Perfect Soldier: The Complete Story (5-Part BBW Military Romance Novel) (7 page)

Chapter
Eight

Colton

I found Tyson and Garrett at a blackjack table at
the MGM Grand. From the looks of things, it didn’t look like tonight was their
night. Tyson was wearing a pensive look, as if he was questioning the very idea
of gambling. Garrett just looked plain pissed off.

“How’s your luck?” I said, taking a seat next to
Tyson.

“Not so good, not so good,” he said.

“Non-existent,” said Garrett.

“You up or down on the night?”

“Down $100,” said Tyson.

“Down four times that,” said Garrett.

“What about for the week overall?” I asked.

“I’m up $700 total,” said Tyson. “I’m not
complaining.”

“What about you?” I asked, turning to look at
Garrett directly.

“I’m up $900. But dammit, I wanted four digits.”

“Would you boys be opposed to leaving one day
early?” I asked tentatively. I felt as if I already knew the answer to some
degree.

“What do you mean? Tonight’s our last night,” said
Garrett. He wasn’t looking at me, as he was concentrating on the cards in front
of him.

“Yeah, I was thinking about heading out tonight.
Right now. Drive through the night, home tomorrow afternoon.”

“No way! Are you crazy? Why the hell would you want
to leave early?” asked Garrett.

He turned to look at me, deciding to turn his eyes
away from the game, as if he had to look at me to believe the reality of the
absurd idea I’d just proposed.

“Let’s face it, we’re all a bit tired. Isn’t it
smarter to walk away with some money instead of lose it all on the last night?
That happens more often than you’d think,” I said.

“But dammit, I was up over a grand before this night
started,” said Garrett.

He seemed annoyed with himself. I knew the feeling,
but I also knew that wasn’t exactly the best state of mind to play card games
advantageously. If we stayed, there was a damn good chance he’d be forfeiting
his entire winnings to the house. Tyson spoke up for the first time since I’d
made the suggestion.

“I’m honestly not opposed to this idea. I feel lucky
to get out with any amount of money. I’ll go if you do all the driving,” he
said. “And buy me a case of beer for the ride.”

“I can make that happen,” I said. “What about you,
Gare?”

“Fine, let’s call it quits. But you gotta talk to
the front desk and see if they’ll comp our room for the night. That way I’ll
leave with over a grand in my pocket.”

“Deal,” I said.

“Alright, let’s get out of here then. Thanks for
nothing, buddy,” said Garrett to the dealer.

The dealer smiled, amusedly. This wasn’t an
unfamiliar sight in Sin City. I smiled to myself as well. In less than twenty
four hours I’d be back with Cat. Just the thought of seeing her again made my
heart race. It’d been a good week for me, but a long one, too. I needed some
comforting arms to fall asleep in.

“Let’s go, boys,” I said, getting up from the table.

Soon we were out the door and into the bright lights
and cool desert air of nighttime on the Las Vegas strip.

***

Catherine

I looked up at a clock that read 1:45 AM. Fifteen
minutes till close. Last call had been at 1:30 AM. There wasn’t much left to do
but wait out those minutes, cleaning up the bar and bringing the last of the
dirty pint and shot glasses back to the dishwashers in the kitchen.

I yawned, leaning up against the cold, hard wood of
the bar counter, counting down those last minutes as a country music song
played hazily in the background on the jukebox. Most of our customers had
cleared out now, many outside smoking cigarettes before driving off into the
night. A few slowpokes finished the last remnants of their final drinks.

Soon I was in my car headed home. Dead tired, so
damn tired. It’d been a long day, but in the end, I felt pretty damn good about
it. My mind kept drifting back to the Bio exam throughout the entire night. I
couldn’t help that; my mind seemed obsessed. But strangely, the more I thought
about it, the more confident I felt. Sure, I’d struggled on the last few
questions, but we were talking about an exam with over one hundred questions. I
could miss a few and still get a good grade – a very good grade.

