Page 9 of Pirate

“If you don’t tell me, I’m just going to keep bothering you about it.”

Pirate snorted. “Pretty sure you’re going to be asleep in about five minutes.”

“That’s still five minutes where I can keep bothering you—and you know how annoying I can be when I want something.”

He could not argue with that.

Pirate figured he might as well get the conversation over with. “Just let me know how much all of this is going to cost and I’ll pay my half.” He’d like to offer to pay all of it but knew that wouldn’t be possible.

Sophia snorted. Pirate stiffened underneath her. She didn’t open her eyes to look at him. “I wasn’t even planning on asking you to pay anything.”

“I’ll pay you back for my?—”

“You wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for me. I’m not going to make you pay for something you didn’t want a part in if Jazz hadn’t guilted you into coming.”

“Sophia, I?—”

“We both know you wouldn’t have flown first class or rented a convertible if you were taking this trip on your own. No reason for you to pay for a lifestyle you’re not used to.” Sophia opened her eyes to look at him. “I’m not saying that to be mean. I’m saying it to be factual.”

It was factual, but it did chafe at his ego. He wasn’t really sure how to reply, because everything he came up with sounded lame in his head.

“Can I ask you a question?” Sophia pushed her foot gently against his knee.

“Are you going to ask it anyway if I say no?” he asked in return.

She smiled, because both of them knew the answer to that question without her needing to voice it. “Why do you work as a security guard at the high school?”

“You mean why do Ionlywork as a security guard at the high school?” he reiterated.

She shook her head. “No, I don’t mean it like that. I would have said so if I did. I am just asking why. With your military history, I would think you could get a lot of different jobs.”

Pirate shrugged. “When I first moved to Mount Grove, my priority was finding a job with reasonable hours and pay that would make me accessible for Jumper. Principal Rockland took me on knowing that I might have the occasional emergency situation that I would need to leave work early for or not be able to come in at all. His brother was a vet who committed suicide after returning to the States. I think he sympathized more about my situation because of that.”

“Is it what you want to do?”

“As in, do I see myself doing it for the rest of my life?” he inquired. “No.”

“What do you want to do then?” When he hesitated, Sophia pressed, “Come on. Tell me.” Then faster, “Tell me, tell me, tell me…”

Pirate shook his head, unable to contain the grin at her antics. “I want to work with vets with PTSD. Men and women who need more help than what the government is willing or able to give them. There are some really good foundations out there that can help, but there’s also a lot that take money and advantage of people’s generosity. I thought about starting up myown foundation, but that would take backing and money I don’t have.”

“You should,” she said sleepily. “You’d be amazing at it. I’ve seen how you are with Jumper. Your brother’s very lucky to have you.”

He smiled gently, though she couldn’t see it with her eyes closed. “I’m lucky to have him. Even luckier that he’s found Jazz.”

Sophia’s mouth formed a wide, sleepy smile. “She’s amazing too. They’re so perfect for each other.” She yawned. “I’m jealous.” Her voice was low, like it was a secret. “I’m never going to find that. What man would ever put up with my bullshit?”

Pirate was silent for a long moment, just staring down at her. He’d never noticed just how long her eyelashes were before now. He liked the way her nose crinkled slightly and how she rubbed her cheek against the borrowed pillow like a cat as she started to fall asleep.

“Whoever he is,” Pirate finally said softly, “he’ll never be worthy of you.”

Hawaii was beautiful.Pirate had never been before and was a bit disappointed they weren’t staying long enough to do some sightseeing or fishing tours. It took some time, and a call to Keys back in Pennsylvania, but somehow Pirate and Sophia ended up on a bright, sandy beach in Oahu. Despite sleeping some on the plane the night before, Pirate was exhausted. Keeping up with Sophia required a lot of energy—and a lot of coffee.

Still in her red bridesmaid dress with spaghetti straps, Sophia bent to remove her shoes. Picking them up, she slapped them against Pirate’s chest. He was so shocked, he nearlydropped them. He opted to keep his pant legs pulled all the way down and keep his boots on, since he did not have the waterproof sleeve he used to protect his prosthetic.

Not that he was planning on jumping in the ocean…but it was Sophia so…

Finding her quarry, Sophia stormed off into the sand. Pirate rolled his head around once and then followed.

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