I really was elated that Ryan was back. So much so that I had to hold back my tears when he walked into the surprise party. He and every other person stationed with him in Afghanistan had smiles covering their faces from ear to ear. Their tanned skin made their white smiles shine even brighter. They didn’t look rough or ragged like I’ve seen my dad look when he would return home from a deployment. They just looked content, and normal.
When Ryan, Chuckie, and Daniel came over and hugged me tightly around the waist, I felt relieved. Having them back over here on American soil was nothing short of a miracle; especially since I knew how rough it was over there on the other side of hell. I think Ryan could tell that I was holding back my tears, a mixture of both happiness and envy, because he held onto me a little tighter, kissing me on top of the head.
“This is amazing, Cammie.” Daniel whispered as his arms left my frame. I smiled gently up at his blue eyes and watched as he searched the entirety of my face. Daniel was a cuddly guy, big but still in shape, with a round, baby-like face. He was the life of the party, always smiling and joking around. Much like my brother had been. The two of them were good friends. Everyone loved Alexander, even more so now that he was gone. He was one of those guys who would take the shirt off his back and hand it right over to you without the slightest hesitation; that’s why he made such a good Marine. But, that’s also why he didn’t make it back.
“It wasn’t all me. It was JoJo’s idea,” I said, scrunching up my nose at the sight of JoJo making out very robustly with Ryan. His arms were wrapped around her waist, and her legs were wrapped around his middle, tightening their hold on his body.
Daniel gave out a big belly laugh and I laughed alongside him, feeling the little twinge in my heart disappear. Alexander would want me to be happy, and he would want me to welcome these guys back with open arms. I just wish it didn’t hurt so much.
“What the hell! Luke?” Daniel boomed, spotting someone who had just walked into the kitchen. I looked around Daniel’s wide body and watched as Luke, with his sandy blond hair and pale green eyes, came through the archway. I took the teeniest, tiniest second to scan his body. His hair was spiked up just a little bit in the front, and his pale, somewhat squinty eyes bounced around the room as he gave a grin and quick dip of his head at the sight of Daniel. The black shirt he wore was taut around his chest but hung a little looser around his waist, and he had on a pair of jeans that were, for lack of better words, perfectly fitted to his lower half. The second his eyes found mine, while he was giving Daniel a hug/pat on the back (man-style, you know), his eyebrows folded into themselves. I briefly saw that tiny scar that was in between them before it disappeared between the wrinkles.
“Doc? What are you doing here?” he hummed, pulling away from Daniel and crossing those tan arms across his t-shirt. Did he really just call me “Doc?”
I rolled my eyes unintentionally. “This is my house, Soldier.”
I heard Daniel curse under his breath after he chuckled. Luke’s eyes shifted, as if he was trying to decide whether I was serious or not. I wish I wasn’t.
“Your house?” He laughed. “That’s just perfect.”
Before I could even say anything, he uncrossed his arms and looked directly into my eyes. “I wouldn’t have pegged you for a party girl. You seemed so uptight…” He smirked and I was pretty sure steam came out of my ears. I knew my face was beet-red, and I back-pedaled in my head. I take it back! I wish it was Dustin that lived beside me instead of this… arrogant, egotistical, asshole.
“You know nothing about me…” I said, but I was more embarrassed than anything, because he was right. I was uptight. I’d given JoJo a list of rules so she could forward them to everyone before they came over. It wasn’t a long list or anything…it was just a list to keep my house intact.
Luke’s smirk grew even wider.
“I know plenty.”
My mouth opened into a gape, and I was surprised when I didn’t hear a line of curse words spewing out of it. Instead, I grabbed onto my countertop so tightly my knuckles turned white. I couldn’t come up with a comeback; that’s how taken aback I was at his attitude, which made me feel like I was nothing but a bitch.
He walked towards my fridge swiftly, opened it, and grabbed a beer from the back without even glancing in my direction. I watched as he headed off to mingle with my friends. The way he gave them hugs and back-slaps meant that he knew them, and that didn’t sit too well with me.
At all.
I would be lying if I said I didn’t listen to every single conversation my new nemesis had with my friends. My ears perked up when I heard that smooth voice ask about Afghanistan, and then again when he filled the others in on what had been happening over at the shop the last couple of weeks. Apparently, they shared a shop now that they were all back from deployment. That meant they would be working together. That also meant he was going to be around my friends more often than not. Which meant I was going to get shit from him all the time. Apparently, my friends were his friends, too. Great.
I was almost positive that he hated my guts, and I kind of felt the same. We’ve had, what, two encounters since we’ve met? Two! That’s it! Yet we both felt the need to give each other dirty looks and scowls accompanied by snarky remarks. I didn’t even know why he hated me so much, besides the whole calling
him “soldier” thing. But, come on. It was a joke. Granted, a joke to intentionally piss him off, but who cares?
I stood back in my kitchen, against the cool glass of my oven, and watched as everyone took sips of their drinks and socialized with one another. Parties have changed dramatically over the last few years for me. In college, parties were wild. Drunken nights led to one-night stands, walking back to the dorms way after midnight, and throwing up the next day until I thought I was literally going to die. Then we had this—no beer pong, no drinking games, no loud music…just adults mingling and laughing. Although, the relaxed manner of this party probably had something to do with my list of rules that JoJo had so carefully texted to everyone.
“So, how ya doing?” JoJo asked as she made her way over to me to grab another drink from the fridge. The beers clanked together as the door shut, and I pushed off the oven to let out a breath I didn’t realize I was holding.
“I’m fine,” I said, with as much fakeness to it as the blonde’s boobs casually being pressed up against Chuckie’s tattooed arm.
JoJo arched her eyebrow at me and I grinned, shrugging my shoulders.
“I know you better than that, Cammie.”
“I really am fine. A little annoyed with him,” I nodded my head to Luke, who was standing a little too close to Daniel’s date’s friend. “But, really. I’m okay. I promise.”
“I know this is hard, but I’m glad you’re getting back into the swing of things. Being around people…” Before I could muster up my retaliation, she stopped me. “I mean other than your patients. Workaholic.”
I let out a small laugh just as Ryan called JoJo back over to him. I propped myself against the island in the middle of my kitchen and watched as he kissed her on the temple. Then he raised his beer bottle, and everyone stopped their conversations. My eyes wandered from the crowd back to Ryan, and my heart dropped.
“I just wanted to give a shout-out to my adorable fiancé.” He kissed her again, only this time it was on the cheek. “And to Cammie for allowing us to use her house for this little party. We missed you girls, a ton.”
A smile grew on my face, but my stomach still fluttered with apprehension.