Chapter 3

CHAPTERTHREE

“Oh my God!” Elodie screeched later that morning.

Ashlyn winced, but couldn’t keep the smile off her face.

“You’re telling me that you slept with Slate four days ago and you waited until now to tell us?” Lexie asked.

Ashlyn nodded. “Yes. Because I knew you’d react this way, and it’s just casual. Don’t go getting all mushy and starry-eyed over the two of us,” she warned her friends. “Just because you guys are disgustingly happy with your SEALs, doesn’t mean that Slate and I are gonna end up the same way. We’re dating. Having sex. That’s it. People can just date without it being a serious thing, you know.”

“Of course we know that,” Elodie said. “But I still remember a while ago when you told us that you liked Slate.”

“I do like him,” Ashlyn insisted. “But just because I like someone doesn’t mean that I’m secretly sabotaging his condoms so I get pregnant and he has to marry me. We’re hanging out. Having fun. Hell, we already know each other really well from all the get-togethers we’ve been at with the team.”

“There isn’t a part of you that, deep down, wants more?” Lexie asked.

Ashlyn shrugged. “Let’s put it this way, this past weekend, after he blew my mind and gave me two orgasms, then immediately got dressed to leave, I wasn’t upset in the least. I like living by myself. I like sleeping in bed by myself. I know the score going into this, you guys. Slate’s a good guy, but long term, he’d annoy the hell out of me. Just as I know I’d annoy him. We’re too different in a lot of ways. We’re hanging out and doing the dating thing, but I don’t know how long it’ll last. I’m just gonna enjoy the hell out of it while it does.”

“So that’s that?” Elodie asked. “You wouldn’t even consider getting more serious?”

“I have no idea where things between us might go. But for now, we’re both happy being laid-back and casual. There’s no pressure. We both like sex, and sex with each other is pretty damn spectacular. Is Slate gonna one day get down on his knee and tell me he’s fallen head over heels in love and can’t live without me? I very highly doubt it. And I’m okay with that. Honestly.”

“Well, I’m happy for you guys,” Lexie said. “Slate’s always seemed a little uptight, but if you’re both content with dating casually, then good for you.”

“Thanks,” Ashlyn said, feeling more relieved than she’d expected to. She liked and respected these women, and she wanted them to be okay with the fact that she wasn’t serious about a man they all admired.

It wasn’t lost on her that Slate could get any woman he wanted. He was a hero, honorable, fucking gorgeous, and that protective streak could be damn appealing at times. So the fact that he wanted to go out with her was still somewhat surprising. She was going to go with it though, until their relationship ran its natural course.

And Ashlyn had no doubt that it would end. But she was determined to enjoy the hell out of being with him while it lasted.

“So…was it all you hoped it would be?” Lexie asked with a gleam in her eye.

“You did hear me say two orgasms, right?” Ashlyn asked with a smile.

Elodie and Lexie grinned.

“Only two? Seriously, you need to hold out for more,” Elodie said.

Ashlyn burst out laughing. “Well, he called this morning to tell me that the cat was out of the bag, so to speak, and that he’d told the guys about us. And somehow by the end of the conversation, I’d admitted to touching myself while thinking about him, and he reciprocated by telling me he masturbated to thoughts of me. And now, instead of waiting until Friday to take me out to dinner, he’s coming over tonight…and told me not to bother with dinner at all.”

Elodie fanned herself with her hand.

Lexie smiled. “Right. Well, brace yourself, because it sounds like those two orgasms are gonna seem kinda lame after tonight.”

“Is this weird?” Ashlyn said. “Talking about sex with Slate like this?”

Her friends answered at the same time.

“Nope.”

“No way.”

“Here’s the thing,” Elodie said. “Our guys? They’re sexual. Very sexual. Maybe it has something to do with testosterone and having to be in complete control when they’re on missions. I don’t know. There’s probably been studies on it, for God’s sake. But why should we not talk about sex? Men do, freely and openly. It’s only women who, even in this day and age, are still told they should be all prim and proper and not talk about sex. Which is stupid. Sex is amazing. It’s totally natural. And sex with someone who loves and respects you and wants you to have as good a time as he is while in bed? That’s outstanding.”

