Page 37 of Sloane

Sloane

It might have been harder to leave Ashley’s side in the morning, had I not remembered that the sooner I left, the sooner I could get back to her.

“Are you sure you aren’t going to need your car, sweetness?” I whispered against her ear after I’d gotten dressed.

She squeezed the pillow I’d been using against her middle and, eyes still closed, mumbled, “No, I’m not going anywhere.”

“Okay, then I’ll see you later, baby.”

“Hurry back,” she lazily replied, then rolled over, taking the pillow with her.

“Count on it.”

As I started her Camry, I reflected on how thoughtful she’d been from her very first letter, and now here she was, loaning me her car. While I’d much rather be driving my Jeep, I appreciated that I hadn’t had to take it out of storage and make it drive worthy only to turn around five days later and re-prep it to sit long-term again.

The last two days with Ash had been incredible—fucking storybook worthy, but I couldn’t help but go back to worrying about if I was being fair to her.

Not just asking her to wait for me to return, but knowing there was a real possibility that I might not seemed even more selfish. The more I grew to care about her, the shittier I felt about it.

How was that for irony?

I was so fucking conflicted. Meeting with two commanders to iron out the details of the mission didn’t make things easier. As we chose the childless men to take part in the operation, all I could think was I needed to cut her loose. Something I knew was going to be easier said than done because I was a selfish fuck.

Just before lunch, my phone dinged with an incoming text.

Ryan: Don’t forget—O’Malley’s tonight. 6:30. It’s a party in your honor, so you better be there.

Me: I’ll be there, albeit under protest.

Ryan: Come on, dude. People miss you. They want to celebrate you’re home, even if it’s only for the weekend.

Me: I’d just much rather hang out with my core group of friends.

Ryan: Tomorrow night.

I snorted when I read his text.

Tomorrow night, my ass.

I was going to spend Saturday alone with Ashley, and maybe Tank, depending on what we did. Although, my first choice was more of what we’d done when we got back to her apartment last night.

That had definitely not been pet-friendly.

Me: We’ll see. I kind of wanted to have some alone time with Ashley.

Ryan: You can have alone time at night. We miss you, too, man.

I knew I was a lucky son-of-a-bitch to have people who cared about me like family. Especially when my own family hadn’t given two shits about me my entire life.

Me: I know. I miss you guys, too. And I appreciate everything you’re doing for me with Tank.

Ryan: Don’t sweat it. We all love that dog. But we love you, more.

Goddammit. How was I supposed to beg off tomorrow when he said shit like that?

Me: You guys are my family, you know that. I’ll see you tonight.

Ryan: You’re still bringing Ashley, right?

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