Cowboy Casanova

20

I pulled up to the house and sat in the driveway for a few minutes. I didn't know what to say to him. I checked my phone, seeing that dad had texted saying that we needed to meet, which was almost never a good thing. I felt a child getting in trouble for sneaking out again. I looked up when I saw the door open, seeing Hangman walk out. His eyes met mine before he went over to his truck and drove away. I watched him drive down the road before I looked at the front food, Bradley looking a little shocked. "What was he doing here?" I asked as I went inside, Bradley closing the door behind me.

"Weirdly enough, he was apologizing." I smirked and Bradley looked down at me with a small smile. But I didn't say anything. He led me into his house where I saw the broken glass on the floor.

"Bradley." I looked back up at him and he had a frustrated look on his face. "What were you thinking?"

"I was pissed." I rolled my eyes, going to the closet to grab the broom.

"You're so emotional." I joked and he sent me a smile.

"I lost my cool."

"You shouldn't have done that." I swept up all of the glass, throwing it into the trash. I would make sure to remind him to vacuum later.

"I know."

"I shouldn't have hit Hangman." Bradley looked back at me, surprised. I sent him a sheepish smile.

"You didn't."

"I did."

"When?"

"Right after he said that to you."

"Closed fist?"

"Open palm."

"Bitch slap." He oohed, making me laugh.

"Damn straight."

"How'd it feel?" I chuckled.

"Good enough that I did it again." He laughed wildly, never looking more proud of me than he was right now.

"I can't believe my sister is such a badass." I felt his long, brawny arms pull me into a hug. He kissed the top of my head. I shrugged into the hug.

"He deserved it. That was such bullshit." However the apology did show some major character growth. And it made me wonder what else had changed about him.

𐑺

I walked into the diner, seeing my dad already sitting down. I rushed over to him, sitting down. But when I saw his serious face, I wanted to run back out of the diner. A waitress brought over waffles and I smiled, thanking her. She said she would be back with coffee, though with the way I was feeling right now, I didn't think I would need it. I didn't want to start eating until I knew how much trouble I was in. "How bad is it?" He shook his head, sighing.

"I dealt with it. You're fine. Jake explained himself to Cyclone too, so that took a lot of heat off of you." I sighed, leaning against the diner chair, before digging into my food. "How have you been managing your anxiety?" I looked back at him, a little bit shocked that he even knew about that. But then again, I suppose it was in my file. Therapists have to tell the Navy that type of stuff.

"Good days and bad days. But most of the bad days aren't that bad anymore. I have ways to help myself." I shrugged. It wasn't as bad as it used to be. It used to be so paralyzing, but now I was able to help myself most of the time and figure out what had triggered me. He nodded as he cut into his own food. He had ordered himself bacon, and I took one from his plate with a child-like smile. I used to take his bacon all the time as a kid, stealing just one or two slices. He laughed a bit, smiling back at me. It felt good to have times like this where we could spend time together instead of just talking on the phone when we had the chance.

"So, you slapped Seresin. Twice." I sighed, knowing this would come up. I scrunch my nose.

"Let's be honest dad, you wanted to hit him too. He just... he's so infuriating sometimes." I stabbed my fork into my waffle, groaning. "How could he use that, Uncle Nick, against you two. I almost don't care that he apologized to Bradley, because what type of person uses your best friend's and Bradley's dad's death to get a rise out of someone?" I sighed, looking back at my dad. "So, I slapped him. I told him he had to apologize by the end of the day or I'd do something even worse to him." Dad gave me a pointed look, one that only a parent could give to their child.

"He's arrogant and he doesn't want to think that he can make any mistakes." I gave my dad a look, raising an eyebrow.

"Sounds like the stories you told me about yourself before Top Gun."

"Let's talk about something else." Dad's nose scrunched and I smiled softly.

"You're going to regret that you said that." He gave me a confused look and I leaned forward. "What's been going on between you and Penny?" I smiled as he shook his head, suddenly defensive. He looked out the window as a slight blush came rushing to his cheeks. I smiled wider. "I'll have to talk to Amelia and get all the juicy details." I laughed. It was good to see my dad happy, and it was even better that it was with Penny.

"She says she doesn't want to try again." I scoffed.

"Bullshit." My dad gave me a look and I threw my hands up in the air. "I'm 35 and you raised me in the Navy. I'm allowed to curse in front of you." He chuckled. "Anyways, like I was saying, I've seen the way she looks at you when you're not looking. She cares, she's just scared to get hurt again. You don't exactly have the best track record, dad." He sighs.

"I know. It's different this time though. I really want to be with her. I don't want to leave her again. I feel like I could live the rest of my life here, with her." He took my hand. "I think I'm done with missions, Nik. Maybe this teaching thing isn't so bad. Maybe we could have more dinners like this and we could see each other more than a couple times every few years." I put my hand on top of my dad's.

"You're in love, dad." I cood, a huge grin on my face. I had never seen my dad in love. Maybe I could 'parent trap' them, get them in the same place at the same time and keep having them meet until they realize how in love they were. Or better yet, the easier plan would just be to talk to Penny.

"Maybe I am."