3/3
Falling for my boyfriend’s Navy brother.
Chapter 197: Penny
The guy who comes to get me looks like he could be in a movie about this place tall, buzzed hair, sleeves rolled, that perfectly pressed, regulations de
kind of vibe.
He’s probably around my age. Maybe a year older.
Cute, in that “plays guitar and doesn’t tell anyone” way.
“Hey,” he says, nodding like we’ve already met. “I’m Boomer. You must be Penny.”
I blink. “Boomer?”
He smiles. “Yeah, I know.”
There’s a softness in his eyes that puts me slightly at case. It’s nothing like the sharp glances from earlier like I didn’t belong here, like I was something dropped out of the sky and into the wrong movie.
the way some of the other guys looked at me
Boomer’s different.
He gestures down the hall. “Come on. You can wait in the lounge. I’ve got soda. Chips. The military equivalent of hospitality.”
I follow him, boots echoing behind his. The walls all look the same smells faintly like metal and old air.
–
that grayish beige that feels like it’s been drained of color on purpose. Everything
He opens a door to a small room with a worn–out couch and a vending machine humming like it’s trying to stay awake. He hands me a can of Sprite and a pack of mini Oreos, like he’d already picked them out for me.
“Thanks,” I say quietly.
He plops into a chair opposite me, casual, relaxed. Like this isn’t strange at all. Like I’m not sitting in the middle of a military base, waiting while my boyfriend walks into a meeting that made his hands clench at his sides.
I crack the can open. The fizz sounds too loud.
Asher looked worried.
That alone makes my stomach twist. He never looks worried. Not even when Tyler took me away and hid me under the bleachers. Not even when he told me what he’d done. What he’s seen. His worry doesn’t show until it does.
—
And Rooster looked the same.
I press the cold can to my cheek, trying to ground myself.
“What’s wrong?” Boomer asks, voice gentle.
I glance up. “Nothing.”
He doesn’t push. Just nods like he gets it.
But I have to say something. Or I’ll drown in this silence.
“So… why ‘Boomer‘?”
He groans. “Oh no. They told you, didn’t they? Or you wouldn’t be asking.”
I smile a little. “Just said I’d like you. But I don’t know how you got your nickname.”
“Yeah, well, it’s embarrassing.”
Chapter 197: Penny
I raise a brow.
He leans forward, elbows on knees. “Back in training, we were doing EOD explosives training, dummy bombs. You’re supposed to disarm the quiet, clean.”
I nod.
“I couldn’t do it. Like… at all. I’d fumble with the wires or panic or second–guess everything. And every time I messed up– he claps his hands once, shary “-boom.”
1 laugh. I can’t help it.
“So that’s where the name came from?”
“That and…” he scratches the back of his neck, sheepish now. “They say I act like an old man.”
“Oh my God.”
“I like breakfast at five a.m. I read books about the Cold War. I complain about TikTok. Apparently that qualifies.”
I giggle – a real one. Even with the tightness still pulling across my chest.
He grins. “There it is.”
I tuck my hair behind my ear. “Thanks. I needed that.”
Boomer sobers a little. “You scared?”
I nod.
“I don’t know what’s going on,” I admit. “Asher didn’t either. But… he looked like he was bracing for something. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him like that.
Boomer shifts in his chair. “Yeah. Me neither.”
“You know him well?”
“Not like Rooster. But I’ve seen him work. Everyone has. Around here, Hayes is kind of…” He trails off.
“What?”
“A legend.”
I stare at him.
Boomer shrugs. “Held his breath under freezing water for three minutes. Did two recon runs completely in the dark. The kind where if you breathe too loud, people die. That kind of legend. It’s crazy to me that he just decided to quit.”
I can barely breathe. “Wait… what? To quit what?”
Boomer looks at me, surprised. “You didn’t know?”
“Didn’t know what?”
“That he told the Lieutenant he wasn’t coming back. Him and Rooster both.”
Hope stirs, sharp and flickering.
T
“He said that?” I ask. “For real?”
Chapter 197: Penny
“That’s the word. Everyone thought Hayes was career military. Then he just… said no. A few weeks ago. E can’t lie, I’m a hit sad I won’t get in ga mission with him.”
I press the cold soda can to my lips and let that swirl around inside me.
Asher said no.
To this. To all of this.
A guy walks past the door and lingers a little too long. His eyes slide toward me
curious, hungry, like he’s never seen a girl in his life. My skin cransla
Boomer notices. His jaw tightens.
I clear my throat. “Is everyone here like that?”
1
He sighs. “There aren’t a lot of women around here. And… well…”
“Well what?”
“Well, you’re beautiful,” he says, fast and awkward. “And you’re in a dress. And you smell nice. Which, believe me, is rare as hell around here.”
I blink. My cheeks flush. I look down at the floor like it’s got something to say.
“Sorry,” he mutters. “That was-”
“No, no. It’s okay.”
The soda tastes flat now.
Lglance at the clock. Over twenty minutes.
What could they be talking about in there?
What could be bad enough to call them both in, unannounced?
What if he’s leaving again?
What if this time, he doesn’t come back?
I grip the Oreo pack tighter in my hand.
Please don’t go, I think.
Please don’t leave me behind.
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