Taking Chances (50 page)

Carter came
back in, making a total of six Marines, two of them had girlfriends with them,
and we started the long process of introducing everyone. Brandon introduced us
before Carter introduced himself and his friends. Kate caught my eye as she
shamelessly stared at Carter, mouth partially open. I don’t know if it was her
expression, but Carter definitely did a double take when he saw her too. He passed
over Aubrey and Jeremy and when he caught sight of Laura, his brow furrowed and
he quickly glanced over to Kate, back to Laura and finally rested on Kate
again. When he looked over to me, I raised an eyebrow at him with a wide smile
and I swear he blushed as he stumbled over his introductions.

“Did you see
that?” Brandon whispered low in my ear. So I wasn’t crazy.

“Mhmm.”

“Huh.” He
kissed my head and stood up straighter. “Interesting.”

It was quiet
when Carter finished with their names and thankfully Brandon said he was going
to start the food, so all the guys shuffled out with him and the hamburger
patties. It was adorable to see Jeremy hesitate and look between the guys and
Aubrey a few times before she pushed him out the door. I started getting cheese
ready for Brandon and slicing up tomatoes and onions for when the food would be
done. Bree and Aubrey helped me as the other four girls sat on barstools and
talked chattily.

“Hey Blaze,
your hubby said he needed cheese.” Carter walked toward me but looked at Kate
over his shoulder quickly before thanking Bree for the plate of separated
cheese she was holding out to him.

“You’re
drooling Kate.” I smiled at her after Carter went back outside.

She smiled
mischievously and glanced back quickly before leaning forward like we were
sharing secrets, her elbows resting on the counter. “He’s cute, huh?”

Bree and I
grinned and rolled our eyes at each other while Laura agreed. Aubrey just
nodded her head silently next to us.

“So, you’re
the
Blaze?” One of the girlfriends asked.

Stifling a
groan, I plastered a smile on my face, “That I am.”

“I heard a lot
about you, Craig lives with Jason.”

The name Craig
wasn’t ringing a bell, I was trying to remember which guy had been next to her,
“All bad things, I’m sure?” I smirked and turned to grab the sliced produce, “Aubrey,
can you help me with the plates and bowls?”

“From what he
said, you two are close?” Craig’s girlfriend continued.

“Uh, kind of.
We were best friends back home, but that was a while ago.”

“Cute pet name
he has for you.” She goaded.

I set the
plates back down a little harder than I should have, and tried to stay smiling
as I tilted my head to the side, “Not really. I wouldn’t call making fun of how
much I blush ‘cute’.”

“He doesn’t
have a nickname for anyone else.”

“Oh my God, he
has a nickname for his best friend. Big effing deal.” Bree slapped her palms
down to her sides in exasperation. “Can we eat now? I’m starving.”

Dear Lord I
loved Bree.

“You were the
reason Ashley left him, you know.”

I bit down on
my tongue and counted to five before saying anything else, “I’m sorry, what was
your name again?”

“Lauren.”

“Lauren, right.
Can you come here for a sec?” I led her into the living room, thankful Bree
made everyone else stay in the kitchen, “I’m guessing you’re a friend of
Ashley’s?”

She raised a
dark brow in confirmation.

“I’m sure you
have a reason for trying to stand up for your friend that was
sweet
enough to empty Carter’s bank account and let him come back from war to find
divorce papers, but I can assure you I had nothing to do with said divorce.
Whether she believes that or not, is her problem. But if you still feel the
need to be in the middle of it, feel free to ask Carter when the last time was
that we spoke before last week. He’ll tell you it was
months
before he
even met Ashley. I knew they got married, but I found out through a text.”

“I’m sure, I
know you were still around and I’ve heard enough about you to know what kind of
girl you are.”

“I doubt that.”

“You weren’t
always surrounded by Marines? Sleeping with half the guys in Jason’s unit? From
the way he talks about you, you’re still screwing him. Does your husband know
you’ve fucked most of the infantryman in Lejeune?”

“Excuse me? Who
the hell do you think you are coming in
my
house, accusing me of –”

“Being a
home-wrecker? It’s about time someone informed you of what you are! Do you know
how heartbroken Ash was that her husband told her she’d never be you?”

“What happened
between me and Ashley is between us.” Carter came up beside me and I felt
Brandon’s large frame step behind me. “And whatever has happened since then is
none of your business either.”

“It is my
business when I had to listen to my friend cry for hours on end about some
slut!”

