Fall Away Read online

  — ELEVEN —

  Two days later—the first Thursday night Gaby hadn’t had to work in three months—she was heading home and the sun was still up, but she was already thinking about crawl into a bed with her boyfriend at the end of the day.

  Her boyfriend. They’d made love twice more Tuesday night, as Trick had promised, and when he’d crept out at dark o’clock for work, he’d kissed her and promised to text.

  His first one had come forty-five minutes later.

  By the end of the day, she’d been grinning from ear to ear, and when she left the school, he’d been waiting for her with a single red rose, leaning against her car.

  She’d driven them back to his place where he’d fucked her senseless in the shower, then on his bed, and they’d eaten pizza naked when they needed fuel.

  Early this morning she’d gone back to her place to get changed and pack a bag just in case tonight was a repeat at his place, but she hadn’t heard from him all day.

  He’s only a US Navy SEAL. Jeez. Not like he might be busy or something.

  She smiled as she passed the shawarma shop, then she spun around at the next intersection and double-backed.

  She should surprise him with a dinner that would remind him of their first date. Or pre-date, depending on whose definition they were working under.

  Twenty minutes later, she pulled up at his apartment. She didn’t bother to text him. If he wasn’t home, she’d call him and find out where he was, but a surprise would be fun.

  She knocked playfully, wondering if there was a way to sexily present shawarma. Probably not.

  When the door swung open, though, Trick had a very unsexy frown on his face. “Oh, Gaby.”

  “Hey!”

  Instead of stepping back and letting her in, he just stood there staring at her. An uneasy worry slithered into her gut.

  She gripped the bag, trying to hold at bay the frown of her own that wanted to settle between her eyebrows. “I brought some food…”

  “Patrick?” a man’s voice called from inside the apartment. “Who is it?”

  Trick shook his head and blinked at her. “I’m sorry. Come in. It’s just…my parents are here.”

  “Oh.” She smiled. “Okay, well, no worries.”

  “No, I want you to come in. It’s…I was just surprised. Come in.”

  He stepped to the side and gestured for her to enter.

  She tried to think of everything he’d said about his parents. They lived in Orange County. His mom bought stuff for his apartment. His dad was an investment adviser. Not a lot to go on.

  “Mom, Dad, this is my friend Gaby.”

  My friend. Her smile froze on her face. At least it didn’t drop off. She nodded and looked for a place to dump the sandwiches. Like the garbage.

  “Nice to meet you, dear.” Trick’s father was standing, and he stepped forward, offering his hand. She shifted the plastic bag to her other fingers and accepted the handshake.

  “The pleasure is all mine, of course. Patrick has mentioned you, but I didn’t know you were visiting. I’m sorry for intruding. I just brought him some dinner because I know he’s been working hard and his arm…” She trailed off because she was blabbering and really, what did it matter?

  His mother rose from the couch and came around to stand next to her husband. “We were just talking about going out. I’d suggest you should join us, but maybe we could order in some more food?”

  Behind her, Trick groaned. “First of all, I’m not a teenager, Mom, so I’ve got food. I can make stuff. And really, it’s not a great night for visiting, so maybe you guys should get going.”

  “No!” Gaby shook her head. “I’ve interrupted, I’m the one who should go. These are big sandwiches, there’s enough there for all three of you, I’m sure. I’ll just…”

  She turned to leave again, but ran straight into the immovable wall that was known as Trick. The man she loved. Her friend. God, if she stayed a second longer, she might just start crying.

  “Don’t go,” he said quietly.

  “I have to,” she whispered, staring into his shirt. “I forgot something.”

  She could feel his gaze, but she wasn’t going to look up. He cleared his throat. “Excuse us for a minute. Gaby and I just need to have a private chat.”

  He walked around her, shielding her from his parents as he pressed his hand into the small of her back and moved her without any effort into his room.

  “What’s going on?” he demanded as soon as the door closed.

