Fate has a funny way of showing you what you want at the damnedest times. I was standing there with my buddies while watching some highlight reel for the last night's game when the most attractive woman I've ever seen walked into the bar. She was about 5'5 with shoulder length brown hair. It had a little bit of curl to it causing it to ride around her ears and when she swept her sunglasses up and used them as a head band, her eyes got me. They were grey-green and intense. They locked onto Mario and I figured this was his date. He'd been talking about the girl for the last three months. Honestly, the rest of us figured she was a dream but here she was. Of course, him talking about the girl had kept those of us in the unit mostly sane while sitting out in a sandbox thousands of miles from home. My own luck had been a box of cookies and a letter telling me I was going to need another place to live when we got back. The unit took care of me though and got me into housing. My sister did one better and picked up my dog. I heard from my brother-in-law she slapped that bitch silly, too. Did I mention I love my little sister? I do. I really do. Anyway, the brunette walked over to Mario and slapped her hands on his tunic shirt before dragging him down for a kiss. He slipped one arm around her and held his beer out of the way with the other. When they came up for air, he introduced us by our last names. He just called me Irish. My last name is Gairden. I'm actually of Scots descent. I just saluted her with a couple fingers and went back to watching the highlights.
I was only out with the boys tonight as their driver. I stopped drinking about the same time my sister got married. I was also the most senior non-com. It made sense for me to be designated driver. I had no idea how much fun it was not going to be. They got hammered and about the second time I had to stop one of my buddies from rearranging the furniture of the bar, I decided we needed to go. I got the girl, Diana, to help me load my very intoxicated friends into the Hummer and we headed for the base. The security staff took one look at the contents of my vehicle and waved us through. I dropped everyone back at Mario's place and went off to the barracks. That night I saw Diana's eyes when I tried to sleep. I couldn't take care of matters with my own hands so to speak since my roommate was a light sleeper. I needed an apartment and decided that I'd deal with that as soon as I woke up.
The next morning my apartment hunting got waylaid when Mario called to ask me to take Diana back to town. I have no foggy idea why I agreed to this since she'd haunted a series of seriously pornographic dreams all night long. I picked her up about twenty minutes after the call. She noticed the ads on the seat when she climbed into my vehicle. She shot me a look, "I can help you with finding a place. I work in a realty office."
"Really?" I shot her a quick glance as I took us through the main gate. Nodding at the detail on the gate.
"Yeah. It's my mom's agency but I could ask. I'm getting my license which is why I need to be in town for class this afternoon. I took a cab to the bar last night since I figured I'd end up back at Mario's." She seemed a little down about that last comment.
"No romance last night?" I wondered and could've kicked myself when I realized I had actually said that out loud.
She laughed. "No. He passed the fuck out." She shot me a look. "Sorry. You don't need to know what your boss did last night."
I stopped at the red light to the on-ramp for the freeway. She had no idea. "Actually, I'm kind of his boss."
"Mario said he was the top." She looked at me.
"He is the top. How much do you understand about the rank structure?" I checked traffic and merged onto the freeway. We were headed into the city center now.
She said, "Not much. I mean, I know a sergeant is lower than a lieutenant and a specialist is lower than a sergeant."
"Well, I am kind of just under lieutenant and a little bit higher than sergeant. Top is a nickname for his position in the unit." I kept both hands on the wheel. I started to get a little freaked out in traffic. Where we'd been could do that but the therapists had figured this would be tricky and I was going through all the exercises in my head. She was actually helping me in a strange way.
"Oh, I guess I see. So what do you do?"
I ran down some of my duties but I didn't give her all the details. When you are the sergeant major in a combat unit, there's a lot of things to do. I'd gone in at 17 with a letter of permission from my parents. Well, it was either get me into the service or try to keep me from killing the guys who'd hurt my sister while they waited for trial. Boot camp and the rest of the training had kept me busy while the trial had taken care of the bad guys. I had also been in combat units since my first deployment. It hadn't been what I had planned but that's the way life goes. Combat promotions don't always stick but in my case they did. I think I mentioned Fate is a fickle bitch sometimes?
I pulled up in front of her apartment building and realized it was the same complex my sister lived in. I said as much when I eased the monster I was driving into the visitor parking. I said, "Since I'm here, I guess I should say hi." She thanked me for the ride and headed into the complex. I watched her walk away for as long as I could. She had an amazing set of cheeks.
I finally shook myself and wandered off to Claire's condo. She opened the door with not much on and I knew I was interrupting. "Sorry. I should've called first." I stepped back from the door and she laughed.
"We're going to the pool you idiot." She grabbed my arm and dragged me inside. Her husband took that moment to stroll in and laughed when he saw me looking at my sister's thong bikini she just had to show me.
He took pity on me and found me a pair of trunks and t-shirt to wear. I am not very overly enthusiastic about showing off my body. Scars do that to you sometimes. In my case they were physical and mental.
They finally got me down to the pool. I was still wearing my cap and sunglasses. Thankfully, I was wearing my sunglasses. I am sure they are the only reason I didn't get slapped for openly staring when I saw Diana in a thong like my sister's next to the same pool. If she couldn't see my eyes, she wouldn't know I wasn't blinking. Maybe I could get through this.
I spent the rest of the afternoon listening to Diana and Claire discuss Mario and his lack of, well, it seemed like everything but a big dick. I finally interrupted, "Look, I get it. He's a dick with a big dick." My sister sputtered and her husband Max nearly spewed beer everywhere. "You need to tell him what you want. We've heard nothing but how wonderful you are for the last three months. Talk to him and I mean sit his ass down and talk. But make sure the two of you are sober, okay?" Diana smiled at me then gave me huge hug.
"Thanks." She stood up and sauntered off. I watched her ass again. I was in so much trouble.
"Good job, Rio. I was trying to get her to start looking at you instead of that dipshit." Claire snapped.
"I don't need any chaos right now. I just need a place for me and the dog." I slid my lenses down and gave her a hard look. "I also don't think I need that girl. She's hot but I don't think she's got a clue about me." I shrugged. "I need to get my shit together before I even think about another relationship."
Max leaned over and clapped a hand on my shoulder. "I get it. Why don't you talk to the lady who runs the complex. I know she just had a couple people move out and we know she allows dogs."