“I never knew what true intimacy was until Midas,” Lexie admitted. “Being with someone who wants you to get off even before he does is…” Her voice trailed off.

“Special,” Ashlyn finished.

“Exactly.”

“Don’t ever settle for mediocre sex,” Elodie said. “If Slate isn’t giving you what you need to get off, help him understand what you do need.”

“Neither of us could wait. I swear, all he has to do is look at me and I’m wet,” Ashlyn admitted. “And he was inside me in like five seconds. But he insisted that I orgasm first. Then a second time while he was still inside me, even though he already came,” Ashlyn said.

Lexie and Elodie smiled at her.

“Yup. You’re good,” Lexie said after a moment.

“I’m thinking you’re not gonna need any advice. But we’re here anyway if you need it,” Elodie added.

“Thanks, guys,” Ashlyn said. How she’d found such good friends, she had no idea.

“Seriously though, I’m happy for you. And you’re right,” Lexie said. “There’s nothing wrong with having a good time with Slate. As long as you both know the score from the start, I think you guys dating each other is awesome.”

“Me too,” Elodie added. “Now, if we’re done talking about sex—which is making me miss my husband even though I just saw him this morning—maybe we can pack these boxes so you can get on with delivering and I can start on tomorrow’s meals.”

“Ma’am, yes, ma’am!” Lexie teased.

Elodie balled up a napkin and threw it at her.

The next half hour was spent with the three women working together to package up the meals that Ashlyn would deliver. The new client on today’s route was a single mom. Her husband had died in a construction accident. He hadn’t had any insurance, and they’d moved to Hawaii specifically for the job, so she didn’t have any family on the island. She was struggling to find a decent-paying job that would cover the rent for their small apartment, food, the payments on the medical bills that were coming in, as well as all the other expenses that popped up on a day-to-day basis.

Lexie had talked to her last week when the woman first called, desperate for food to feed her child. She’d been put into the rotation immediately, and today was the first day Ashlyn would stop by her place.

When she’d first started delivering meals, she had maybe ten stops. But as the months went by, and people became more familiar with Food For All’s new service, the requests for deliveries had increased quickly. Now Ashlyn was bringing meals to at least thirty people every day. That was about all she had time for. She carefully planned her route so she wasn’t backtracking and wasting time. She really couldn’t keep increasing her workload, but it was so hard to say no to people who truly needed the assistance and couldn’t make it down to one of Food For All’s two locations.

As Slate had guessed, Ashlyn did have favorites on her route that she spent extra time with. The Turners were a young family; Brooklyn was only twenty-one and Trey was twenty-four. They’d moved to Oahu from Maui, hoping for more work opportunities. They had two children; Curtis was three and Briar was two. They were barely scraping by, but with the help from Food For All, they were managing.

James Mason was an eighty-eight-year-old man who relied on his social security benefits and a small pension he received from the Navy. He’d served two tours in the Vietnam War and had been injured, ending his service, but not his love for his country. He was hilarious, and always had fascinating stories to tell. Ashlyn did her best to sit with him for as long as she could, not only because it was obvious he was lonely, but because she loved hearing him talk about being a boy during World War II and how much the world had changed since then.

Christi Dryden was in her late twenties and handicapped. She was living in an apartment with her sister. Their parents had died a few years ago, and Lori was doing all she could to keep Christi with her. Ashlyn respected the hell out of the woman for taking on the responsibility of caring for her sister. It wasn’t easy, her medical needs were expensive, so the meals they got from Food For All really helped when it came to having money to pay for the aide who stayed with Christi during the day, while Lori worked.

Everyone Ashlyn delivered meals to was struggling. Some days it was depressing, doing what she did. Seeing the level of poverty people were living in. But for the most part, her clients were making the best of what they had and were grateful for any help they could get.

