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MARI
Goodness.
Meeting Heath’s team was… an eye opener.
She had to work very hard to keep her mouth from hanging open.
Heath was already starring in her dreams, something she wasn’t about to admit to anyone, especially Reiko. Goodness knows her friend would say something to Heath or after the couple of beers she’d had at the bowling alley, announce it to everyone.
Pallas had been the first one to extend a hand.
It was easy to see that he was the leader of the group, likely in more ways than one.
And Kawehi beamed with pride every time she looked at the man. They were a perfect match for each other.
The other three on the team that night were Riptide, the Aussie, Hoss, the midwestern cowboy, and Kid, who only lived up to his team name because his clean jawline was likely to stay that way with or without a razor.
Kid made her smile the most. He was incredibly polite and she could tell that it wasn’t pretend. He was as sweet as could be. Which made her wonder why he joined the Marines. There was an edge that the others had that Kid seemed to be missing.
Then again, he fit in perfectly with the others, so she realized that she’d have to rethink her feelings about him.
Riptide was charming. Almost alarmingly so.
His Aussie accent made him sound like he was always joking.
She’d watched every episode of House and quite a few of the Chicago Fire Episodes from the earlier seasons, so the accent tickled her. After a few drinks, he sounded more and more American which is something she didn’t think she should point out.
Hoss?
Well, he was the one she was determined to watch.
He was definitely interested in Reiko and Reiko was spending too much time and energy arguing with Riptide to notice.
Arguing half-heartedly at best, half-drunk at worst, but Hoss was keeping an eye on the two of them.
She wasn’t sure if he was doing it because he was worried about Riptide or Reiko.
“I think it’s both, in a way.”
Startled, Mari turned and nearly brushed her lips across Heath’s cheek.
She hadn’t noticed him walking up behind her.
She certainly didn’t know he was nearly cheek to cheek with her.
Her heart kicked against her ribs and her breath caught in her lungs.
When she finally did draw in a breath, the scent of his skin was enough to make her knees weak.
She swallowed and took a step back.
She didn’t think before she moved and ended up stepping on his foot.
Heath groaned and then he hissed.
“Oh my god!” She lifted her foot and used her hands to push back and away from his chest.
Mari stumbled to the side and right up against the ball rack.