  “Nothing,” she said quietly, looking at the floor. “I’m being silly.”

  “Yes, obviously.” She snapped her gaze up to meet his at the hard edge to his voice. He glared at her, but he didn’t look mad exactly, just confused. “Is this because I called you my friend?”

  Her mouth fell open, but no words came out. “Well…” she said after a moment.

  “Because we are friends,” he said, frowning again. “And a hell of a lot more, but we haven’t talked labels, so I thought that was a safe one to start with.”

  “Start?”

  “I don’t know. Should I have assumed that I could call you my girlfriend, to my mom, without asking you?”

  “Oh.” Heat crawled up her neck and wrapped around the edge of her face. With it came the threat of tears, and damnit, she didn’t want to cry. “Sorry.”

  He scrubbed his hand over his face and up into his hair. “No, I’m sorry. I should have assumed you’d want to come over tonight. They arrived midafternoon and time just got away from me.”

  “It’s okay.” She hated that little hitch in her voice.

  “Gaby?” He waited until he had her full attention, then he smiled at her. “Will you be my girlfriend?”

  “Jeez, Trick!” She laughed, a suspiciously watery noise that was so not hot. “Are you sure? I’m clearly a neurotic mess.”

  “Ah,” he said, closing the gap between them. “But you’re my neurotic mess.”

  “Yours?”

  He wrapped his arms around her. “All mine. My girlfriend. Hmm. I like that.”

  “I like it too,” she whispered.

  “You can make this up to me later. After they leave.”

  “A naked apology?”

  He grunted. “Nope. Can’t think about that. My mom is on the other side of that door.”

  “Okay.”

  “Damn. Too late.”

  “What? I didn’t say anything.”

  He shrugged and tipped her chin up so he could brush a light kiss across her lips. “I imagined you riding me, asking me if I was okay as you slid onto my dick. Instant hard-on.”

  “Wow.” She kissed him. “Time to think of math.”

  “Instant teacher fantasy.”

  “This is hopeless, isn’t it?”

  “Maybe you should just stand in front of me.”

  — —

  His parents had been far too amused when they emerged from the bedroom and Trick informed them that Gaby had just agreed to be his girlfriend. Gaby had been less impressed, blushing prettily, but he’d made it up to her after they left. They took turns with the naked apologies until nearly midnight, when they fell asleep wrapped around each other.

  He’d been sleeping like the dead when his cell phone went off. He sat up with a jerk, swiping into the call before the first ring ended, wanting the noise to stop before it woke up Gaby.

  “Hello?”

  A crackling sound had him on his feet. This wasn’t a call from around the corner.

  “Hey, Trick!”

  “Miles. You asshole, it’s the middle of the night.”

  “So sue me, I had a few minutes of downtime and thought you’d appreciate hearing from me. The last time you heard from me was a bit hot.”

  They couldn’t talk much on this line, they both knew that, but Miles wasn’t wrong. That audio recording had messed Trick up, even though the intel promised the fire team was fine. “Yeah. Glad that all worked out okay.”

  “Tell me so
mething good, man. This place sucks.”

  Trick glanced at Gaby, curled up on her side. He headed for the living room. “What’s new…saw Jared’s wife last week, she’s looking great.” He opened the fridge and pulled out the carton of orange juice. “Says she’s excited about flying to England to see him next month.”

  “Yeah, I’m heading that way for my break as well.”

  “No island babes for you?”

  “Nah. How about you? Super lonely without me?”

  Trick snorted and took a swig of juice. “Not lonely at all, in fact.” He put the carton down, surprised at what he’d just realized. “Actually, I think I’m in love.”

  “Yeah? That’s cool.”

  “It is cool. Her name is Gaby, and man, she’s so feisty—” In the background, a buzzer sounded, and Trick knew that meant that his roommate’s allotted time on the phone was up. “Anyway. Life here is good. Be safe.”

