SEALs

Chapter Six

After such an intimate moment back at the hotel, I was worried that everything would be awkward between Ali and I. When her tears finally dried up, there was a silence between us, and I could only hear the hushed voices of the guys and the sounds of nature surrounding us. I don't know if she felt it but I was a little uncomfortable having her so near. The memories of the passion we shared only a few hours ago was making me uneasy. I had no idea what Ali was thinking. She looked deep in thought as her eyes stared, unblinkingly, at her foot. My heart thumped and I found myself continually swallowing as if there was something stuck in my throat. She was driving me to the brink of insanity with her silence!

"So, what are you?" she suddenly asked me, her gaze never leaving her foot.

I felt a little better that the conversation had resumed, but her question confused my muddled brain.

"That's kind of an open question," I chuckled nervously.

"A city or country boy?" she clarified.

I let out a huge breath of relief and she looked up at me. Her wide brown eyes seared into my own and I felt as if she could see right through me. Like she could see the thoughts that plagued my mind; the dark look in her doe eyes almost made me believe she had seen the inappropriate pictures flashing through my mind.

"Why don't you guess?" I suggested, giving her a shaky smile.

She took a moment, staring at me the whole time. Again, I felt like my skin was transparent.

"City boy," she finally decided.

I blinked at her sure answer. She looked so certain about it with her raised chin and furrowed brows. No blush or insecurity. Was she beginning to feel comfortable around me?

"How'd you know?" I asked.

She shrugged. "It's all in the attitude. I grew up in a small town and you don't seem like that kind of guy. You're more of a…go-go-go type of person." I grinned, laughing and shaking my head. Was I really that obvious? "So what big city?" she continued, eyebrow raised.

"Chicago," I answered. "Born and raised." And it was the truth. Chicago was and always would be home, no matter how long I stayed away.

"Wow," she said with a nod. "Impressive."

I grinned before rounding on her with a curious expression of my own. "So I told you my home town, now what's yours?" I asked.

"You probably don't even know it," she said with a blush, averting her eyes from mine.

"Humour me," I chuckled, trying to catch her eye again.

She sighed in defeat but didn't look at me. "It's called Laurens," she said in a monotone voice. "It's like an insignificant little dot on the map a few miles from Syracuse."

"You don't sound that happy about living there," I said with a frown. I wondered how someone could hate the place where they grew up. Sure, Chicago had its bad days but I still loved it. The snow was shit sometimes, but there was always a new snow ball fight to create and a warm house to come back to.

"Well it's kind of a Hell hole," she began. "It's cloudy and cold. I'm kind of enjoying the heat here." She laughed before sighing, her shoulders slouched again. "It's just so interesting here. I mean...it's dangerous and heart breaking…but the culture! It's just so different from New York!"

I was fascinated by her expressions as she spoke. Her eyes lit up and she raised her head to look out the window at the farm in the distance. She used her hands, clutching her chest when she spoke of the culture. This beautiful smile graced her face and she laughed again. God that laugh made my chest ache.