Like I said, I felt confident. Regardless of how
well I did, at least the semester was over. I knew for certain that I’d passed
the exam. That was a big win in and of itself. And now I had my winter break –
time to lounge around and catch up on some TV that I was too busy for the rest
of the year, maybe read a book or two for pleasure. Those were simple things I
just hadn’t had time for of late.

My mind drifted towards Colton. I missed him. How
much better things would have been if he were here right now. I needed those
big arms to fall asleep in. Too bad he was still a couple days away. Tonight
was his last night in Vegas, then there was of course the long drive home. Oh
well, I missed him, but what could I do about it now.

When I got home and undressed, I decided to text
him, letting him know my exams had gone well. It was rather late, I wasn’t sure
he’d be up. I was surprised to get a response back immediately. He
congratulated me and asked what my schedule looked like the rest of the week. I
told him I was working four until close tomorrow, and the next several days
after that – with the exception of Monday, being my regular day off.

He texted back, telling me to get some rest after
the long day. He was right, I needed a good night’s sleep. I placed my phone
back on the night stand and rolled over, pulling the covers up around me. I was
warm and contented, and soon enough I’d fallen into a deep, restful sleep.

***

Colton

I was just past Albuquerque when the first bits of
daylight started to show in the sky. It wasn’t quite sunrise yet, but suddenly
the darkness around me got a bit lighter. The sky turn from black to grey, that
flatness of early morning light that can depress the depth of the landscape
that surrounds you.

About half an hour later, colors entered the sky,
and fifteen minutes beyond that the most brilliant sunrise was blazing out
across the vast sky. Garrett was sound asleep in the passenger seat beside me.
I looked briefly back in the rearview mirror to see that Tyson was doing the
same.

I might have woken them up, but thought better of
it. I was tired, yes, but I didn’t mind driving in silence. I had a lot of
thoughts to occupy my mind. I was daydreaming about what life might be like
with Cat. If she was amenable, I planned to move to Tulsa, maybe even get a
little apartment with her. Or maybe even just move in at her place, offer to
pay her rent while I stayed. That would ease up her bills for a bit, maybe she
could take time off work to focus on school.

Like I said, I was daydreaming. Perhaps I was moving
a bit too quickly. But I couldn’t help myself; something about this just felt
right
.
At any rate, I’d float the idea, find some pause in a conversation, the perfect
time to bring up this potentiality. I’d get her feedback, see how she was
feeling about it all. I could speculate about what she might say, but I
wouldn’t know for sure until I had her right in front of me.

I drove onwards as light continued to illuminate the
sky, catalyzing the change from night to day. The tank was getting low, so I
started to be on the lookout for a gas station. By my calculation, a full tank
would get us close to Tulsa, but we’d probably have to stop one last time
before finally getting home.

Garrett stirred in the front seat as I was filling
up. He rubbed his eyes and sat up straight in his seat before opening the door
and stepping out into the fresh morning air. We gave each other a silent nod
and I stood there pumping gas as I watched him walk into the little convenience
store. He came back moments later with two coffees.

“You take yours black, right?” he said, handing one
of them to me.

“That’s right.”

“Where are we exactly?”

“About two hours outside Albuquerque.”

“Which side?”

“Closer to Tulsa.”

“Right. I’ll drive for a bit now.”

“Sounds good,” I said. “Keys are in the ignition.”

Soon enough we were back on the road, but I knew
we’d be wanting to stop for a bit and get some breakfast soon. The coffee was
hot and rich, the caffeine perking me back up out of my tiredness. Tyson woke
in the back seat.

“Hey, how about some breakfast?” he said.

“Right on schedule,” I said.

“What?” asked Tyson.

“Nothing. Garrett, let’s find a place. I’m starving
myself, as it is.”