After she, Lexie, and Elodie got the food packed into her RAV4, Ashlyn took a moment to text Slate the name of the tracker app she used. She wasn’t expecting a response, but before she’d even pulled out of the alley behind Food For All, her phone vibrated.

Slate: Got it downloaded. Add me, babe.

Shaking her head at his impatience, Ashlyn took a minute to send a request to his email, adding his number to her circle of friends on the app. As much as she bitched about his overprotectiveness, she couldn’t deny it felt good. She had absolutely no qualms about delivering meals to her clients. They were all good people, from all walks of life and all ethnicities and ages. She’d never once felt as if she was in danger when she went into their homes.

But after all the shit that had gone down with her friends, she also appreciated having someone who cared about her well-being. Who would sound the alarm if something went wrong. Not that she expected anything untoward to happen.

Her phone pinged with a notification, and Ashlyn saw that Slate had indeed downloaded the tracking app and was now able to see her location. She unlocked her phone and pulled up the app, smiling when she saw the new icon on her map that said DS. Duncan Stone.

She could see that Slate was on the Naval base, and even what building he was in.

A goofy smile crossed her face. She clicked her phone off and put it in the drink holder next to her. She didn’t need to look at a map to get to the first ten or so houses on her list. She’d been to all of them enough times to know the routes by heart.

* * *

By the time Ashlyn finished with her deliveries and got back to Food For All, she was tired, but also a little giddy about seeing Slate later. Her thoughts were filled with the fun they’d have this evening, so when she walked into the building, she wasn’t expecting to be ambushed by Kenna, Monica, and Carly. Lexie was also there, trying to hide a smirk. Elodie was the only one missing.

“Giiiiirl!” Kenna said as soon as Ashlyn walked into the main room at the front of the building.

Ashlyn shook her head. “I guess you all heard?”

“Heard that you and the last man standing finally hooked up? Hell yes, we heard!” Kenna said enthusiastically.

“That’s really great, Ash,” Carly said a little more sedately.

“Happy for you,” Monica added. Little by little, the most quiet woman among them was coming out of her shell. Monica would never be the kind of person to enjoy being the center of attention, but at least with their group of friends, she was opening up more.

“Thanks, guys. I’m pretty happy too,” Ashlyn said.

“You looked pretty chummy at Monica and Pid’s wedding out at Kualoa Ranch,” Kenna said. “Are you sure you weren’t already…” Her words trailed off as she bumped her fists together suggestively.

Ashlyn rolled her eyes. “Good Lord, what are you, twelve? And no, Slate and I weren’t having sex back then. Honestly, even though he annoys me sometimes—”

“Sometimes?” Lexie interrupted.

“Right, fine, even though he annoys me a lot, he’s also funny, and I like hanging out with him. Of course, it’s not like we had much of a choice. As a group, we hang out all the time, and the rest of the guys are spoken for,” Ashlyn said, winking at Carly, the last woman to fall for one of the SEALs. She and Jag hadn’t gotten together until fairly recently, but everyone knew he’d had his eye on the pretty waitress for a long time. “It was kind of inevitable,” she finished.

“I think it’s great!” Kenna exclaimed. “Can you imagine if Slate brought someone into our inner circle who was a bitch?”

“You did hear that we’re just dating casually though, right?” Ashlyn asked before everyone could get all excited about the possibility of another future wedding. They were neck deep in planning Carly and Jag’s ceremony, which would take place at Duke’s restaurant down in Waikiki, and she wouldn’t put it past her friends to try to plan a double ceremony or something.

“What does that mean, exactly?” Carly asked.

“Just that we aren’t in love with each other,” Ashlyn said.

“Yet,” Lexie muttered under her breath.

Ashlyn ignored her. “We just like hanging out. We’re doing what millions of other couples do around the world…getting to know each other better, enjoying spending time together, and taking things one day at a time.”

“So, you can see other men, and he can see other women?” Monica asked.

Ashlyn shrugged. “I guess.”

“You guess? You haven’t talked about it?” Kenna asked in bewilderment.

