“Did you have one when you were driving? Do you need anything?”

“Nah. Just came on suddenly.”

“I can get you some Tylenol.”

“Ari, no. Let’s just get you out of the cold.”

I ushered her inside and paid for a rental gun and extra ammo for Ari, and then we entered our booth.

After I explained the mechanics to her, we took turns firing at the target across the room. She actually wasn’t bad. I was pretty surprised since she had never held a gun before. She hadn’t even seemed that freaked-out. It was hot.

I finished my last round of ammo and then set the gun down.

“You’re kind of amazing at this,” Ari said.

“Practice. You’re damn good for a beginner.”

She brightened and leaned forward for a kiss. I f**king loved when she initiated. It took all my control not to push her against the wall. She was so different from the girl I’d met who had dosed my drink, yet she was the same exact person who had intrigued me. She still intrigued me all the time.

Like she had grown accustomed to doing over the past couple of weeks, her fingers toyed with the dog tags around my neck. She softly kissed me once more. “Why do you always wear these?”

“Always have.”

“I don’t think I could picture you without them.”

“I’ve had them since I was a kid.” I wasn’t sure why I’d told her that. I never talked about it with anyone, not even the guys. They thought, like Ari, that the dog tags were just a part of me.

“Is someone in your family military?” she asked curiously.

I tensed. “Yeah, my dad.”

“It’s so honorable to spend your life fighting for your country.”

“Yeah,” I said tightly. “The tags remind me of the man that I want to be.”

Chapter 22: Aribel

Date Fifteen

A few days later, I awoke to the sound of someone banging loudly on the front door. I blearily opened my eyes and took a look at the clock. Four forty-five in the morning. Why is someone knocking on the door this early?

Everyone else in my place slept like a rock. I doubted they’d even heard the knocking. Ugh! I hoped the person would go away already.

But I was out of luck. The knocking started again.

After hopping out of bed, I threw on a pair of sweats and trudged into the living room. The knocking started again just as I reached the door. I peered through the hole and sighed. This feels familiar.

“Grant, what are you doing here?” I asked with a yawn.

“I tried to call you.”

“Not sure you checked the time right. It’s almost five a.m., not five p.m.”

“I know. Get dressed. We have places to be,” he said, stepping through the door, uninvited.

“I’m not going anywhere this early. Are you out of your mind?”

He shook his head and started dragging me to my bedroom. “Bundle up. It’s cold outside.”

When he turned his back, I crawled into bed and closed my eyes. Grant noticed me and chuckled. He lay down beside me, and I rested my head on his arm.

“You’re going to be difficult, aren’t you?” he asked.

“I like having you here,” I said softly.

“So, early mornings are when I can get you to tell me these kinds of things?”

I yawned again. “You’re comfortable. Don’t leave.”

“Ari, we have places to be.”

“Yep. Asleep. In your arms.”

Grant sighed and wrapped an arm around me. I snuggled closer into him and felt myself drifting off so easily.

His hand slipped under my T-shirt and ran along my skin. “God, Ari, I love your body,” he whispered against my ear.

His thumb ran against my nipple, and then he pinched it between his fingertips. I groaned faintly, and he took my entire breast in his hand. As he massaged me, I let my lips find the sensitive spot on his neck, and I trailed light kisses up to his ear. Taking that as encouragement, his hand tucked into the waistband of my sweats, and he started circling around my clit.

I was now fully awake. “Grant,” I whimpered, clutching his T-shirt. It wasn’t fair that he could get me this riled up.

He didn’t respond. He just rolled me onto my back and captured my lips in a searing kiss. His hands were everywhere at once, sending butterflies through my stomach. His dick was pressing up against the thin material of my pants. Oh God, that feels good.

A tremor ran through me. My legs slid to either side of his and squeezed against his hips. One of his hands grabbed my ass, thrusting us closer together.

I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t think. This was happening. I could just…do this.

“I…I want to,” I whispered, stalling Grant.

“You do?” The eagerness in his voice was evident.

Then, my brain stopped my body. “I just…I’m not sure right now.”

“Ari,” he groaned.

Embarrassment hit me. I wanted to be with Grant, yet I couldn’t shut my brain off enough to just be with him. We’d been at this for more than two months, and it was absolutely nothing like any other relationship I’d been in. There was no power struggle, no checklist going off in my mind, and no daily reminder to enjoy myself. I just did with Grant. It made no sense to me, and I was strangely okay with that.

When I didn’t say anything else, Grant rolled off of me and out of bed. He adjusted himself in front of me, not covering up for an instant. He wanted me to see what I’d done to him.

“You’re awake now, so let’s go. We have places to be,” he said stiffly.

I swung my legs over the side of the bed. “Where are we going this early?”

“You’ll see, Princess. You know how much I like surprises.”

Once I was bundled up enough for Grant’s approval, we piled into his truck, and he started driving us away.

Grant shook me some time later, and I woke up, lying across the cab and resting my head on his lap.

“Hey, sleepyhead, time to get up.”

I rubbed my eyes and groggily sat up. “Where are we?”

He just smirked and hopped out of his truck. Tucking a handful of blankets under his arm, he helped me out of the truck and took my hand. As we left the parking lot behind, I took in my surroundings—squat buildings, sea salt in the air, sand peppering the ground under my feet. Then, we turned a corner, and all I could see stretched out before me was the dark blue water of the Atlantic Ocean.