We started looking for a breakfast place. We had
around four hundred or so miles to go after this. By my calculation, we’d be
getting into Tulsa sometime in the late afternoon. Almost home, I thought.
Almost.

Chapter
Nine

Catherine

It was Saturday evening, just past five o’clock. The
bar was slow right now, as it always was this early on Saturdays. There was one
solitary person sitting at the bar counter, slowly drinking a double whiskey
and eating peanuts out of a bowl in front of him. He was something of a
regular, drank by himself, didn’t talk much to me or anyone else, didn’t even
really watch any sports when they came across the giant flat screen behind the
bar. Part of me almost wondered why he came to the bar in the first place.

Hopefully, it would be a busy night. I needed the
tips, especially after that damn speeding ticket from last week. I wasn’t sure
where exactly I was with respect to my finances. My tuition bill next semester
was big, somewhere in the neighborhood of $5000 or so. It was hard saving up
that kind of money as a bartender. I’d need to take some extra shifts over the
holidays, and probably need a small loan from the bank in addition.

I washed down the bar counter with a wet rag,
thinking these idle thoughts. I’m not even sure what I was doing, it’s not like
the bar was dirty since there wasn’t even anyone in this damn place yet. I went
back to the kitchen to chat with the staff a bit and came out ten minutes later
to see if the man at the end of the bar needed a refill.

You can imagine my surprise when I made my way
through the door into the bar and found the three boys seated at the counter.
Colt wore a wry grin on his face, his subtle way of saying “surprise.”

“Hey, what does it take for a guy to get a drink in
this place?” said Garrett teasingly.

“Didn’t expect you boys back so soon,” I said with a
smile.

I was genuinely happy to see them, all of them. It
was a nice way to spice up this boring afternoon.

“Well, here we are,” said Garrett.

“What will you be having?”

“Beer. Bud. Drafts.”

“Alright,” I said, grabbing three pint glasses and
moving over toward the tap.

I came back over with the three glasses of cold beer
and placed them in front of the men.

“Now, I want to hear all about this Vegas trip.”

“Damn, I don’t even know where to begin,” said
Garrett.

“Wow, Garrett at a loss for words. Now I’ve seen
everything.”

They all laughed.

***

Colton

We stayed at the bar for a bit, talking and
laughing, telling Cat about our trip. I wanted to save my biggest news for
later, when we were in private. Truth be told, I hadn’t even told Garrett and
Tyson about my winnings quite yet. Honestly, I didn’t know if they’d even
believe me.

I didn’t drink much. I was dead tired, having stayed
up through the night driving by myself. After about an hour, the other guys
started feeling the same and we decided to head home, too exhausted to turn a
few casual afternoon drinks into a wild night. As much as I would have liked to
stay and talk to Cat, I just couldn’t manage in my current state.

Before we left, I got a few minutes alone with her
while the other guys were out smoking.

“I want to see you later,” I said. “But I’m dead
tired right now.”

“That’s understandable.”

“I’ll take a long nap, maybe we can meet up when you
get out.”

“I like the sound of that. I’m out at two o’clock in
the morning though.”

“Maybe we can grab a late night dinner again.”

“It’s a date. But wait,” she said pausing
momentarily. “Where are you sleeping? The couch?”

“That’s the plan.”

“No, no, no,” she said, grabbing her purse from
behind the bar.

She came back over and handed me her keys.

“You look so tired, you’re not gonna get the rest
you need on that damn couch. Stay at my place. You can come back and pick me up
at two.”

I took the keys from her, our hands grazing slightly
in the exchange. Just one touch of her skin drove me wild. I put them in my
pocket and got up from the bar.

“Let me pay their tab, too,” I said, motioning to
Tyson and Garrett outside. “They’ve had enough for now.”

After paying the bill I headed outside to say
goodbye to the guys. Of course, I got the expected teasing after I told them I
was headed over to Cat’s place to sleep in her bed. But hell, I didn’t mind. I
didn’t mind one bit.