“Guys, it’s been like two-point-three seconds since he asked me out for the first time,” she insisted.

“Kenna’s got a good point though. Knowing if you’re exclusive or not is important,” Monica said.

“Right? What if he fucks some random chick, then comes to your place for seconds?” Carly asked.

Ashlyn pressed her lips together in agitation. “Slate’s not like that.”

“I know,” Carly said. “I was just trying to create a scenario.”

“Would it bother you if he was dating someone else at the same time he was seeing you?” Monica asked.

Ashlyn tried not to get irritated at her friends. They were just looking out for her…but it was still kind of annoying. What part of “casual” didn’t they understand?

“And what if you meet someone you like? I’m guessing he wouldn’t he happy to know you were with someone else at the same time you were with him,” Kenna added.

“Look, it’s a moot point. I’m not seeing anyone else. Neither is Slate. Jeez, neither of us has time to even meet people. Most weekends we’re hanging out with you guys and his team. And it’s not like guys were knocking down my door to ask me out before now, anyway. We’ll figure that out if it becomes an issue,” Ashlyn said.

“We’re just trying to protect you,” Lexie said softly.

“I know, and I appreciate it. But I’m good. Slate’s good. I’m excited about this, about not having the pressure of wondering if he’s ‘the one’ and if he wants to have kids and all that stuff. We’re just being chill about things right now—and I need you guys to be that way too.”

“We are.”

“We will be.”

“No problem.”

Ashlyn was relieved at her friends’ immediate support.

“When are you seeing him again?” Carly asked.

“Well, we had plans to go out to dinner on Friday, but when he called this morning, he asked if he could come over tonight.”

“Oooooh,” Kenna purred.

Ashlyn rolled her eyes. “And before anyone asks, yes, we’ve had sex. Yes, it was amazing. Yes, I had multiple orgasms. And yes, we’ll do it again tonight. Anything else you want to know?”

Everyone burst into laughter.

“I think that about covers it,” Kenna said, still chuckling.

“Can we change the subject and start talking about someone else now?” Ashlyn asked. “Carly, what’s the latest with your ceremony?”

Thankfully, her friends were content to let her off the hook and started talking about Carly’s wedding. They’d finally nailed down a date, two and a half months from now. It was a little sooner than Carly wanted, but since they were at the mercy of the schedule at Duke’s and when they could rent out the entire restaurant for a few hours, they couldn’t be picky.

Ashlyn had a feeling Jag probably thought two and a half months wasn’t nearly soon enough, but she didn’t say anything.

Lexie and Midas were the only ones not already married or actively planning a wedding. Neither was in a rush to tie the knot or have children, though Lexie admitted to Ashlyn recently that Midas had added her to his life insurance, so she’d be taken care of in case anything happened to him.

The thought of any of the guys being hurt struck fear in Ashlyn’s heart. She’d gotten to know them all very well over the last year, and it would be devastating to everyone in their circle if someone was killed.

After half an hour or so, she discreetly looked at her watch. At least she’d thought she was subtle about it. Lexie came over and hooked her arm with Ashlyn’s. “I can finish things up here. Go home.”

“But—” Ashlyn started.

“Nope. I got it,” Lexie told her firmly. “You want to get home and get ready for Slate. I can tell.”

Ashlyn smiled. “I’m being silly.”

“Nope. You’re in a new relationship. It’s not silly at all. Go.” Lexie winked at her. “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”

“Which leaves me wide open to do whatever I want,” Ashlyn retorted.

“Yup.” Lexie hugged her. “Have fun.”

“I will. Thanks.” Ashlyn returned the hug then waved at the others. “See you guys later! I’m outta here.”

“Bye.”

“Say hi to Slate for us.”

“Orgasms are your friend!”

The last came from Kenna, and Ashlyn couldn’t help but laugh. She loved her friends. They were all so very different, but they all wanted the best for her and for each other. Ashlyn had a feeling they were still secretly hoping she and Slate would suddenly fall madly in love, but for now, and for the foreseeable future, she was happy to settle for lots of mind-blowing orgasms.