Chapter Twenty-Five
WILL
Shannon walked across the room, her eyes trained on mine, until she was right in front of me. She pressed a beer bottle into my hand and tilted her head, staring at my dick like it had insulted her country and faith.
“This thing you do,” she said, gesturing to my crotch. “Where you tuck in a portion of your shirt right at the belt buckle? I know why you’re doing it. You want everyone to notice your abs.”
I glanced to Quad, and then back to Shannon. It was good to see him in town for Gus’s wedding after everything he’d been through. All I’d lost was feeling in my fingers, and I couldn’t make sense of life. This kid lost everything below the knee, and was already back to work. It was a desk job, but he was back at it.
“And here I thought they’d notice my cock,” I said.
“That presumes there’s something worth noticing,” she said.
“That’s not what you said last night,” I said. “Or this morning. Or a couple of hours ago, in the shower. Would you like me to continue?”
She plucked the beer from my hands and took a long sip. “Look, William. Your ego is very fragile. I can’t go around crushing your self-esteem now, can I?”
“What did Quad say to you?” I asked.
“Why have you been parked in my apartment for the past month?”
“Because I wanted to see you for more than a weekend. I wanted to wake up in the same place for an entire month, and I wanted you there with me,” I said, and that was the most honest approximation I could find. “And I have to figure out what I want to be when I grow up.”
Her lips flattened as her eyes closed, her frustration with me as clear as day. “Why didn’t you just tell me that?”
“I was going to.” Shrugging, I snatched the bottle out of her hand. “Eventually. But, as you might recall, you weren’t too interested in talking to me. You banished me to the guest room and threw fruit at me, and while you’re at it, remind yourself there was a Douchelord in your apartment a few weeks ago. You’re mine, and when I went to you, you were with that genital wart.”
“We broke up,” she said, her eyes flashing with anger.
“You’re mine,” I repeated. “Trust me; I was wise to your game. That little distraction to get you through? Did it help?”
Shaking her head, she stared at the ground. “No,” she admitted. “Nothing helped, and when you didn’t come back in September, that’s when I knew it was really over.”
Fuck. There was nothing I’d wanted more than to get a message to Shannon, to explain that I had to see the mission through, that I’d come for her when I was done. I could have called her when I was at the base hospital in Germany, but I was afraid she’d only take me back because I was injured, and I didn’t want the pity-love she reserved for Sam.
“You know, Will,” she started, her expression turning serious, “I let myself believe you were finished. That you realized I was too complicated and I’d pushed you too far, and you were done.”
I held up a hand. “No, peanut, I—”
“I’m not finished,” she interrupted. “You’re mine, too. That never stopped. You’re still mine, and I’m fucking furious that I had to hear about your injury—and everything else—from Private Ryan over there.” Her eyes dropped to my shoulder, and her tongue swept over her top lip. “How is it? Are you all right?”
I shrugged, and right on cue, a bolt of pain zapped down to my fingers. “It’s fine.”
“It’s nice how you’re lying to me,” she said. “Maybe you can tuck your balls back for a little while and stop being such a man.”
I spread my arms wide, welcoming the onslaught. “Would it make you happy to hear that I can’t feel these fingers” —I held up the last three— “and the nerve pain is an evil bitch?”
“Of course not,” she cried, “but the talking goes both ways, Will. If you want everything from me, I want the same from you.”
I reached for Shannon, but she slapped my hand away. She hit me with her most vicious scowl, but she couldn’t hold it long. Her lips twitched, and she flew into my arms. “You have it,” I whispered, holding her head to my chest. “You’ve always had it.”
Shannon’s hands fisted in my shirt, tugging me close. “What’s next for you?” she asked.
I shook my head. This was one of my favorite locations on earth, and I was here with some of the best people I knew, but the only thing I wanted right now was her bare skin against mine. “I’ve been thinking about that, and I have some ideas, but…I don’t have the answers yet.”
“Then you should think about it in Boston,” she said. “You should call Nick when we get home. He’s a cradle-robbing asshole, but he’s a really good doctor. He’ll give you smart advice. And…you can always train the hedge fund wives or model for romance novel covers. There’s no shame in either.”
Surprised by the random compilation of ideas, I leaned back and studied her. “You’re not going to jump in and micromanage?”
“No,” she snapped. “You’ll ask for my help if you need it, and you know I’ll always give it to you.”
My chest throbbed with the pressure of my affection for her and long unspoken words. “Shannon, I have to tell—”
“Not now,” she interrupted, pressing her finger to my lips. “Not here.”
She linked her hands behind my neck and pulled me down, touching her lips to mine, and when her tongue slipped into my mouth, it tasted like my eternity.