“Shit.” A
mumbled voice came through the back door, “Lo, what the fuck is wrong with
you?” A lean guy I’m guessing was Craig pushed through us and grabbed her arm,
whispered to her for a second and watched her storm out the door. “Y’all, I’m
so sorry. I’m gonna take her home. Harper, Brandon, please forgive that. She’s
– she’s…well what she said wasn’t right. Y-you’re not a, uh, slut Harper. I’m
real sorry.”

My blood was
boiling and my body was shaking, but I forced my voice to stay even, “Feel free
to come back, but don’t bring her.”

Craig nodded at
me and looked up to Brandon, “Brandon, I’m –”

“It’s fine,”
Brandon raised a hand to stop him, “but Harper’s right, don’t bring her back to
our house again. We’ll save you some food if you decide to come back.”

He waved
awkwardly and bolted for the front door.

The three of us
stood there for a moment looking at the shut door and I brought my hands up
with a soft clap, “Well, she was lovely. Burgers, anyone?”

Carter smirked
and punched my arm, “Hell yeah, bet I can still eat you under the table.”

Like that was
hard to do. I patted my stomach and winked at Brandon before looking back at
Carter, “I don’t know about that, I’ve been awfully hungry lately.”

“This isn’t ice
cream Blaze, you know you can’t beat me unless it’s that.”

“True.” I
sighed and wrapped my arms around Brandon’s waist, looking up at his amused
expression, “Aren’t you supposed to be manning the grill?”

“Everything’s
practically done, but Jer’s got it covered. Bree said we needed to save you.”

I rolled my
eyes, “I was handling it just fine…okay maybe not.”

“You handled
that better than I would have expected anyone to. You’re kind of amazing, you
know?” Brandon’s gray eyes ran over my face, resting on my lips.

“And you’re
kind of ridiculously handsome, you know?”

He leaned down
and gave me a soft kiss, smiling against my mouth when another happy sigh
escaped my lips.

“Gah, you guys
are disgustingly cute.” Carter gave us a crooked smile and shook his head.

“You know
Carter, Kate’s single…” I pursed my lips and raised my eyebrows.

“The one with
the awesome eyes?”

Brandon and I
laughed, “Yep.”

“Oh really now?
Well then, please excuse me.” After rounding the corner, he poked his head back
in and looked at me with mock disappointment, “I know for a fact you perfected
your right hook, I expect to see it next time someone calls you a slut.
Prokowski wasn’t your punching bag for nothing, make us proud Blaze!”

Carter didn’t
leave Kate’s side for the rest of the afternoon, and although it helped me
breathe easier, I know Brandon wasn’t completely comfortable with him yet. It
took me a bit to realize why he kept pulling me closer to him than I already
was until I noticed the longing glances Carter seemed to still be sending my
way.

“You need help
in here?”

Turning, I saw
Carter standing behind the breakfast bar with a sheepish grin on his face,
“There’s not much left, I’ll be back out there soon.”

The chair
scraped against the floor before he sat down, his body slumping into the chair
as he brought his beer to his lips, “So today has been fun.”

“Mhmm. Glad you
guys could come. It was nice to be surrounded by jarheads, it’s been too long.”

“I knew you’d
miss us. It was so different when you left for school. I mean, we had a lot
that we were always doing, but it still felt like we had nothing to do or look
forward to without you there.”

“It was weird
for me too, especially with Bree. I’ve never been around girls, but she’s
great, she was the perfect roommate and friend for me. And all the guys that we
hung out with reminded me of you all, so it made it easier. Going my whole life
being surrounded by Sir’s unit, I felt like everyone in there before you got
there, and during, was my real family. You guys were my home.”

“Even Jacobs?”
He gave me his crooked grin and I rolled my eyes remembering the perverted
creep.

“Okay maybe not
all
of you. I think I told you when you first got here, I felt like I
went from one family of brothers to another, and that really is the best way to
explain it. It wasn’t you, or Prokowski and Sanders, but they were still protective
and funny like the rest of you, so it felt like I was back home being around
them. The house and Bree made moving an easy transition.” I turned to put the
rest of the crème pie in the fridge, and my heart ached when I saw his lonely
expression, “It really has been good to see you Carter. I’ve missed you.”

“I’ve missed
you too Blaze. These last couple years have gone,” he took another swig and
sighed deeply, “a lot different than I thought they were going to.”

“For me too.” I
leaned onto the island and shook my head, laughing softly, “I didn’t think I
would be married or have a baby, that’s for sure.”

