Chapter 9

CHAPTERNINE

Slate stared down at the sleeping woman in the bed. Yesterday…well, the last two days…had been enlightening. While the sex between them was the best he’d ever had, and he loved how enthusiastic she was when it came to anything in bed, he was finding that he actually enjoyed being with her when sex was off the table just as much.

It had been a long time since he’d slept with a woman. Slept, slept. As he’d told Ashlyn, he was a light sleeper. The slightest noise or movement typically woke him up. So staying with a woman after they’d had sex usually meant a shitty night’s sleep. But with Ashlyn, because of how soundly she slept, he hadn’t woken up once.

It was the ass crack of dawn on Monday, and he had to get to PT on time or Mustang would give him hell. But Slate couldn’t make himself go. He had no idea what it was about Ashlyn that made him reluctant to leave. She was a good woman, he respected her, but he wasn’t ready to settle down like his teammates had.

With that thought in his head, Slate leaned down and shook Ashlyn slightly.

She groaned.

He couldn’t help but smirk. “Hey, babe. I’m headed out.”

“Umkay,” she mumbled.

“Wake up and drink some water,” he ordered.

“I’m awake,” she said in a tone that belied her words.

“Ash, up. You promised you’d drink this water.”

Frowning, Ashlyn opened her eyes. “You’re really annoying,” she told him.

“And you’ll feel better if you drink something. Trust me.”

“Fine,” she groused and reached for the glass he was holding out to her. She guzzled the water down without stopping to breathe, which only made his smile widen.

“There. Happy?” she asked in a huff as she flopped back down to the mattress.

“Yes. I was thinking…” Slate said.

Ashlyn groaned. “Thinking this early in the morning can’t be a good thing.”

“We’ve got water training this Wednesday, then we’ll have the rest of the afternoon off. What would you think about me coming with you on some of your deliveries that day?”

Ashlyn’s eyes popped open once more. “Are you serious?”

“Yeah.”

“Yes! I’d love that. The Turners are on my schedule for that day. And James too. Oh, and Jazmin. Her son Henry gets home from school around three-thirty, and he loves everything having to do with the military. I’m sure he’d love to meet you.”

Slate wasn’t sure why he’d offered to go with her…probably to further put his mind at ease about her job. He was pleased with her enthusiastic response though. “Great. I can meet you at Food For All after lunch. Will that work?”

“Perfect.”

“It’s a plan then. Go back to sleep for a while. You want me to call after PT and make sure you’re up and moving?” he asked.

“Yeah, would you? I’m usually good at getting up, but I think I’m kind of hungover.”

Slate wanted to laugh, but knew she wouldn’t appreciate it. He figured she’d be hurting a bit, which was why he’d insisted on her drinking the water.

“Okay, babe. I’ll talk to you later.” Slate leaned down and kissed her on the lips gently.

“Later,” she said, then reached out and grabbed his hand before he could walk away. “Slate?”

“Yeah?”

“I can’t wait for Wednesday.”

“Me too, babe. Me too,” he said, then squeezed her hand and headed for the door. He turned around once more to look at the woman he couldn’t seem to get off his mind, before forcing himself to leave.

* * *

“What’s up with you and Ashlyn?” Mustang asked after PT. The others had all left already, and Slate was helping his team leader pack his car with the weights they’d used that morning.

“We’re dating,” Slate said.

“No shit, Sherlock,” Mustang said. “But things look more serious now than when you two first started going out.”

“Why?” he asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

“Look, I’m not trying to be an asshole here, but a blind man could see the intensity between you two. Especially when you claim to be merely friends with benefits.”

“And I don’t want to be an asshole, but what’s between me and Ashlyn is between me and Ashlyn,” Slate said. He wasn’t ready to talk about his relationship with anyone. Hell, he wasn’t sure what there was to say. They were dating. Period. Not planning a fucking wedding like Jag and Carly, and not trying to figure out a name for their kid like Pid and Monica.

“Right, I can respect that. But I’m just trying to look out for her. Women are…not like us. They’re more emotional. Elodie and I are both worried that things are gonna go bad if one of you falls in love and the other doesn’t.”

