do you really think I’d try to steal her all for myself? But if you don’t want to be with her again after we ship out, maybe you’d let me?”
“You’d really do that to keep her, wouldn’t you?”
Lucas didn’t have to think for a full second. “Without a doubt. And I know you would too. You’re just too afraid to admit that you feel that way about her. Am I right or not?”
“Yeah,” Chase said with a drawn-out sigh. “You’re right, I care about her a lot. Okay, let’s do this then.”
“Fuck yeah!” Lucas was exuberant.
Chapter 11
Chase
Chase wasn’t as certain about making things as permanent as Lucas seemed to be. But then again, he’d always been more removed from matters of the heart than his friend. Chase found it easier to remain aloof, to keep people at a distance. That was the best way to make sure that he protected himself. But how was he ever going to live his life fully if he played it safe?
Joining the military had always been like a safe move for him. He didn’t have to make the big decisions for himself. They told him where to be, what to do, what to eat. And even where he was going to live. The idea of getting older had never worried him much before. He was twenty-eight years old, the same as Lucas. They were the same men they’d been all through their twenties.
Maybe Lucas was getting tired of being in that young adult stage of life. If Chase didn’t follow through on this decision to commit to more with Summer, he feared he’d regret it for the rest of his life. They had something big to ask her, and they planned to meet her that night.
Summer wouldn’t expect anything unusual to go down. That’s why she invited them over to her house after they finished their night shift. It meant staying up later for her, but the girl who helped her down at the bakery was happy to get the extra shifts. Chase worried that Summer was losing money by paying for the extra time away from her business to spend with them. He wanted to be able to offer to help her out, to take care of her, to be her man.
Rather, to beoneof her men. Doing this with his best buddy, who was really a lot more like a brother than most real blood brothers, made it easier. Less scary. Chase was the larger of the two, usually bigger than most people. He was also the quiet one with the ‘brooding’ eyes, as people so often put it. That didn’t mean he was some emotionless giant who couldn’t relate to other humans.
He had a lot of love to give. He wanted to give that love to Summer. She was such a special woman that she deserved their very best.
“So, you guys said you wanted to talk about something?” she asked once they were on her couch. It was late, so Summer had been sweet enough to brew them some excellent coffee from some new beans she was testing at the bakery.
“We do,” Chase said, but Lucas took over immediately. This time he was glad his friend wanted to handle the more serious stuff.
“We both want to ask you if you’ll be our woman.” Lucas blurted.
“We do,” Chase added with carefully guarded enthusiasm. For some reason he was just expecting her to say no. Of course, she would be more sensible and mature. She was a couple years their junior, but women were always more mature than guys around the same age. Summer was about to awkwardly apologize for having to let them down, he just knew it.
“Are you serious?” Her face paled. “I… I don’t know what to say. I mean, I never in my whole life thought you’d ask me that.”
“It’s just that, well,” Lucas began to flail. That reaction was not promising and he didn’t handle rejection as well as he let on. He was possessive, and terrified of losing her.
Chase took the lead. “We know that military relationships are hard enough. They’re often long distance, and there’s the danger involved. That’s why, if you say yes to us—to both of us—we will ask to remain stationed at Camp Lejeune right here in Jacksonville for the rest of our service.” He let out a sigh of relief at just having gotten all of that out without feeling like an idiot. Chase held his breath waiting for the reply from this terrified looking woman.
“You can do that?” she asked.
“Our stint is up at the end of the year. We were planning to continue trying to work up the ranks. But if you’ll have us, we’d like to maybe try settling down with you instead? If that’s what you want, I mean.” Lucas was actually getting tongue tied.
Chase gave him a subtly ironic look. “And you know that he’s serious, because I think this might be the first time I’ve ever seen him at a loss for words. That’s the kind of effect you have on him. On me, too.”
