Perfect Soldier: The Complete Story (5-Part BBW Military Romance Novel) (5 page)

Chapter
Two

Colton

Waking up next to Cat, morning sex, a quiet
breakfast. These were things I could get used to. Cat was wondering what the
future held, but it was hard to say at this point. I knew that sooner or later,
I’d be heading back overseas, but I didn’t want to think about that right now.
I was back in the States, it was a time for resting and relaxing. Eventually,
I’d figure things out.

She was right to ask me what would happen after
Vegas, right to be concerned that it could be our parting of ways. But if she
wanted it, I’d pack up and move to Oklahoma. There wasn’t much waiting for me
in Austin. Sure, there was an apartment I kept for when I wasn’t on tour, but
it was an empty apartment with unfriendly furniture and an aura of
unfamiliarity.

No one was waiting for me in Austin. No friends, no
family. I’d lost touch with my friends there. They’d all moved on, gotten desk
jobs, started families. It was hard for me even to speak to them anymore. No
common ground, as some might say. My younger sister had moved to Dallas. I’d
make a point of visiting her sometime before I left again. My parents, well…

There was no need to go into it now, I told myself
as I glanced over at Cat. We were seated in the red Civic, the air blasting out
of the car radiator, heating up the small interior. We were headed over to
Garrett’s parent’s house. She was dropping me off a bit early, since she had
some errands to run before heading into the bar.

When we left each other, I told her that me and the
guys would stop in tonight for a few drinks, keep her company during her shift.
She seemed to like that idea. I opened the car door, but before leaving, I
turned to give her one last kiss, hot and long, hinting at our earlier sexual
intimacy. After closing the door, she waved at me and I stood on the sidewalk
watching her take off down the road, her foot heavy on the gas pedal, as usual.
I had to laugh to myself. It was cute how she was always in such a rush.

***

Inside, Garrett and Tyson were still passed out. I
wagered they must be pretty hung over after the night’s drinking. I could have
waited around for them to wake up, but I was looking to get things moving. I
woke them up and they lay on the floor grumbling, begging for another hour of
sleep.

“Come on, boys. Rise and shine,” I said, flipping on
the bright fluorescent lights of the basement.

“Dammit, Colt. Stop being a bastard,” said Tyson.

“Listen, buddy. Are we going to Vegas or not? If
we’re driving all that way in Garrett’s beater of a truck, we’re at least going
to have a shop do a tune-up before we head out.”

“My truck’s fine. Ford Tough,” said Garrett, turning
his face away from the light.

“I’m not spending this trip walking to a gas station
after your truck breaks down on the side of a desert highway.”

“He’s got a point,” said Tyson.

“Fine. Get me some Tylenol and let’s get some food,”
said Garrett.

“Keys. Give me the keys,” I said.

“They’re up on the kitchen counter. Let me just
change clothes and we’ll head out.”

***

About twenty minutes later, I was behind the wheel
of the old Ford, taking the boys to the diner for a late breakfast. I figured
that was just as good of a place as any for some food to cure these vicious
hangovers. Of course, I was feeling fine, but I knew both of them were having a
hell of a time with it.

After we sat down and ordered, Garrett looked at me,
his face sly and mischievous.

“So, why don’t you tell us about your night, buddy,”
he said, stirring cream into his coffee.

“What about it?” I asked, my voice even.

“Hey, we know you better than anyone. Don’t think we
don’t know you went home with that girl from the bar.”

“Cat,” I said, correcting him.

“Yes, Cat. How was she?”

“You know a gentleman never tells.”

“Alright, alright,” said Garrett.

“You lucky bastard,” said Tyson, shaking his head.
“Why can’t I meet a girl like that?”

“You’re not this handsome,” I said, deadpan.

“Such a cocky son of a bitch,” said Garrett. “Let’s
hope you bring that confidence to the card tables.”

“I’ll bring it,” I said.

“Good.”

***

After breakfast the boys were in much better
spirits. We dropped the car off at a nearby auto shop and called Kelly to come pick
us up. She drove us around for a bit after, helping us get a few things for the
road. Mostly food, beverages, stuff to keep us going during the nearly eighteen
hour drive between Tulsa and Las Vegas.

Damn, what a trip. Part of me felt like we should fly,
save the time. But Garrett would have none of it. He wanted to see the country,
to speed down those long, straight and empty desert highways. Tyson was
inclined to agree. And after a little persuasion, so was I.

Chapter
Three

Catherine

After dropping off Colt, I started running errands.
I had a few hours to myself and there were a few mundane things that I needed
to pick up before heading to work. It gave me a lot of time to think about the
night earlier and all that had happened in the intervening time that could
potentially have big consequences for my life. Colt was a special guy, there
was no doubt about that. But given the short timeline, I was having trouble
separating out my lustful feelings from a deeper attraction I might feel
towards him.

