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“They are,” he said before he could stop himself.
Why hide it now?
Why pretend it wasn’t what it was?
That his head and his heart were long gone for the first girl he’d felt anything for in his life.
Weeks of self-reflection had him wondering if every woman, every failed relationship, every hope he’d had in the past, was him using Marly as a measuring stick.
And now that he had her, now that there was the possibility of something more in their lives, it felt as if it was all coming together.
“Then keep your eyes open because there will be more on you and everything you do.”
“Heard,” he said.
“Dismissed.”
He stood and walked out, his captain not following along.
He got to his desk, Kyle watching his movements as he got back to work.
“Everything okay?” Kyle asked.
“Yeah.”
“It’s about your new girlfriend, isn’t it?” Kyle asked, his voice not low. Not even trying to stay quiet.
The hush of the noise around wasn’t lost on him.
Might as well get this out.
It never was a secret. And now it seemed more and more knew anyway.
“What Marly and I have is private,” he said, grinning. That at least would confirm what everyone had heard.
Kyle laughed. “How long has this been going on?”
“When did you turn into a chick?”
“Come on, give me something. Married life is boring. You’re a young single dude.”
“Not single,” he corrected. There were more grins noticed out of the corner of his eyes.
“You’ve been not single before,” Kyle reminded him.
Not a good statement to make.
Not when he had those doubts still in his head.
But he refused to let anyone know that comment hit dead center.
“As we’ve all been. Now,” he said, his voice louder, “if no one else has questions about my personal life, we’ve all got shit to do.”
The hum of the room rose again, everyone doing what they were before he was put on stage.
Two more hours went by, he and Kyle working, comparing notes, talking, then they got up. “Let’s go follow up with these statements again,” Kyle said.
“Sure. Something isn’t adding up with the last two.”