  He waited until the line disconnected, then crawled back into bed. Gaby murmured something incomprehensible in her sleep, and he kissed her hair.

  I love you, he thought. It wasn’t nearly as terrifying as he thought it might be.

  It just felt right.

  Saying it out loud, on the other hand…Trick shook his head at himself and slid his hand around to cup one of Gaby’s breasts. He didn’t know about that. What if she didn’t say it back?

  No. It was enough for now to just know she was his.

  Mine. He loved the sound of that—in his head and out loud.

  — TWELVE —

  The only thing prettier than Gaby blushing was Gaby blushing naked, but since her apartment was full of people, that probably wouldn’t happen.

  Not until later.

  Trick handed his girlfriend a glass of champagne. “Did we do a good job surprising you?”

  “We?” Lila gave him an amused look from the other side of the birthday girl, who’d officially been his girlfriend for six weeks.

  He never thought he’d be the type of guy to even notice shit like that, let alone think about marking it like some sort of big-deal anniversary.

  And yet here he was, proud as punch that he had a pretty necklace to give her later on.

  Gaby winked at him, and he shrugged. “Okay, I did nothing for this party other than deliver you. The planning committee met via email, twice. And I missed one of those meetings because I didn’t have Lila’s email address on my safe list.”

  “Tracking you down was a nightmare. Gaby has a password on her phone.”

  Of course she did. His pretty girl was super smart.

  “It all worked out in the end,” he said quietly, staring at Gaby as her eyes crinkled. It definitely had all worked out.

  “Quite clever to have a surprise party the day before my actual birthday,” she murmured.

  “I’m selfishly happy that your birthday falls on a Sunday this year, so the party can be tonight and I can have you all to myself tomorrow.” He kissed her temple, then stepped back as her friends from the school and mutual friends she shared with Lila swarmed around her.

  In the kitchen he found a group of guys he didn’t know, except one.

  “Nash, what the hell are you doing at my girlfriend’s birthday party?”

  Vince Nash was a senior chief on SEAL Team 9, a recon specialist, and last Trick had heard, he was in the sandbox with the rest of the team—Trick’s team. Trick had been making himself useful on Team 11, which did extractions and short-term missions, but they didn’t feel like his brothers yet, not in the same way. That would come in time—it had to, because it looked like the reassignment might be more permanent than originally planned.

  His friend shrugged. “Family funeral. And it lined up with my leave, anyway, so I came home instead of going to Greece.”

  “Man, that sucks, I’m sorry.”

  “My granddad. He had Alzheimer’s, so it’s better that he’s not suffering, but my mom and my gran…” Nash sighed. “Anyway, when Lila mentioned your name, I thought I’d come.”

  They shook hands, then Trick grabbed a beer and leaned against the counter. “You working something out with the commander to stay here, or are you heading back?”

  “Heading back, but it looks like this might be my last tour.” He made a face. “I don’t want to get out, but I can’t be gone for months at a time. And I need to find something that pays better at the same time. Might be an impossible task.”

  “You should talk to Drew Castle. He knows a guy looking for private operators. Legit guy, former Norwegian FSK.”

  “Yeah? You ever think about something like that?”

  “Nah.” Trick got up and paced to the archway into the living room, making visual on Gaby before ambling back. “Not for me. I’m good here until retirement.”

  Nash nodded. “Makes sense.”

  “You want to meet Gaby?”

  “Wow.”

  “What?”

  “You’ve got it bad.”

  Trick couldn’t deny that. “She’s something special.”

  “Yeah? Cool.” Nash laughed and tipped his beer back. “Please introduce me to the woman who felled the mighty Novak.”

  Gaby put up with some teasing from Nash, then they introduced his friend to one of her friends, and Trick was able to settle with the birthday girl on the couch for a bit. When the more artsy guests started talking about Charades, he escaped to the kitchen again.

  It wasn’t until the party was over and Gaby was tucked into his side, drifting off after a quiet lovemaking session in her room, that he was reminded of his conversation with Nash.

