Home > Nine Marines' Shared Property(16)

Nine Marines' Shared Property(16)
Author: Nicole Casey

I pulled back and looked at her with wide eyes. “Holly, I’ve said that countless times.”

She raised her hands defensively. “I know you’ve said that. But do you really mean it, or are you just telling yourself what you think you need to hear?”

I considered her comment a moment. “Maybe.” I sighed. “Apparently, it doesn’t matter. Apparently, I’m in a relationship whether I wanted to be in one or not.”

She raised her glass timidly and said half as a question, half as a toast, “Congratulations?”

I didn’t know if that was worth celebrating or worth worrying about; probably both. We clinked glasses anyway. “And you know how I am with relationships.”

She shook her head. “I only know about Michael.”

“Enough said.”

She frowned at me. “Gwen, not all guys are like Michael.”

“I know that. But a lot of them are.”

“Don’t make me take the side of your boyfriends,” she said half jokingly, “I haven’t even met them all.”

I laughed.

“And why are you still thinking about Michael, anyway?” she said. “You’ve moved on. Tell your mind that. It would seem it didn’t get the memo.”

“Ouch.”

I tried to veer the conversation away from me. I asked Holly about her travels and her job, but she wasn’t having it.

“No way,” she said. “You’re seeing nine guys at the same time. You’re not going to ‘how is work’ your way out of telling me everything. I want to know what it’s like.”

“Fair enough.” I smoothed out the napkin on my lap and took in a deep breath. “Well, for a start, it’s complicated.”

She smirked. “Thanks for the insight.”

“I mean, it was supposed to be just a fun game.”

“And it’s not fun?”

“It is,” I said enthusiastically. “But you know me, I get attached easily.”

“And who are you getting attached to?”

“My boyfriends,” I said, louder than I’d intended. We both looked around the restaurant. There were more than a few inquisitive faces looking back at us.

We looked at each other and laughed.

“I wish I knew how to relax and just enjoy the moment,” I said. “But when I start to feel something, I get… well, you know how I get.”

“Attached.”

I shook my head. “How do you do it? How do you manage to keep your heart protected while still having fun?”

Holly nearly choked on her water. “You make me sound like a heartless trollop.”

“Trollop?”

She waved her hands dismissively in the air. “Whatever. You know what I mean.” She leaned across the table and whispered. “But I’m not. I, too, can have feelings for a guy.”

I gasped and fanned myself in mock shock. “I never would have guessed.”

Holly nodded. “It’s true.”

“Your secret’s safe with me,” I said.

“And,”—she straightened in her chair—“having feelings is a good thing.”

“Unless the guy or guys you’re dating aren’t serious,” I said under my breath.

She cocked her head to the side and raised an eyebrow.

I shrugged. “They keep making excuses. They have to work; they have training. I don’t know, seems suspicious.”

“It seems suspicious that working Marines have to work and they have training?”

“Yes,” I said defiantly.

Holly put her hand over mine and squeezed. “Gwen, these guys, they’re not Michael.”

I frowned and nodded.

“You got burned once,” she continued. “It happens to the best of us. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t go back to the kitchen.”

“Baking reference.” I beamed. “Nice one.”

“You got a bad apple,” she said. “That doesn’t mean you should throw out the apple tart recipe.”

I frowned and furrowed my brow.

Holly put her hands out, palms up. “I’m trying.”

 

 

We finished dinner, left the restaurant and headed to a nearby bar for a quick drink before the walk home. While we were standing at the bar, trying to get the bartender’s attention, two guys came up to us.

“Good evening, ladies.”

They were both handsome, though maybe a bit too old for my taste.

“Is it a good evening, though?” said Holly.

One of the guys, tall with dark eyes and dark hair pulled back in a ponytail, leaned against the bar and said to Holly, “It could be, with the right company.” He raised a hand toward the bartender and the bartender came over to him quickly.

The guy turned to us. “What are you having?”

“Cosmo,” said Holly.

“Make that two,” I said then I glanced at Holly and shot her a look of ‘what are you doing?’.

She returned my look with one of her ‘don’t worry; I got this’ looks.

“Two cosmos,” said the guy to the bartender, “and two apple martinis.”

Holly and I chuckled.

“Something funny about apple martinis?” said the other guy.

“No,” I said. “It’s just that we were talking about apples a little while ago.”

The guy who’d ordered the drinks said, “In a good way?”

I shook my head. “No, not in a good way. Not at all in a good way.”

He frowned.

We drank our drinks. I tried to be civil, in case Holly was interested in one of them. But it was difficult. The guys wouldn’t stop talking about themselves. One told us repeatedly about the sports car he’d just bought, and the other guy talked about the firm he worked at and how prestigious it was.

I was trying to think of a way to politely get away from them when Holly finished the last of her drink, set it on the bar and slapped one of the guys on the arm. “Congratulations on the car, thanks for the drinks, now if you’ll excuse us.” She took me by the hand and started off.

“Hey, wait,” said one of the guys. “Where are you going?”

“To the other end of the bar,” said Holly.

They didn’t follow us, not after the dry and direct way Holly shot them down.

At the other end of the bar, we had similar luck—or lack thereof—trying to get the bartender’s attention. A guy in a suit, collar unbuttoned, with a golden medallion hanging from his neck, approached Holly. “What are you having?”

“We’re trying to order cosmos,” she said, “but the bartender’s ignoring us.”

The guy raised a hand and the bartender came right over.

“Two cosmos,” he said, “and a whiskey sour.”

“But we’re paying separately,” Holly said to the bartender.

He ignored her.

“Holly, remind me never to recommend this bar again.”

She shrugged. “It could be worse. We could have to pay for our drinks.”

 

 

We had a good buzz going for our walk home. And despite it being early October, it wasn’t too cold outside—or maybe it was, but the alcohol was doing a good job keeping us warm.

Hot Books
» House of Earth and Blood (Crescent City #1)
» A Kingdom of Flesh and Fire
» From Blood and Ash (Blood And Ash #1)
» A Million Kisses in Your Lifetime
» Deviant King (Royal Elite #1)
» Den of Vipers
» House of Sky and Breath (Crescent City #2)
» The Queen of Nothing (The Folk of the Air #
» Sweet Temptation
» The Sweetest Oblivion (Made #1)
» Chasing Cassandra (The Ravenels #6)
» Wreck & Ruin
» Steel Princess (Royal Elite #2)
» Twisted Hate (Twisted #3)
» The Play (Briar U Book 3)