Page 12 of Sloane

But I’d been thinking it since I started baring my soul in my letters to her, and the thought only entrenched itself with every letter we exchanged. As I glanced over at her smiling shyly at me from the passenger seat, I knew I wasn’t going to take it back.

****

Ashley

It was obvious Sloane was well-loved. His friends had shown up in force, and other than the woman who’d been draped all over him in his Instagram photos from the summer, they’d all been kind and welcoming.

Noticeably missing from the crowd were any members of his family—although I already knew why. He’d told me in his letters that he hadn’t spoken to his mom or stepdad since he’d enlisted, and since his siblings were younger, by default he hadn’t spoken to them either.

He said they were college-age now, and he’d expressed a desire to reconnect with them, he just didn’t know where to start.

“Maybe when I get back from this tour,” he’d written when I asked about looking them up. “But even if I do find them, I’m just not sure how well-received I’d be. I’m certain my mom and stepdad probably poisoned their view of me since they were so young when I left.”

“Only one way to find out.”

“Yeah, we’ll see what happens when I get back.”

As I looked around at the occupied seats on the patio of the fast-food place where we’d come for lunch, he obviously had family who weren’t blood related. These people clearly loved him.

I reflected on our letters and how we’d gotten to know each other through the written word before we even knew what the other looked like, and I realized I might be one of the people who loved him.

I’d see how our time together in person went. Maybe I’d interpreted what I’d wanted to in his letters, made him out to be someone he really wasn’t.

But when butterflies took flight in my tummy when he looked over and winked at me, I didn’t think that was the case.

Then there was that kiss.

Holy hell.

No one had ever kissed me like that.

But shit. What if he’d read what he wanted to in my letters, and he ended up disappointed when he got to know me in real life? Then what?

And I still wasn’t convinced my birthmark wasn’t an issue, although the way he’d looked at me, it sure seemed like it wasn’t.

No more Chicken Little crap. I was just going to enjoy the time I spent with him this week and let the chips fall where they may when he went back overseas.

Maybe we’d go back to writing each other every day, or maybe he’d suddenly become too busy to be able to write me back.

I wanted to pretend I’d be good either way, but when he ran his fingers up and down my back as we talked to his friends, I wasn’t so sure I’d be okay if he decided it was the latter.

Chapter Five

Sloane

I stifled a yawn, something Ryan took note of.

“You need a nap, man.”

“Nah, I’m good. I just need to stay hydrated and keep moving until bedtime, otherwise jetlag will kick my ass, and I don’t have enough time here this week to deal with that nonsense.”

“We could take Tank down to the Ocean Front Walk,” Ashley suggested from her spot next to me at the restaurant’s outdoor patio table. “Walk around, people watch, maybe grab a bite for dinner later if you guys want.”

She made a point of looking at my friends as if to make sure they knew she was including them in the suggestion.

I felt a pang in my chest. I liked how well she seemed to fit in with the group, and it meant a lot that she wanted to include my dog and my friends. We all thought it was a good idea.

“That sounds great. I just need to drop my stuff off at Ryan’s and get changed into civvies.”

---