He had this calm about him, a calm that spread to me
and gave me escape from my own anxiety. I needed someone like that in my life,
especially on the rugged road ahead as I continued on with my studies.
Everything was still largely unsettled. For right now we would just plan on
talking about it after the trip to Las Vegas.

But what did that even mean? Would he consider
moving here, or was a long-distance relationship on the table? I didn’t know
what was waiting for him back in Austin. There had to be something, I figured,
if that was the place he called home. Maybe there was a girlfriend back there
he hadn’t told me about. Maybe last night really was just a one-night stand.

Dammit. Why was I questioning myself like this? I
had good instincts, and Colt didn’t seem like the guy to do something like
that. I needed to relax and stop talking myself out of what might turn out to
be a good thing, a chance for something in my life to finally work out how I
wanted it to. So I made a conscious effort to forget about things for a while
and just sort of let life flow how it would. Things like this take time, I kept
saying. All great things need time to develop.

***

At work later that day, I had a strong impulse to
spill everything to Ellie. I just needed someone to confide in, a second
opinion, someone to reassure me and help sort things out. It took everything I
had to resist that impulse, at least for the time being, and just go about my
work. But the truth was that there really wasn’t much time to talk today. It
was Sunday in December, and anyone who works a busy bar knows what that means:
football Sunday, NFL games
all day long
.

Ellie had been here since noon. Customers had
started streaming in around 1:00 PM and the flow hadn’t stopped. By the time I
rolled in at four o’clock the place was an absolute madhouse. We had specials
on Bud and Bud Light, plus 25 cent wings. Yes, as you can imagine, things could
get a little crazy. Especially this afternoon with the Cowboys playing the
Giants.

I always liked working the afternoon games. People
were usually pretty drunk by the later games, which typically meant they were
better tippers. Also the atmosphere was just great. I’m the type of girl who
can get into a good football game, so getting paid to watch the Sunday games
was one of the best parts of my job. Another added bonus was that Mike, my
boss, was apparently still home sick with the flu. Today it was just Ellie and
me working the bar room, plus a couple line cooks back in the kitchen cooking
up food.

My heart raced a little what I saw Colt and the boys
walk through the door around 7:00 PM. They were coming in just in time for the
final plays of the late afternoon games, all of them surprisingly close. The
Cowboys, at the time, were on the Giant’s 43 yard line. It was 3
^rd
and five. I watched the center hike the ball, the quarterback rolled, looked
for a receiver, but didn’t see anything downfield. He tried to scramble for the
first down but came up short. The Cowboys would have to punt.

I turned away from the television to walk over to
the guys, see if I could get them anything to drink.

“Buds, all around,” said Garrett. “Actually, shot of
Jack as well.”

“Not for me. I’m still feeling last night,” said
Tyson, looking slightly tired, all things considered.

“Colt, you gonna do a shot with me?” asked Garrett.
“Of course you are.”

“Three Buds, two shots of Jack.”

“You got it.”

Colt never said anything. It was sort of an
interesting contrast. I felt that I knew him so intimately after last night, it
was weird for me to see him so shy once again. But I supposed that this was
just the old group dynamic restoring itself. Colt was there to maintain quiet
authority, while Garrett did enough talking for all three of them.

I came back with the drinks and hung around a bit
while Colt and Garrett took their shots. Suddenly a loud roar filled the bar. A
Dallas cornerback had intercepted a misplaced pass, returning it for a
touchdown as the clock ran out and the game ended. There was lots of yelling
and high-fiving all around.

I saw a smile flash across Colt’s face, big, but
also slightly secretive.

“What are you so happy about, mister?” I asked
playfully.

“It just dawned on me that this is the first
football game I’ve seen all season,” he said.

“I swear it’s one of the things I hate most about
being over in that damn desert,” said Garrett.

Tyson punched Garrett on the arm.

“Hey, you know what I just realized?” said Tyson.

“What?”

“We’re actually gonna be home for the Super Bowl
this year.”

“Hell yeah!” yelled Garrett, slapping him on the
back. “You want to do a shot now?”

“Sure, what the hell. Why not?”

I laughed and headed off to grab the bottle of Jack.

“You sure I shouldn’t just leave this here?” I
asked, holding up the bottle after pouring the shot.

“Dangerous idea,” said Tyson. “I cannot head off to
Vegas feeling the way I did this morning.”

“Oh, you guys are heading out tomorrow?” I asked,
sort of caught off guard. I thought it was still two days away.

“Yup. Got the car checked out today. We’re good to
go, nothing holding us back,” said Garrett.

