Beached.

Pushed

Since my return, Jake had been living with me. He had yet been required to report back to Lemoore, so we were taking full advantage.

I'd be lying if I didn't say he made it hard to get out of bed every day. I mean, I was getting cuddles and workouts all without my feet hitting the floor.

I flipped the duvet down to reveal Jake between my legs. He immediately popped up and pressed his lips to mine. I never got tired of the taste of myself on him. I tugged on his bottom lip, which encouraged him to continue. His body covered mine as we made out naked in the sheets.

Jake was ready for another round when I stopped him. "Ok! Ok!" I playfully shoved him off me and slid out of bed. "I'm going to shower. We have a party to attend."

"Hey!" He called after me. "You can't leave me like this?" He motioned to his hard cock.

A smirk crept across my lips and I shrugged. "I'm getting in the shower. You do what you have to take care of that." I winked and sauntered toward the bathroom.

Suddenly, I felt his presence behind me. Before he could touch me, I turned and swatted his hands. "Might as well let me put my hands on you now. I'll be all over you when we get in the shower." Our shower was not short or quiet.

"You two disgust me." Natasha commented as we entered The Hard Deck still unable to keep our hands to ourselves.

I swapped Jake's arm for hers. "You're just mad you can't show the same affection," I whispered in her ear. She elbowed me and we broke apart. I blew her a kiss. She caught it and pretended to angrily slap it on her cheek.

Next, I bumped into Amelia. We shouted each other's names and embraced. She was ready to tell me all about Penny and Pete's reunion but we agreed to save it for later.

The party was heating up. People began to filter in. Bradley took up the piano to perform a scorching rendition of "Great Balls of Fire" and we all sang backup vocals.

We were back where it all began, including Natasha and I running the billiard table with Jake and Bradley as our victims.

Natasha and I just finished our turn. Jake was eyeballing a shot when a petite blonde woman came to the table. "May I call the next game?" she asked with a thick southern accent.

"Be our guest!" Natasha responded. Jake missed his shot and cursed under his breath. He seemed flustered. He handed his cue to Rooster and excused himself.

Nat and I exchanged looks and she nodded for me to go. I thanked her with a small smile and padded after him. My eyes followed his perfectly tousled mop of blond hair as he sliced through the crowd. We finally broke through the mob near the front door.

"Jake!" I called as we spilled into the cool evening air. He was already in the parking lot but turned—he seemed surprised to see me.

"Go back inside." His tone was angry—an emotion I had not yet seen. I sensed he wasn't angry with me, I was just the first person to cross his path.

I cocked my head to the side. "What's wrong?" I continued to walk toward him.

"Kyle, I need you to not be here right now." His eyes kept flashing between frustration and concern.

"I want to help you. I want to be here for you." I kept walking toward him and he kept stepping back.

He sighed. "If you want to help, I need you to leave."

Before either of us could say more, the random blonde woman from inside appeared. "Jake!" she exclaimed. I watched as she strode past me, pecked him on the cheek and wrapped herself around Jake.

His face was taught and he was stiff as a board, not embracing her or reciprocating. "I've missed you, dear. Have the promiscuous women of California kept you warm?"

I crossed my arms. "Who are you?" My questioned directed at her.

She stepped away from Jake, toward me. "I could ask the same, but I don't care to know your name. I already know you're the harlot romping around with my fiancé."

"Fiancé?" My eyes momentarily flashed to Jake.

"I have the ring to prove it." She held out her left with a big cushion-cut pink diamond with white diamonds encrusted in the platinum band.

My mind immediately flashed back to the night Jake and I played Never Have I Ever. He had shared he was the eldest grandchild and had been gifted his grandmother's engagement ring. It was a modest family heirloom—a simple yellow gold band with a two-carat round solitaire white diamond. And the woman he was going to "spend forever" with would wear it.

Jake's voice shook me from my recollection. "Sylvie, we're over. We've been over. We've never been engaged. An engagement would require a ring that I gave you, or for me to ask for your hand, and neither of those happened." Jake's eyes were calm. He looked at me. "I'm sorry, you're in the middle of this. This is the last thing I wanted." His voice was calm while speaking to me.

I nodded. "We'll talk once you have this sorted." Relief flashed across his face.

Mentally replaying what I just witnessed, I turned to head back inside The Hard Deck. Natasha and Bradley came running out the door and looked panicked. Natasha was yelling my name, Bradley was pointing and then I heard Jake also call my name. Before I could turn around, I was face down on the pavement and Sylvie, as Jake had referred to her, was on my back.

Everything was a blur. Partially because everything happened so quickly, and partially because my head bounced off the pavement, so I was in the early stages of a concussion. Jake swiped Sylvie off me while Natasha and Bradley rushed to my aid. Natasha cradled me in her lap, while Bradley and Jake were having a screaming match. Jake still had Sylvie hogtied so she couldn't go anywhere.

Fortunately, there were some naval medics and base police at the celebration. The medics assessed my condition while the base police made contact with the local authorities to detain Sylvie.

I was struggling to keep my eyes open, and the only account I had of the incident was what Natasha would later tell me. Surely, I had blacked out for at least a few minutes. The medics recommended I be taken to the hospital, so Natasha and Bradley scooped me into Bradley's Bronco and headed to the nearest one off base.

Nat sat with me in the back and tried to keep me awake. Of course, I asked about Jake. Natasha assured me he was fine and would see me as soon as he could. Knowing I was in good hands, he stayed behind to give a statement to the police.