before. “Maya, honey. Promise me that you will try to make this work with him. For your sake, for his sake. For my sake even.”
I ripped my nail off and stacked the rest of the papers that were strewn about, tucking them safely inside the now worn notebook.
The relief and satisfaction I’d relished moments ago at having poured my soul onto the page was quickly replaced with a frightening vulnerability. My heart and stomach seemed to be inextricably connected now, constricted over what I’d shared and Eli’s drunkenly honest assumptions about it.
“Maya.”
“What?” I rose.
“Promise me.”
“Goodnight, Eli. I’ll see you in the a.m., okay?” I leaned over to kiss him on the forehead and disappeared into my room.
CHAPTER SEVEN
CAMERON. We sat at a table in the quiet corner of the restaurant. The place was casual enough that we could swing by after the gym, but Maya had still spent extra time getting ready before we left. I’m not sure how she managed it, but her makeup was fresh, and her jewelry sparkled in the dim light of the restaurant. She was sexy as hell in an all-black ensemble, a scoop neck sweater that showed her cleavage and snug jeans that were driving me crazy the whole walk here. I wanted to think she’d dressed up for my sake, but I couldn’t be sure.
I tried to reprogram my thoughts every time they wandered. I had to keep my head straight. We were still a long way from where I wanted to be in terms of getting to know each other. That’s what this week was about.
“Tell me how you ended up working on Wall Street.” I still had a hard time imagining her crunching numbers for corporate America.
“The company recruits right from the college, so it seemed like a good opportunity to make some money, pay off loans and what not.”
“What’s your day like?”
She shrugged, a wordless answer. “What made you decide to start the gym?” she asked.
“You know, I wasn’t really interested in taking over the family business.” In all our dreaming about the future, no one had known better than Maya my desire to break away from my parents’ expectations. Degrees and suits and plans for the future that always involved some kind of bullshit ladder. She’d been hurt most by my joining the military, yet she’d supported it because it meant taking control of my future.
She nodded. “I remember. Did they help you?”
“No, I got the funds from investors. Somehow I managed to do it all on my own, which frustrates the hell out of them.”
“I’m proud of you.” Her eyes softened with a warm smile.
“Thanks.”
“Why a gym?”
“There’s not a lot to do in the desert, so I got pretty good at working out. Not exactly a page-turner as far as stories go.”
That earned a small smile. “How long were you over there?”
I did a quick tally in my head. “The better part of three years over a handful of deployments.”
The sparkle of interest in her eyes dulled with a new emotion. “That’s terrible.”
“It’s fine. I volunteered for them. Swapped with a few guys with babies on the way, otherwise I probably could have gotten away with one or two.”
“I don’t understand. Why would you volunteer to go over there?”
I thought back to that life—a life that could not be more different from the one I was currently living. Peace, sometimes quiet, and safety were simple luxuries that I often took for granted now. At the time it all made sense, but lately I wondered how I’d managed it. Now that I was on the other side, the only answer I could come up with was that I was a glutton for pain, that I needed to experience something as intense and disturbing as war to put the war in my heart into perspective.
“I don’t know,” I lied.
“Were you scared?”
“It was stressful. I mean, I definitely saw things that I’ll never forget. But after awhile, you get used to it. There aren’t any bills or…I don’t know…superficial bullshit, like which store in the mall to
I ripped my nail off and stacked the rest of the papers that were strewn about, tucking them safely inside the now worn notebook.
The relief and satisfaction I’d relished moments ago at having poured my soul onto the page was quickly replaced with a frightening vulnerability. My heart and stomach seemed to be inextricably connected now, constricted over what I’d shared and Eli’s drunkenly honest assumptions about it.
“Maya.”
“What?” I rose.
“Promise me.”
“Goodnight, Eli. I’ll see you in the a.m., okay?” I leaned over to kiss him on the forehead and disappeared into my room.
CHAPTER SEVEN
CAMERON. We sat at a table in the quiet corner of the restaurant. The place was casual enough that we could swing by after the gym, but Maya had still spent extra time getting ready before we left. I’m not sure how she managed it, but her makeup was fresh, and her jewelry sparkled in the dim light of the restaurant. She was sexy as hell in an all-black ensemble, a scoop neck sweater that showed her cleavage and snug jeans that were driving me crazy the whole walk here. I wanted to think she’d dressed up for my sake, but I couldn’t be sure.
I tried to reprogram my thoughts every time they wandered. I had to keep my head straight. We were still a long way from where I wanted to be in terms of getting to know each other. That’s what this week was about.
“Tell me how you ended up working on Wall Street.” I still had a hard time imagining her crunching numbers for corporate America.
“The company recruits right from the college, so it seemed like a good opportunity to make some money, pay off loans and what not.”
“What’s your day like?”
She shrugged, a wordless answer. “What made you decide to start the gym?” she asked.
“You know, I wasn’t really interested in taking over the family business.” In all our dreaming about the future, no one had known better than Maya my desire to break away from my parents’ expectations. Degrees and suits and plans for the future that always involved some kind of bullshit ladder. She’d been hurt most by my joining the military, yet she’d supported it because it meant taking control of my future.
She nodded. “I remember. Did they help you?”
“No, I got the funds from investors. Somehow I managed to do it all on my own, which frustrates the hell out of them.”
“I’m proud of you.” Her eyes softened with a warm smile.
“Thanks.”
“Why a gym?”
“There’s not a lot to do in the desert, so I got pretty good at working out. Not exactly a page-turner as far as stories go.”
That earned a small smile. “How long were you over there?”
I did a quick tally in my head. “The better part of three years over a handful of deployments.”
The sparkle of interest in her eyes dulled with a new emotion. “That’s terrible.”
“It’s fine. I volunteered for them. Swapped with a few guys with babies on the way, otherwise I probably could have gotten away with one or two.”
“I don’t understand. Why would you volunteer to go over there?”
I thought back to that life—a life that could not be more different from the one I was currently living. Peace, sometimes quiet, and safety were simple luxuries that I often took for granted now. At the time it all made sense, but lately I wondered how I’d managed it. Now that I was on the other side, the only answer I could come up with was that I was a glutton for pain, that I needed to experience something as intense and disturbing as war to put the war in my heart into perspective.
“I don’t know,” I lied.
“Were you scared?”
“It was stressful. I mean, I definitely saw things that I’ll never forget. But after awhile, you get used to it. There aren’t any bills or…I don’t know…superficial bullshit, like which store in the mall to
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