Page 63 of Protecting Kelli
“Maybe. I’m not sure I want to go back anyway. I think I might stop by the community college and talk to an advisor. It’s about time I figured out what to do with my life. If what happened taught me anything, it’s that I want to make a difference in my little corner of the world. I don’twant to spend the rest of my life working jobs I don’t enjoy.”
“I think that’s great. We can talk tomorrow night, and you can tell me all about what you found out. I’ll be your sounding board.”
Contentment spread throughout Kelli’s veins. “Thanks.”
“Sleep well. It’s gonna feel weird to not have you sleeping on top of me tonight.”
“Yeah.”
“We’ll talk tomorrow,” Flash told her.
“Tomorrow.”
“Bye.”
“Bye.”
Kelli hung up and realized she was smiling. She should’ve been asleep hours ago, but at least she could sleep in and didn’t have to get up at five to go work out like Flash did.
Grabbing an extra pillow, she hugged it to her chest as she closed her eyes. It wasn’t the same as usingFlashas a pillow, but it would have to do…at least for another week.
Then all bets were off.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
The following week was surreal for Kelli. She was plunked back down into her life, and while she felt as if she was a changed person, nothing else around her seemed to change. Her annoying next-door neighbor still played his music too loud, her mom, while happy she was all right, hadn’t really asked much about what happened and was back to being consumed with her own life. Traffic still sucked, the weather was still beautiful, and bills still needed to be paid.
One thing thathadchanged…Kelli had indeed been fired for not calling in and missing work. It didn’t matter that she’d literally been buried alive in a foreign country. Apparently, policies were policies. But she wasn’t upset about it. She’d done what she told Flash she was going to do…she went to the community college not too far from her apartment and met with an academic advisor. She wasn’t any closer to deciding what she wanted to do with her life, but it still felt as if she’d made a positive step forward.
She also seemed to have an entire girl posse of friends. That wasdefinitelynew. She’d received either texts or emails each day. Remi was the first to check on her, letting her know that if she wanted to talk about what happened, she was there. After all, she’d been through something similar, even if she was buried only a tiny fraction of the time Kelli had been underground. Wren and Josie had also texted. Out of the blue, Addison offered to bake her cookies or a cake. And Maggie, even though she was dealing with some morning sickness, had emailed and said she’d love to get together the next time she headed up to LA for a meeting. Apparently, that was where her biological father and brothers lived, and where she had to attend meetings every now and then for her job.
And it wasn’t only Flash’s teammates’ women who’d contacted her. Caroline, Julie, Jessyka…she’d gotten occasional texts from all of the older former SEAL wives, as well.
Having so much support and friendship felt like a dream come true. Kelli wasn’t surewhyeveryone was being so nice to her, but she wasn’t going to do anything that might make them change their minds about being her friend.
But the best change was that, every night, she talked to Flash for about three hours…or more. One evening while they were FaceTiming, they’d talked so long she’d fallen asleep on him. When she woke up in the middle of the night, she looked at her screen and saw that Flash had propped up his phone on the table next to his bed and left his lights on, so she could watchhimsleep.
Some people might think that was weird, but for Kelli, it was…intimate. She liked it. A lot. She’d ended the call and sent him a text apologizing for falling asleep, and making a comment about how empty his bed looked with only him in it.
It was a risky move, but given how much they talked, and how often Flash reminded her of the hours left in the week before he was taking her on a date, she felt pretty confident that what she’d said wasn’t out of line.
Today, Flash had a meeting that he said would run a little late. They were in the middle of planning their next mission, which, honestly, kind of worried Kelli. But she refused to let what he did for a living discourage her. After all, him being a SEAL was the sole reason they’d survived their ordeal. Without his survival knowledge, their situation would’ve been a lot worse. And they certainly wouldn’t have been rescued as quickly as they had without the resources and knowhow of his friends.
If she wanted any kind of relationship with Flash, she’d have to figure out how to live with him being gone on dangerous missions. She decided talking with the women who’d been through it already, and who obviously had wonderful relationships with their men, would be a good place to start. She had a lot of questions.
But she was also jumping the gun. Flash was right. They’d been through something extreme and traumatic together. More for her than him, he was used to that kind of situation, but still.
She had every intention of dating Flash. Doing normal guy-girl things. Dinners, movies, hanging out, getting to know him even more. She wasn’t going to jump into a relationship simply because she was grateful he was with her when the worst had happened in Jamaica.
But…the man ticked all her boxes. He was kind, patient, hot as hell…
Kelli wrinkled her nose, a little disgusted with herself for that last thought. Honestly, looks didn’t matter as much as other positive traits. It was possible he could go bald, or get fat, or his ears would grow three sizes as he aged.
Giggling, Kelli put the bags of groceries she’d bought today on the counter. She was being stupid. Thinking about what Flash may or may not look like as he aged was ridiculous. What mattered was the kind of man he was. Did he have a temper? She didn’t think so, but time would tell. Was he possessive? Oroverlyso? Would he get annoyed that she had plenty of money in the bank and didn’t need to be “taken care of”?
Deep down, regardless of the answers, everything in her was screaming that Flash was the real deal. That he could be the man she spent the rest of her life with. It was too fast, they’d just met, but circumstances being what they were, they’d gotten to know the important things about each other very quickly.
Flash made her feel protected. He paid attention when she spoke and didn’t look at his phone or everywhere around him, as if trying to find something more interesting to do. When she was with him, she felt as if she was the center of his world. And she hoped he felt the same way. She wanted any man she was with to have no doubts that she was right where she wanted to be.
