She placed the bottle in front of his face, and Gage closed his eyes. He wasn’t exactly a wine connoisseur, but one does pick up some knowledge here and there when they run an establishment that revolves around the distribution of it. He detected notes of berries, plus a sweet floral peachy fragrance.
He opened his eyes, seeing her watching him with a pretty smile on her face. He hoped his ocean blues were captivating her as much as her honey chocolate orbs were him.
“Smells decadent,” he replied.
Rylee maintained her grin and then proceeded to pour wine out. She evenly distributed the beverage without losing a single drop.
“So precise,” Gage commented.
Rylee picked up the stem from the glass, held it in the air, and then picked up the other for him.
“I’ve been accused of much worse things,” she said with a wink.
Her playfulness made Gage feel alive. He felt like all of the horrors he had ever experienced were meaningless when he was in Rylee’s presence.
She motioned with her hand to the living room, and he followed eagerly.
“What makes you so orderly then?” Rylee asked.
Two large windows opened to a balcony overlooking a busy intersection of the town. Two lights sparkled behind them as they sat on the couch facing each other as the Chicago wind had picked up quickly.
Gage looked down at his glass as he settled onto the couch. He wanted to tell Rylee everything, but due to his past experiences of mistrust, he tried to keep a lid on some of the gory details.
“I was in the army for a bit,” he said. “Everything you learn about the military from movies and TV is true. There’s so much order and discipline. It sticks to your bones.”
Rylee was looking at him, listening intently with nods. She shifted closer to him on the couch, curling her legs beneath her and leaning against the back cushion.
“How long were you in the army?” she asked. Gage let out a sigh which made Rylee raise a hand in the air. “You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to,” she said softly. “Just tell me to shut up, and we’ll move on.”
Gage could feel his eyes getting glassy. He turned to Rylee and, by force, met her gaze. In those eyes, there was nothing but tenderness and curiosity. He didn’t think she had a judgmental bone in her body.
“No, I want to,” he said thoughtfully. “It was just so long ago, yet it often feels like it was just yesterday.”
Rylee nodded, lifting her glass to her mouth to sip her wine. She remained quiet and respectful, waiting for him to speak. Gage couldn’t believe what he was willing to pour out of his mouth for her.
“I fought for four years in Afghanistan,” Gage said, swirling his wine. “Two tours, if you want to put it that way. It’s one of those things where you’re so plagued with boredom, you crave excitement in the strangest ways.”
Rylee continued to listen as she nodded, bringing a hand to his neck and rubbing it softly. He was shocked to feel her skin again but so comforted by the gesture.
“There’s a part of you that kind of wants the violence, though you’d never admit it,” Gage said. “But then when it happens, it's tattooed on your brain forever.”
Rylee shifted even closer to him, her wine glass resting on her bare leg. Gage reached out and let his hand rest on her ankle, and she leaned into him.
“I was honorably discharged after I was injured,” Gage said, tapping the scar on his chin. “I had a shit load of cartilage lost, so it needed to be reconstructed. Since then it's been, I guess, different, not being there.”
Gage realized he was carving his heart out of his chest and letting Rylee see it in the open. It was scary but also really easy when it came to sharing with her. She placed her glass of wine on the floor and placed her hand on his ear, playing with his lobe with her breath so close to him.
“That must have been difficult to cope with,” she murmured. “But no matter what happened, seeing the man you are now, I am proud of you.”
The heart beating in the open was melting, the numbness replaced by a relentless beat. He turned to Rylee, met her eyes, and placed his glass on the floor. He took her face in his hands and kissed her softly, her body naturally curling toward him.
When they parted, he felt Rylee quiver.
“Gage,” she said, taking his hands wrapped around her face.
“Yes, darling?”
“I don’t normally do this, you know,” she said, sounding cautious. “I don’t normally hook up with random men in clubs or have sex in a club's bathroom. This is all so new to me.”