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Levi sat picking at his Pilgram sandwich while Cash ate his Monte Cristo sandwich with confident gusto and devoured his fries like he had the key to the world.
“Okay.”
“Okay, what?” asked Cash.
“I want to try.”
“Man, it’s something you either feel or you don’t. Doesn’t she make you want to be with her when you aren’t with her? Want to protect her when you think she might be in harm’s way or doing something that she shouldn’t? When she takes unnecessary chances, don’t you want to kiss her senseless and smack that pert ass rosy?”
“Our relationship has been full of respect,” said Levi. “I don’t spank.”
Cash nodded. “And full of restrictions. Spanking is my main kink, and if she isn’t into it, fine. I’ll be fine without it. I won’t be fine without her. Let yourself go and see how you feel about her. Allow your feelings to develop. I’ll give you a week to pull your head out of your ass before I declare myself. I’d like to do it together. The other night, when that shit hit the fan and bullets were flying, I didn’t want to let her out of the safe room at Jac’s. She followed my lead and stopped trying to convince Jac to let them out of the room when I stepped in and quietly told her to shut it down, or I’d spank her ass.”
Levi laughed. “I remember you saying that, and I bet she torched your ass.”
“You’d think so because that is how she has portrayed herself, but she didn’t. She balked a moment, then agreed to wait until released.”
“No shit?”
“No shit.”
“Yeah, but she didn’t talk to you.”
Cash grinned. “For a day, and I spent that whole day goading her to speak to me. She gave in by dinner. I play to win. So should you.”
Levi left lunch with a lot of thinking to do, and whatever he needed to do, he would do, but Cash was serious. One week and he was going to share his thoughts with Finley and let things be as they would be. Levi needed to be ready with his full decision of how he felt about her enough to know if he would be in or out.
Cash had grown up in a typical family with two parents, two siblings, both sisters, and a family dog. His grandparents were still alive. Nothing out of the ordinary. He’d moved to Memphis at the age of ten and met Levi on day two of attending his new school. He could still see Levi’s ten-year-old self walk up to Cash and look him over.
Then he said, “I hear you’re new. I could do it with a new friend. You’re him. Come play tetherball. You good at sports?” Cash had shrugged. “You’ll get good.” They had been friends ever since.
Now it was time to start reeling these two into accepting the idea of the three of them. He hoped like fuck it worked.
Chapter 3
Levi picked up his phone. “Hey, Fin, I’m off the next two days. Have you got any plans?”
“Yes, but you are welcome to join Storm and me.”
“Good. Then, after Sharlee or Jac take over, we can grab a bite to eat, and there is this sci-fi flick I think might good. You up for it?”
“Sure. Is Cash meeting us?”
“He probably can. I’ll call him. Where are you going to be later?” He listened and then asked, “Which park?” Levi listened. “Got it. I’m on my way after I do my PT and get some breakfast.”
Time to take his exploration to the next level. See if there is anything more than friendship on the horizon. He dialed Cash.
“Hey, want to meet Fin and me at the theater for that new sci-fi flick we were talking about?”
“Working tonight. Sorry. But I think you need to figure things out with Finley, and alone might help. We’ll do something at the weekend.”
“Yeah, alright.”
Cash was right. Levi needed to see what he really thought about Finley. Not love, but more than friends with benefits. Push himself to open up some. Encourage her to do the same. He headed to the office gym.
Finley had taken Storm out for their morning run. She laughed to herself. Her drill instructor would have loved Storm because, at twenty months, that boy ran everywhere. No one who knew Finley would have thought, in their wildest dreams,that she would enjoy being a nanny. She hated immaturity in the Marines that she served with and didn’t allow herself to show the world anything but a hard-as-nails persona, but taking care of kids fit her like the last piece of the puzzle. She had begun to show her budding inner circle of people there was something more beneath the surface, and it was scary being vulnerable. Baby steps.
She had no desire to have her own children, and that was evidently an oddity. She’d kept in touch with a couple of female Marines, but they had pretty much dropped their military persona and embraced the civilian life. Finley had never wanted to be a wife with 2.3 kids, so when she was fed up with the patriarchal regime the military said didn’t exist but was loud and proud behind closed doors, she started to put feelers out that used her skill set.
