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Yes. I’m screwing this entire night up. “Well, I had something lined up, but we won’t make our reservations.”
“There’s an Italian food restaurant a few blocks away. Since it’s a gorgeous night, we can walk.” She tugs my arm and gives me an encouraging smile. I’m trying too hard to impress her. Fancy dinners, cologne I wore in high school… could I be any more pussy whipped. Without even getting pussy? It’s time to up my game without forgetting who I am. I’m not the same boy I used to be and she sure in the hell isn’t the same girl I left behind.
I pull her into my chest, our linked hands knot behind her back. She bites her lip again and I watch as her teeth scrape along it. When it pops free, I lean down and suck on it. She opens, and I take full control.
This is who I am.
“So, I guess you’re good with that,” she says when we break apart, her voice breathier than it was a few seconds ago.
“Whatever makes you happy.”
She pulls in a quick breath and her eyes widen, and I glance at her wondering what happened. “What’s today’s date?” Her excitement builds when I tell her. “I know what we’re doing.”
“Care to share?”
“Nope. You’ll have to trust me.”
“That’s asking a lot from someone I don’t know very well,” I tease her. If she only knew, I’m handing her my heart again, full tilt, no holding back. Trust is not an issue.
“Too late. You already told me you liked me.” She sticks her tongue out.
I lean down so I’m close to her ear. “I do. Now I need to get you to like me back.” Despite the lack of response with words, her flushed cheeks give it away. She likes me too.
She pulls on my arm to walk. “What’d you do today?” The abrupt change of subject makes me smile.
“Jumped out of a plane.”
She lets out an audible gasp and looks up to the sky. “That was you? I watched you from the shelter,” she says, excited. “Who else went? I saw two people jump.”
“Max. You should go with me sometime. You can jump tandem with me.”
“Really?” She turns, her voice jumps an octave. “That’d be awesome. Wait, I’d be entrusting you with my life. Are you sure you’re good enough to jump tandem?”
I think of all the crazy jumps I’ve done. “Ellie, I’m positive my gear weighed more than you when I used to jump. And most of those jumps were in the middle of the night, high altitude where I had to land in an unmarked drop zone, or I’d be dead.”
“When you put it that way, I trust you.”
My chest tightens from her words, a reminder I'm lying to her. I keep telling myself, it’s not bad I’m keeping our past a secret. It’s not like we hated each other and she’s in bed with the enemy. We loved each other. I need to get her to love me again before I come clean.
“Do you miss it?”
“A little. For ten years, I craved adrenaline rushes, so adjusting to civilian daily life has been a little challenging.” After dropping out of the plane that craving came back.
“Would you ever go back?”
And miss out on my chance to be with you?
"No. That craving can be unhealthy. Feeling invincible to the point of having superhuman powers, is a hard reality to live with day in and day out." Especially when one of your brothers, who have the same powers, dies in your arms.
“I can’t imagine the things you saw.”
Sighing, I respond, “I’d suggest not even trying.”
We stroll in silence for the next block. This is why I hate bringing up the military. The glory of the job comes from deep within a person, the pride of fighting for our country. The details are top secret for a reason, they don’t paint a pretty picture.
“Tell me how you did on your tests.”
“I’m a badass and got all A’s,” she says with extra pep in her voice.
