Page 12 of Slice

War started to say something, but Locks held up his hand. “Son, did you tell her you liked her, wanted to take her out, or just wanted to take her to bed?”

Slice shook his head. He hadn’t. He’d kissed her. When the previous women chased him, kissing them let them know he reciprocated their interest.

“I’m going to hazard a guess that Faith might not know what you want. What exactly do you want? A date? A night in her bed?” Locks questioned.

Slice stared at Locks. He hadn’t considered that Faith might not know what he wanted.

“I want her. I want what Cruise and Willa have, and Cannon and Jesse, and what War and Remi have—a woman who is my best friend but also the love of my life. I want the kids, the house, and forever with her,” Slice said, looking around at his friends. He was baring his soul, but these men and Willa knew him. He felt safe opening himself up.

“Can I chime in here?” Willa asked.

“I would love for you to take over,” Locks said.

“Kissing her and saying she went to your head like whiskey told her you wanted her, but Faith has no idea if you want a one-night stand, a fling, or something long-term. I don’t know her experience with men, but I do know we, as women, like to hear what you’re thinking,” Willa said.

Slice nodded but wanted to make sure he was getting it. “So I need to tell her that I want her for more than a night?” he asked.

Locks chuckled. “That would be a start, and maybe you could also take her on a date. I’m sure we all could cover babysitting. Don’t be that dork that just expects everything to fall into place. Dating and love take work and communication. So much communication.”

“Yeah, I mean I have three kids, but rarely do I have only three kids at the house,” Bear said, chuckling. “And I echo communication. Never, ever, friggin’ ever assume your better half knows what you’re thinking or make the colossal mistake of dreaming you know what she’s thinking.”

Chuckles at Bear’s words had Slice guessing they’d all experienced that. He’d take any and all help he could.

“Okay. I’ll ask her out. I’d planned on asking her on a date and was going to try to find out who could watch the kids. I, umm, don’t have a lot of experience dating. You all know how it is when you’re in uniform. There’s always someone wanting to bag you. That’s what I have experience in, not dating,” Slice said.

“There’s no shame in not having experience dating. You’re asking, and see, we’ve already solved part of your problem,” Locks said, grinning.

“So, she goes back to school next week. Does she have childcare for LB?” War asked.

“I don’t know. I can find out tomorrow,” Slice said.

Willa was shaking her head no. “I wouldn’t wait. I mean, you can wait on daycare, but if I were you, I would either call or text her about a date. Just like you’re upset you haven’t heard from her today, she’s probably wondering why she hasn’t heard from you. If you’re concerned about going on a date by yourselves, Cruise and I will double date with you guys if you want. Cruise and I skipped a lot of steps, so we’ll be doing a lot of the getting-to-know-you type of dating: movie theater, rides, and some other fun things.”

Slice grinned at his best friend’s woman. He’d trusted Willa when they served together, and now, seeing her and Cruise together was great. And he got a woman he considered to be like a sister.

“We will?” Cruise asked. At Willa’s glare, he chuckled and pulled her close for a kiss. After they came up for air, Cruise whispered, “Kidding. Just kidding.”

He craved that and everything else with Faith.

“Okay,” he glanced at his phone to check the time. “I think I’ll give her a call in another hour because the boys will be in bed by then. So enough about me, why are you guys here without your women?”

War shook his head and rolled his eyes. “Because pregnancy hasn’t mellowed my woman at all. Even though Hennessy said he would take care of Ellie’s brother, who is threatening them, my wife thought they needed a girls’ night. She’s probably plotting something because Remi doesn’t like it when someone threatens someone she loves. I only hope her sisters or Regina and Meg can keep her from driving across the state to break into a prison.”

“You don’t sound too upset,” Cruise commented.

“Oh, I’m not. I married a fierce woman, and sometimes that means she plans and plots things to take care of business. It’s just a little different now that she’s pregnant. I worry about her a little more, even though she’s told me multiple times she’s pregnant, not sick.”

Slice listened as Locks gave War some suggestions for keeping Remi safe without her knowing he was doing it. Slice figured if anyone knew how to do that, it was her father.

He’d been so annoyed and upset about Faith, but his friends had helped him see that he’d created the problem by not being clear. He was going to fix that because he wanted Faith under him in bed, beside him in life, and with him through every upand down. He only hoped Faith would be okay with him not being able to have children. He knew some women considered it a deal breaker, but he believed with Faith’s big heart, she would be the perfect woman for him.

Faith tucked LB in bed and then checked on the boys. Their soft breaths let her know they were out. It had been a quiet day at home. Hope had dropped by with Benji. The boys had played video games. Hope had helped her bake her hot applesauce cake, which she actually made in loaf pans and muffin tins. She wanted some to have in the freezer for snacks, but she also wanted to do something nice for Slice for the meals.

But then, not hearing from him at all made her wonder what his intentions were exactly. She wasn’t in her twenties, and she had little ones to think of. If Slice just wanted a one-night stand, she wasn’t saying no, but she would probably make sure Slice didn’t spend a lot of time around the boys. They were too young to understand if Slice was done with her and then didn’t come to see them.

Her phone beeped with a text.

Slice: Hi. Are you available for me to call?

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