Even now, I wanted to devour him. And not only had I had him before he’d slipped from his bed this morning, but I’d had him multiple times last night.
When it came to each other, we were both insatiable.
Just as I’d said that, the doors on this side of the chain-link fence opened, and Trouper emerged.
He was freshly showered, he had on a pair of aviator glasses, and he was staring right at me.
I didn’t need to see his eyes to know that.
“Y’all ready?” he asked.
I nodded.
“Let’s go,” he urged. “In your little POS.”
I looked at Easton, who was already rolling his eyes. “It’s not like I have a choice on what I get to drive. They make me drive their shit because it’s less conspicuous.”
Troup laughed and walked toward the car. “Shotgun.”
But before he could get into the car, his name was called and he jogged toward a man that spoke with him quickly.
“What’s that look for?” Easton asked as he slammed his door and started the car.
I licked my lips, then pulled my phone out and snapped a picture of the man now facing toward us.
Trouper’s grin was fast and swift when he caught me.
I blew him a kiss and got into the car with Easton.
“I’m in love. Leave me alone.”
Fourteen minutes later, we were standing in front of a house on base, and I was no longer in such a playful mood.
“This was where Eunice lived,” Troup said as he gestured to the small house that was in a smaller neighborhood on base. “She just moved in here a couple of weeks ago.”
“Do you know her?” I asked curiously, suddenly jealous that another woman might know my man.
“No.” Troup shook his head. “Just from what I’ve heard and asked about. I have no relation to either victim.”
Something settled inside of me.
“Do you know when she moved in here in correlation to when the other victim moved?” I asked. “I thought when you lived alone you didn’t really get to live in a house on base. I thought they were more reserved for families.”
“Records show that both women moved about the same time. As to your other…” He was about to answer more, but a young man, a very nervous looking young man, interrupted him.
“C-Captain?”
Troup paused mid-sentence and looked at the young man in uniform at his side.
We’d all seen him come up, but usually—and this was only in the past few days that I’d been observing it—the people would wait to interrupt at least until Trouper was done speaking.
Not this kid, though.
He had balls.
“Taint,” Trouper drawled, giving him a hard time.
“Tint,” Tint corrected. “I’m sorry to interrupt. This is the key to her house. I would’ve been here earlier, but I’ve eaten a bad batch of fried shrimp, and it’s taking everything I have to stand here right now and not throw up.”
Trouper’s lips twitched.
“Is that right?” he asked.
I punched Troup in the arm. “Let him go.”
The kid looked horrified that I’d just hit Trouper.
Well, if only he knew that I’d done a lot more than hit Troup in my time.
Troup wasn’t ‘State’ to me, no matter where we were.
He would always be that seventeen-year-old boy that I’d grown up with.
So all this ‘Captain’ this and ‘Captain’ that that was going on meant nothing to me.
Troup was just Troup.
I would not treat him any differently just because he was a legend on this base.
And whew, boy. Was he a legend.
Like, no joke.
Everybody knew his name.
I had no idea, none, how freakin’ popular the man would be.
But the officer status paired with the sexy fighter pilot god-like status he had meant he was considered ‘hot shit’ on this base.
“Thanks for the key,” Troup grunted as he took the key out of the kid’s outstretched hand. “You can head home now. Make sure you report in every once in a while, so one of us knows you’re alive and doesn’t have to come check on you.”
The kid nodded and all but sprinted away.
He rethought that about two steps into his sprint and walked quickly to his car.
When Troup turned around and surveyed Easton and I, he had a weird look in his eyes.
“Just give it to me, Easton,” Troup sighed.
Easton, obviously holding it in for way too long now, looked at his brother.
“Do they shine your shoes?” he teased.
We both looked at the dirty boots that Trouper was wearing.
His flight suit was covering the tops of them.
“Maybe I should get them to?” he shrugged. “They are kind of dirty.”
“What about wipe your ass?” Easton continued.
Troup sighed. “No, I take care of that task quite fine on my own.”
“What about hold your dick while you pee?” Easton jeered.
Trouper pinched the bridge of his nose. “You’re such a child.”
CHAPTER 14
You don’t have to get pregnant just because he smiles sexy.
-Fact of life