  He picked up her left hand and rubbed his thumb over her knuckles as he looked at her bare ring finger.

  “What’s on your mind, Trick?” She tried to hold back a yawn, but it didn’t work.

  He smiled at her. “Just really happy with you, that’s all.”

  “Me too. Happy. With you.”

  He laughed. “You’re funny when you’re tired.”

  “And you’re chatty.”

  “I’ll shut up. Happy birthday, pretty girl.”

  — —

  Gaby had wanted to tell Trick how much she cared for him for weeks. Months, really. Her birthday party had almost been the perfect opportunity, but they didn’t get a minute alone until they were both exhausted, and then the next day had been a whirlwind of planned activities.

  Dating a Navy SEAL could be intense.

  Turned out she liked intense. A lot, but it didn’t always lend itself to sweet, quiet emotional moments.

  When it finally happened, weeks later, it was when she least expected it.

  The first week of May she decided she needed to add a puppet theatre to her classroom. When she told Trick she was going to Home Depot to buy power tools, he informed her he was going with.

  “Do you know how to use power tools?”

  He frowned at her. “Gaby, I’m a Navy SEAL. I am a power tool.”

  “Okay, first, that’s not a real response. And second, I don’t think that a skill saw is the same as a machine gun.”

  “Yes, I know how to use power tools.”

  “Fine, then you can be my assistant.”

  When they got to Home Depot, she found the major materials she needed, but as they walked down the aisle of screws and nails, she realized she didn’t know where to begin.

  And Trick knew it, too. He was laughing at her, damn him, and that just wasn’t cool.

  “If you know what screw I need, why don’t you just tell me?” she demanded, whirling around and planting her hands on her hips.

  Of course, that just made him laugh harder.

  She rolled her eyes because it was funny. But still…

  “I love that you think you can do anything, Gaby.” He came closer and tugged first one hand and then the other off her hips and brought her fists to his lips. “It’s one of a long list of things that I love about you.”

  She probably knew that already, but hearing it was something entirely different. Her h
eart thumped an extra beat as she let the words soak into her skin. “I love you, too,” she whispered, then grinned. “Wow. You love me.”

  “Of course I do. I’ve always wanted to be with a master carpenter.”

  “Really? You’re going to ruin this moment with teasing?”

  He wrapped his arms around her, bending his knees so they were nose to nose. “Did I ruin anything?”

  She shook her head. “No.”

  “I love you, Gaby.”

  “Thank you, Trick.”

  “You want me to pick out screws for you now, don’t you?”

  “Yes, please.”

  He kissed her, then again for good measure, which she appreciated because his kisses were yummy.

  After finding every last little bit of metal she needed for the project, he did most of the work back at the school and gave her all of the credit.

  Back at his place, while she cooked dinner, she tried to think of some way to thank him. Maybe tickets to Comic Con.

  Unlike Trick, though, there was no way she could pull off a surprise.

  “Hey,” she called out after turning down the sauce she’d just made. “I have an idea…”

  “But you want to run it past me because you’re worried I might not like it?” Trick appeared in the doorway, an amused look on his face.

  She rolled her eyes as her cheeks turned pink. “Yes, maybe.”

  “I’ll like it.”

  “I don’t know exactly how to do it.”

  Cocking one eyebrow, he leaned in with a leer. “Naked is always a good bet.”

  “This is in public.”

  “Keep the good bits covered up, then.”

  “Definitely.” She took a deep breath. “Do you want me to get Comic Con tickets for you? And me? Would that be fun?”

  A look of pure joy spread across his face. “For real? That wouldn’t be too geeky for you?”

  “I like geeky stuff.”

  “Babe, you like to geek out on shit. Like books. But the full-on fandom stuff?”

  She shrugged. “I can handle full-on for a day.”

  “Awesome.” He bounced on his heels. “You don’t need to wear a sexy costume.”