Page 12 of A Very Grumpy Marine

“That’s cool! Are you liking it?” Lilou asks.

We make small talk until our food is dropped off, and I file away everything that Lymric says. I learn that she was born in southern California and lived with her parents until they passed when she was nineteen. Her and Lilou have been best friends since grade school and are more like sisters. I know that she hates onions, loves Hawaiian pizza, and traveling.

I also learn that she’s supposed to leave in two weeks, so I’ll have to work fast if I want to convince her that we’re meant to be.

“My treat. A welcome to town present,” Milo says as he grabs the bill, and I nod.

“Thanks, man.”

“Sure. I have a feeling that we’ll be hanging out a bit,” he says as the girls talk excitedly.

He’s right. Lilou and Lymric are close and if I want to be with her, that means I’ll be seeing both Lilou and Milo around a lot.

We all stand, and I take Lymric’s hand as we head for the door.

“See you tomorrow!” Lilou calls to her, and I wave at both of them as they head to their own car.

“What’s tomorrow?” I ask as I open the passenger door for my girl.

“It’s girls’ day. You’re not invited.”

“Hmm. What about dinner?” I ask, and she looks up at me.

“What about it?”

“Have dinner with me tomorrow night. Let me take you out on a date.”

She brushes past me and climbs into the passenger seat, and I hold my breath as I wait to hear if she’s about to go out with me willingly or if I’ll be kidnapping her.

“Alright,” she says finally, and I grin.

“Good.”

I close the door and grin as I climb behind the wheel and drive her home.

FIVE

Lymric

“Maybe I shouldn’t go,”I tell Lilou as she looks through her closet for dress options for tonight.

“You should! Besides, I get the feeling that Camden isn’t going to let you get out of the date without a fight,” she says with a laugh.

She’s right. Camden is persistent, and I know that he’s not going to give up. If I made up an excuse to cancel tonight, like that I wasn’t feeling well, he would just ask to change the date to tomorrow, or worse, show up here with soup and offer to take care of me.

“Yeah, probably not,” I mumble, and she giggles.

“I think it’s sweet…and kind of hot. Just don’t tell Milo that I said that. He’ll get jealous.”

“You don’t think that it’s crazy? I met the guy like two days ago, and he’s obsessed with me.”

“He knows what he wants. Nothing wrong with that,” she says, and I sigh.

“What if this is his whole scheme? Like maybe this is how he gets women.”

“It’s not. I asked around, and all of my friends said that he keeps to himself. They’ve never seen him even look at a woman before.”

“Maybe he’s just discreet.”

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