“I did, but I
definitely thought it would be with me. I had it all planned out, I was gonna
sweep you off your feet, you were going to drop out of college and marry me
immediately.” He puffed a small laugh and ran a hand through his short hair.

“Well, obviously
that didn’t happen.” I smirked at him.

“
Obviously.
What
did you see yourself doing?”

“Continuing
school, trying to enjoy the ‘college experience’, I guess. I don’t really know
Carter, I just wanted to get away, be me, or find out who I was.”

“And then you
met Brandon, and your whole world changed?” He looked sad, even through his
smile, “I’ve gotta admit, I thought getting you to marry me anytime soon was a
long shot, but I couldn’t believe the girl I knew was already head over heels
for some guy she’d just met. You were so different when I got here, confident,
feminine and outgoing. I had to keep reminding myself that you
were
my
Blaze. I’d already lost you to everyone here though. It was painfully obvious
after those first few minutes on the beach. And seeing you with him, I just – I
don’t know. It shocked the hell out of me and killed me.”

“To be honest,
I wasn’t even thinking about dating when I left home. I mean, I figured I would,
but never thought I’d meet someone I wanted to spend the rest of my life with
after just two weeks of being here, ya know?” I laughed softly and the corners
of my mouth tilted up, “Definitely thought marriage and babies would happen sometime
after
graduation. Like you said though, life doesn’t always go as planned,
does it? It caused me to grow up, too soon probably, but I’m fine with that
because it was the result of my actions. I just hate that those actions forced
the people closest to me to grow up too.” Silence filled the kitchen for a few
moments before I continued, “And while I can’t regret anything that brought
Brandon and I to where we are now, I wish I could have spared Brandon and Chase
a lot of the pain that we went through to get here.

“Chase? That
tatted up guy…Bree’s brother right?”

I nodded and watched
him try to figure it out.

“I knew it! I
knew there was something going on there, he was way too possessive of you for
you to just be friends. He was worse than Brandon and me combined. Where is he
anyway?”

“He died.”

“Oh damn.
When?”

“Over a year
ago, he ran a red light and was hit by an eighteen wheeler. I was five and a
half months pregnant with Liam. Chase was the father.”

“The fuck?” He
leaned over the countertop and whispered, “Does Brandon know about this?!”

“Yes Carter,
Brandon knows everything, I promise. I uh, I cheated on Brandon with Chase not
long after you left for Afghanistan, but trust me when I say it is way too long
and FUBAR’d to even try to explain tonight.”

“Blaze, you
can’t just say something like that and not tell me what happened.”

My vision got
blurry and I blinked back the tears, “Not tonight, kay Carter?”

“Yeah,
alright.” He shook his head in disbelief, “But he just acts like Liam’s his
son?”

“Chase was the
father, but Brandon
is
Liam’s dad. He loves him like he’s his own.” I walked
over and sat in the seat next to him, “I don’t expect you to understand what
that means, it’s hard to explain it to anyone who wasn’t there for everything
that happened.”

Carter
continued to stare at me with wide unblinking eyes, “Jeez Blaze.”

“I know.”

“One day, we’re
sitting down and you’re telling me the whole damn thing.”

“Okay Carter.
Will you tell me all about you too?”

He sat forward,
resting his elbows on his knees, “Hell, I’ll tell you it all right now. I
pretty much lost it after that night at the party, slept with a new girl every
weekend, went to strip clubs every Friday night and was wasted all weekend,
every weekend. One Friday, I’m walking out to my car with some of my boys and I
see this girl sitting on the tailgate of a big truck. Swear to God I thought it
was you. Walked over and saw it wasn’t, but by that point she had seen she
caught my attention and started laying it on pretty thick. Honestly it was
pathetic, but at that point I didn’t care. Made the guys find their own way and
spent the afternoon with her, drove to Vegas late that night and married her
the next day. Stupidest damn thing I’ve ever done, and God she drove me crazy.
Anytime we were out, she’d try to get me to have my dog tags outside my shirt,
and would always wear a ‘Marine’s wife’ shirt. Wouldn’t even call me by my
name, always called me Sergeant and let everyone she talked to know she was
married to a guy in the military. I mean like literally, it was the first thing
she said. Even the other people would look at her weird for just bringing it up
like that. She didn’t care about me just the same as I didn’t care about her.
We were both using each other for something, and I think that’s the only reason
we tolerated each other for the month before I left.”