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I pursed my lips. The man had a point. What kind of life would I be able to offer her if I got out? I had no college degree or job experience outside of loading bombs onto fighter jets. That didn’t exactly translate well in the civilian job market. What was I going to do, call up American Airlines and ask them if their planes carried ordnance?
I rubbed my hands over my face, hating that I hadn’t thought of this sooner. I could have brought it up before we even went all the way down this road. If Aria didn’t want to leave with me, she could have done a U-turn right then and there. But now? Hearing her say that now might actually crush me.
“I’m not sure I have another option, brother,” I said gravely. “If it’s a choice between my career and Aria, I know what I’ll pick.”
Paul slapped a hand on my shoulder. “Man, I’m sorry I ever doubted you.”
A slow grin spread over my face then. “You should be.” The silence hung around us for a minute, so I let out a long sigh hoping to lighten the mood. “Is this the part where we kiss and make up, or what?”
Paul laughed and stuck out his hand for me to shake. “We can skip that part, I think.”
I grabbed his hand without hesitation, shaking it once before pulling him to me for a quick hug. We patted each other’s backs a couple of times before stepping apart.
“Good,” I said. “I was gonna be mad if I’d gotten my blues dry cleaned for the wedding for no reason.”
Tiny bursts of air escaped from his nostrils as he shook his head. “I still can’t believe she’s making us wear our blues at the wedding.”
“Oh, I can. Shelby’s gonna be a super motivated Marine wife, I can already tell.”
“She already has a T-shirt that says Proud Marine Wife that she can’t wait to bust out. She wants to wear it on the flight to St. Thomas. And she also packed a workout tank top, hat, and toiletry bag with the eagle, globe, and anchor on it. She’s killing me. I’m hoping I can convince her there are better ways to spend our honeymoon than being out and about wearing all her moto-gear.”
I laughed. “I’m sure she’ll go for it.”
Paul made a face like he was going to be sick. “Oh no.”
“What?”
“I just realized something.”
“Tell me.”
He swallowed like it was hard to do so, closing his eyes. “If you and Aria get married, that means you’re going to have a honeymoon, too.”
Before he could blink, I reached up and closed my hand over Paul’s forearm, putting the other hand on his back and shoving him into the lake with a splash. I doubled over with laughter as he shot through the surface, sputtering and cursing at me while treading water. It was the perfect way to handle his dumb comment if I did say so myself.
“Ah, just like the good ole days,” I mused, crossing my arms over my chest.
“Yeah, except this time I’ve got my phone in my pocket, you moron.”
I waved a hand. “Meh, it’s waterproof.”