I didn’t know how I felt about the last part of what
he’d said. I looked over to see Colt studying my face and did my best to hide
what I was thinking. It really was no big deal, but I guess part of me was
disappointed that I wouldn’t get a chance to spend any time with Colt before he
headed off to Vegas with the guys.

Other customers were calling, so I had to part ways
with them for the time being. Colt gave me a wink as I left. I smiled back. He
was still an enigma to me. I hoped he would have fun in Vegas, but I wanted him
back here sooner rather than later. I needed to know for sure where things
stood between us.

Chapter
Four

Colton

Being here at the bar just wasn’t the same as the
night before. I found myself with nothing to say. After those private moments,
it felt weird being in public and not able to converse with Cat as freely and
openly as when we were alone. I watched her work, my eyes examining every
movement of her curves as she walked alongside the bar counter, leaned in to
take drink orders, reached up to grab bottles of liquor off the shelves. There
were three separate football games going on, and here I was unable to take my
eyes off of the gorgeous bartender.

Around 8:30 PM the place started clearing out a
little. The late afternoon games had ended and there was about an hour gap
between those games and the primetime game. Tyson and Garrett looked like they
planned on sticking around for the whole game, a matchup between the Broncos
and the Chargers, two high-scoring offenses that were both likely to make their
way into the playoffs this year.

After things had quieted down a bit and the boys had
gone out for a smoke break, I motioned to Cat to come over. I needed a refill,
but more than that I just wanted to talk to her, maybe explain away a bit of my
silence.

“You didn’t say you were leaving tomorrow,” she
said, as she took the empty glass from my outstretched hand.

“I know. Trust me, I just found out a few hours ago
myself. It’s just a day early, though. No big deal.”

“I know, I know,” said Cat. “I guess I’d just hoped
maybe you’d be coming over tonight. I wouldn’t mind spending some more time
together before you leave.”

“You know I feel the same,” I said.

And it was true, I did feel the same. The Vegas trip
had been planned months ago when I was bored, looking for some kind of
excitement when I got back to the U.S. It seemed like a typical thing to do, go
to Vegas and go crazy for a few days to decompress from the time overseas.
After that, I’d settle back into a normal civilian life for the next few
months.

I just never anticipated I’d meet someone like Cat
in the few days between landing and heading out to Nevada.

“I’m not just going there to get buck wild,” I said,
trying to reassure her. I didn’t know how well it worked.

“Well, what are you going for then?”

“I promised Tyson and Garrett. Besides, if I’m not
there to keep a watchful eye on things, they’re liable to end up getting into
who knows what.”

“Valid point,” said Cat.

***

A few hours later we left the bar. Before I headed
out the door, I pulled Cat to the side. It had slowed down quite a bit, now
that the final game of the day was drawing to a close. Most of the patrons had
left early, seeing as how the Broncos were up by three touchdowns at the start
of the fourth quarter.

I wanted to talk to Car before I left just to make
sure we were parting on good terms. The trip would only be about a week, but I
didn’t want her to have any uncertainty as to my loyalty to her. Sure, they
called it ‘Sin City’ for a reason. But I knew how to hold my own. My word was
my bond. And by all accounts, I was head over heels for this curvy girl.

She left her post behind the bar somewhat
reluctantly. I brought her over to one of the empty booths while Tyson and
Garrett were out for another smoke break.

“How you feeling?” I asked, trying to break the
minor tension between us.

“Good,” said Cat. “Happy the night is coming to a
close.”

“We’re leaving early tomorrow. I’m not going to have
another chance to say goodbye.”

“So this is it?”

“Yes,” I said. “For the time being.”

I gave her a deep kiss, then stared into her eyes
across the table. We could have spoken more, but frankly there wasn’t much else
to say. Neither of us were happy to be parting ways so early on after meeting
each other. Were we risking something here? Was there a chance that things
would fizzle out? I think both of us were concerned about that deep down.

For now, we kept quiet, keeping our mutual worries
to ourselves. I got up from the booth, giving one last squeeze to Cat’s small,
soft hand as I stood. I walked outside to join Tyson and Garrett. No need to
call his kid sister tonight for a ride; I was plenty sober.

Garrett threw me the keys and I hopped up in the cab
of his old Ford. I had to admit, since the tune-up it wasn’t running half-bad.
If we were lucky, it’d bring us to Vegas after all. I thought about that for a
second.

“Do you realize that this time tomorrow night we’ll
be sitting around a poker table in Vegas?” I asked, turning the keys in the
ignition.

The Ford gave a healthy roar, then settled down to a
rumbling idle. I eased down on the gas pedal and pulled out onto the empty
street. Five hours of sleep, then seventeen hours to Vegas. I would miss Cat,
but I was ready to take that city for all it was worth.