Promise Me // Bradley Bradshaw x OC

Two.

Summer 2014

"We can't play two on two volleyball! That's boring!" My best friend Lexi called from the other side of the net. "This is a bust. It's golden hour on a Tuesday, nobody else is going to be around to play."

"Hold on!" I yelled, putting a pause to her complaining as I saw a small group of guys and a girl down the beach. "What about them?"

My other friend Katie looked up from her phone and could hardly contain herself. "Oh my god, yes, absolutely. They're all shirtless and coming this way!"

I rolled my eyes as I stood holding the ball on my hip when the group approached us.

"Need a few extra hands?"

"Maybe. You guys know how to play?" I asked, making contact with the at least 6'3 brunette boy with the mustache through my sunglasses while his friend talked to me. "Nobody else is out here."

"Of course we do, sweetheart," The asshole said as he grabbed the ball. "I'm Hangman, this is Rooster, Fanboy, Bob, Payback, Coyote and Phoenix." He said as we all exchanged waves.

After debating on who was going to be on what side, Mr. 6'3 and absolutely gorgeous approached me, looking down with a soft smirk.

"I'm Bradley."

"Jordan," I smiled as we shook hands. "Guess we're teammates."

"It appears that way," He said as he held my hand for a couple seconds longer before letting it go with a smile before leaving when Hangman called him.

Phoenix came over to me and gave a friendly shoulder nudge as we both laughed. "Wow, he's only known you for five minutes and is already flirting. He likes you."

"You think?" I laughed, turning to look at him. "He's very attractive."

Hangman called everybody in a circle and divided us up into teams. Bradley and I couldn't stop exchanging glances at each other. Luckily, we both had sunglasses on so it wasn't that obvious, or so we thought.

"Alright, the two lovebirds are obviously on the same team. Come on, you're staring at each other," He said as I felt my cheeks grow warm. "I'm invited to the wedding, obviously."

"Shut up, Hangman." Bradley laughed, but didn't deny anything he had said. "Let's play."

We divided off into our respective teams, and since we were playing for fun, we weren't really keeping any scores.

While we were playing, Lexi was trying to tell me something, and we weren't paying much attention. The ball had come straight for me, and by the time everyone got my attention, it was about two feet from my face. I blocked it, but of course, I stumbled backwards, right into Bradley, who caught me as we both laughed.

My back collided with his chest as he stumbled backwards, steadying us so we didn't go tumbling to the ground. I could feel the heat radiating in my cheeks, but laughed it off.

"Sorry, my bad! Should've been paying attention," Hangman yelled from the other side of the net. "You'll thank me later."

"I still think you're an excellent player," Bradley said from behind me as he bent down and whispered in my ear. His fingers ghosted across my lower back which sent shivers up my spine.

Once sundown hit, nobody wanted to go home, but we couldn't figure out what to do, so we decided to hang out by the water. I noticed that my friends were engaged in conversation with Hangman and Coyote, so I decided to chill by myself until Phoenix came up to sit next to me.

"Hangman did that on purpose, you know," She laughed as she sat down and crossed her arms over her knees. "He saw you and Rooster flirting earlier and was trying to set you two up."

I looked back over my shoulder and saw Hangman trying to impress my friends, and by the looks of it, he didn't have to try too hard. I laughed as I shook my head, turning back to look at her.

"He's smooth with the ladies, or so he thinks he is. They might just be easily impressed, though," I said as we both laughed. She turned her head when she saw Bradley coming over to us and winked at me before getting up. "I'll see you later, then."

Bradley came and sat down next to me in the spot Phoenix was sitting in seconds prior and folded his arms around his knees, taking a couple seconds to look at the ocean before turning to look at me.

"So what brings you to San Diego?" He questioned.

"My dad retired out of the Navy here five years ago, and wanted a more permanent place for my siblings and I to finish school," I said as I watched the ocean. "We moved every other year, so I've never been in one place very long. It's nice here."

After a couple seconds of silence, I decided to ask the same question.

"What brings you here?"

"Top Gun," He said, a smirk forming across his lips when I raised my brow in confusion. "It's a school for fighter pilots. They teach you aerial combat. You've never heard of it with your dad being in the Navy?"

"No," I said honestly. "He's never mentioned anything like that, unless he was in it before I was born. But I don't remember a lot of my childhood, so who really knows."

"Why not?"

"My mom died when I was five. She was sick and had cancer. It came back after my brother was born, and there was nothing they could do for her. Since I'm the oldest, I spent a lot of time helping care for my siblings from base to base while my dad worked long hours. We had nice neighbors who would always bring us dinner and stuff, clean the house, things like that. I never fully understood when people say it takes a village to raise a child until I got older," I said as I looked up and noticed he was looking at me. "What about you? What was your childhood like?"

When I was asking the question, he stood up and brushed himself off before helping me up and nodding down the way in front of him, indicating he wanted to walk along the water. I looked back at my friends who were still heavily engulfed in conversation with the others and decided to leave them behind.

"Well, sorta like you, I lost a parent. My dad was in the Navy, and when I was just a kid, he died while in combat with his wingman. Their plane ended up in a flat spin and they couldn't pull out of it, so they had to eject. When the canopy on the plane opened, it didn't pull back far enough and he hit his head on it. He died instantly, but his wingman survived. My mom died a couple years after that," He said as we walked and our hands were innocently bumping into each other. "When I got older, I decided I wanted to be in the Navy like he was."

"I'm sorry to hear that," I said as we glanced at each other again. "I just turned 18. My little sister is 15, and my little brother is 13, so they've finally gotten to the age where they're independent and don't really need me as much. I feel like I gained a lot of freedom," I laughed quietly. "How long is your flight school?"

"It's usually 6 to 8 weeks. Then once you graduate, you get an assignment or they deploy you somewhere," He said softly. I could tell he was trying to change the subject to avoid making me uncomfortable, which I appreciated. He grabbed a hold of my fingers and we stopped walking, staring out at the ocean. "But I'm not so sure I want to leave."

I leaned my head on his shoulder, and he moved his arm to drape it around my own. I moved my arm around his waist before looking up at him as he glanced down at me at the same time.

"And why is that?"

His other hand came up and pushed my hair behind my ear and stayed on my cheek, his thumb stroking it gently as he leaned down and kissed me. I could feel my heart pounding in my chest and in my ears as my eyes fluttered closed and I returned the kiss. His other arm fell from my shoulders as he used his hand to cup the other side of my face. My hands rested on his sides as I pulled away slightly to pant for air, but he bit my bottom lip and pulled me back in.

"Because I think I'm in love." He whispered against my lips as I listened to his heavy breathing. I moved my hands up to his chest and could feel his heart racing just as heavily as mine.

"I'll be here when you get back."