Slate couldn’t help but laugh. “We aren’t in love,” he said without hesitation. “Hell, it was Ashlyn’s idea to have a friends-with-benefits relationship.”

“But you’ve been spending more time with her lately. And now you’re spending the night,” Mustang said.

Slate scowled. “So?”

“So, I’m just saying, be careful. I like Ashlyn. Elodie likes Ashlyn. Hell, everyone likes her. I just don’t want to see things get weird in the future if this doesn’t work out between you guys.”

“They won’t,” Slate said firmly. He could see the skepticism on his friend’s face. “We’ve already talked about this. We’re good. Great, even. The sex is good—no, it’s fucking phenomenal. She’s fun to hang out with and we have a good time. But that’s it, Mustang. Seriously.”

“You know the saying about protesting too much, right?” his friend said sarcastically.

“I need you to get off my back about this,” Slate retorted. “I respect you and would take a fucking bullet for you, but give this a rest. We’re good. I like her. I don’t love her, and I’m not ready to settle down like you and the others. If you can’t handle that, I don’t know what to say. I didn’t get the memo that said I had to marry the next girl I had sex with,” he said, feeling defensive now.

“All right,” Mustang said, holding up his hands. “I’ll lay off. I’ve said my piece anyway. Back to business. I haven’t said anything to the rest of the team yet, will do just that this morning when we all get to work, but there’s a chance we’ll be headed to Bahrain later this week.”

Slate winced. “Bodyguard duty?”

“Yeah,” Mustang said with a nod. “Tensions are still high now that Israel is part of the Central Command instead of the European one. With the CENTCOM meeting in Bahrain next week, we’ve been asked to not only provide extra security for the US representatives, but to be there just in case things get messy.”

“Damn,” Slate sighed. Then he shrugged. “Better than crawling around the mountains of Iran or Iraq looking for insurgents.”

“Very true. No one expects this to be anything other than what it is…standing around being bored out of our minds for a few days while politicians attempt to come to some sort of compromise on foreign policy.”

“All right. I’ll be interested in hearing the details later today. Oh, wait, you think we’ll be headed out after Wednesday, right?”

“Most likely, why?”

“Told Ash I’d go with her on her deliveries Wednesday afternoon,” Slate said.

Mustang grinned, but as promised, he didn’t take the chance to sneak in another comment about his relationship with Ashlyn. “I suspect you should still be good to do that. The meetings don’t start until Sunday, so we shouldn’t have to head out until Friday. Thursday night at the very earliest.”

“Great. You don’t expect any complications on us getting back, do you? It would suck for Jag and Carly to have to reschedule their wedding.”

“Nope. That was one reason I pushed the commander to let us take this mission instead of something else,” Mustang said. “I know the wedding’s not for another month or so, but we both know sometimes short and easy missions can turn out to be anything but.”

Slate nodded in approval. Mustang was a good team leader. He wasn’t afraid to make hard decisions when they were warranted, but he always had the best interests at heart for the SEALs under his command.

“Gonna head out. See you later,” Slate said.

Mustang nodded and shut his trunk. “Later.”

On the way back to his house, Slate refused to think too hard on what Mustang had said. He and Ashlyn were fine. They knew where things stood. Neither was ready for a permanent relationship, and neither was in love with the other. Things were good. Great, in fact.

Slate refused to let his friends’ concerns get to him. Just because they wanted to see him settled down like they were, didn’t mean that was going to happen right this second.

He let his thoughts turn to the night before. How hot Ashlyn had burned for him. His cock hardened, and Slate took a deep breath. For just a moment, he wished he was headed back to her place. He’d love to wake her up with his mouth between her legs, giving her an orgasm or two before getting off himself. But he’d have to be satisfied with his own hand in the shower.

After, he’d call Ashlyn to make sure she was awake and moving before heading into work. If the team was going out of town, there would be a lot of logistics to figure out ahead of time. The entire week would be busy with reports and intel gathering, not to mention their training Wednesday morning. Spending time with Ashlyn on her deliveries would be a nice break in what was shaping up to be a very hectic week.