He gave me a grin.
Then he let me go, walked into the kitchen and disappeared behind the stairs. Thirty seconds later, I heard a garage door go up then the growl of what had to be a truck or SUV (a big one) then a few seconds later a garage door going down.
It hit me then I didn’t even know what kind of vehicle Sam drove.
Then it hit me that everything that was hitting me about Sam was a surprise.
Then it hit me even more than it had been hitting me that I didn’t know anything about my boyfriend.
“Yo!” Hap called, my body jolted again and I saw he too was downstairs and grinning at me. “You’re in a different time zone, babe, but you didn’t fly to China. You okay?”
No.
I wasn’t.
My boyfriend was a Ranger and I didn’t know.
My life was in danger and I had no clue what was going on with that.
My mother was closing on my house in four days and, after that, I’d be homeless.
I had no job and I had no idea what I was going to do with the rest of my life.
And I’d just flown to North Carolina with my boyfriend who I knew was a gentleman, he had a great sense of humor, my family and friends liked him, he was loyal to his friends and family, he was phenomenal in bed, he liked me and he also liked my dog.
But other than that, although I’d spent a month with the man nearly nonstop, I really didn’t know a thing about him. Or, I should say, nowhere near what I should know, nowhere near what he knew about me and not enough of what I knew was important.
So no.
I wasn’t okay.
“Great!” I chirped my lie then asked, “After I get Memphis a drink, can we take a walk on the beach?”
Hap approached, still grinning and answered, “Yeah, but only if I go with you. It’ll be a hit to my street cred, takin’ that rat for a walk on the beach but I’ll get in a bar fight or something this week, make up for it.”
I smiled at him.
Yes. Hap was carrying. I didn’t know where considering his dark gray t-shirt was skintight but he was wearing black cargo pants and they had a bunch of pockets so maybe he had his weapon skillfully hidden somewhere there.
Whatever.
That was his gig. My gig was getting my dog some agua, finding her leash and clearing my thoughts by walking the beach.
“Cool,” I grinned back. “Let’s go.”
* * * * *
“Drive safe,” Sam murmured, shaking Hap’s hand. “Owe you,” he finished.
“You bought dinner and beer and think you still got markers, dude,” Hap returned intriguingly, grinning up at Sam then he turned to me and engulfed me in a bear hug.
I hugged him back saying, “Text Sam when you get home.”
He pulled slightly away, didn’t drop his arms but did give me a big smile. “Babe, I don’t check in.”
“Practice,” I replied. “You ever land a fine piece of ass, she’ll expect that.”
His smile got bigger. “Killer. I get how to take care of a hot chick lessons from Sam’s new pe… I mean, woman. I like it.”
“Maybe you should take notes,” I suggested on a head tilt and a grin.
His smile didn’t waver, his arms gave me a squeeze then he let me go, turned away and flicked out two fingers as he moved to his SUV.
Sam moved to me, sliding an arm around my shoulders then curling me so my front was in his side.
Hap swung in, fired up his truck, backed out of the drive and through this, Sam and I didn’t move. Sam also didn’t wave but I did. Then when Hap was out the gate and on his way, Sam’s arm came up, he pressed the button on the remote he was carrying and the gate started to swing closed.
That was when Sam turned us and headed us to the walkway. He kept his arm around my shoulders and we walked side by side.
We made it to the deck and Sam muttered, “Gonna drop this inside and get another beer. Want one?”
I looked up at Sam and shook my head. Sam tipped up his chin slightly and let me go. He headed inside. I headed to the railing of the deck.
The sun was beginning to set, it was late. Sam had come back from the grocery store before we got back from our walk on the beach. This was because Memphis loved the beach so I let her have a lot of time there. This was also because I needed that time to clear my head. I knew this because, even with that amount of time, I still hadn’t cleared my head. Hap had walked with Memphis and me but he did this mostly silent. I didn’t know what to make of this, whether he was sensing my mood or whether he was trying to take a read on me.
We arrived back and beers were opened. Hap partook but sipped since he was going to be getting in a vehicle. We sat on the deck and chatted or, I should say, Hap and I chatted and at this juncture it was clear Hap was trying to get a read on me mostly because our chatting consisted of Hap asking jovial, amusing questions that were jovial and amusing to disguise that they were nosy as all get out.
I didn’t have anything to hide so I answered them.
This was clearly satisfactory to both Hap and Sam and I knew I’d earned Hap’s approval when the guard he actually did disguise came crashing down and Hap, who seemingly was as happy as his nickname, became seriously freaking happy.
We ordered takeout. Sam went to go get it. We ate it with more beers and then Hap declared he had to go home.
Which brought me to now.
I heard the screen door bang shut then I heard Memphis’s claws clicking on the wood of the deck and I turned to see Memphis and Sam approaching, Memphis a lot quicker.
I bent and she jumped into my arms.
As I straightened, I told Sam, “I don’t want her out off her lead. Not until she gets used to her new space. Your deck is open. She could take off and not know how to get home.”
“She’s fine,” Sam replied, leaning into the railing and giving Memphis’s head a rub before dropping his hand, lifting his other and taking a drag off his beer.
Memphis began to struggle to get down and really, she’d been there all of a few hours. I didn’t want her out without a lead until she knew the lay of the land.
I started to the house. “I’m gonna take her back in.”
Sam’s fingers curled around my arm, halting my progress. “Baby, like I said, she’s fine.”
“She doesn’t know the lay of the land.”
“She knows your call, she knows mine. She’s fine.”
“She’s my dog, Sam!”
Yes, that was what I said. And yes, it came out with a lot more heat and volume than befitted our current conversation. And I knew it surprised Sam because he let me go and his chin jerked back.