Page 74 of Proof Of Life
And that’s it. Just like that, I’ve got a Ball Buddy, maybe for life.
Another Bitch with stitches to join my team.
He stops me in the parking lot. “Thanks for showing up for me today. It means a–” he coughs to cover his words and starts again. “I appreciate it.” Mandy looks around before his eyes settle on me again. “Did you mean what you said when you offered?”
“Every fucking word. If you don’t mind staying with me and the guy I’m fucking,” I tease, using his earlier description of me and Brandt. “It’s a small house, and sound carries.”
Mandy’s face heats with color, and he laughs. “Who says I’d mind?”
Fuck, he’s gay, or bi. I had no clue. It’s good to know me and my nut-sac sidekick are on the same page.
“Anyway, I’ll keep in touch,” he adds, handing me his phone. I put my number in and he sends me a text right away so I have his, and yeah, I save his contact under the name Nutter Buddy.
Adash of curry, a pinch of salt, and a heaping tablespoon of cayenne.
No wait, a dash of cayenne and a heaping tablespoon of curry? Fuck it. I can’t remember what my mother told me; it’s just gonna be spicy as hell.
The chicken is almost finished cooking when West wanders into the kitchen, likely tempted by the aroma. His hands come around my chest, warm and rough, and slick with lotion. With soft slow strokes, he rubs it into my scars, and the heat from his body, the scent of him so close to me, it’s better than anything I’m cooking in this pan.
His breath tickles my ear. “You forgot to put this on today. Lucky for you, I don’t mind touching you.”
My shoulders shake with silent laughter. He's always touching me lately. Always finding any excuse to put his hands on me, or his mouth.
“I brought the mail in. There’s a letter for you from BALLS.”
“It can wait,” he rasps, continuing to soften my skin with his hands. They slip below my sweats to cup my ass, kneading my cheeks.
“My ass isn’t scarred.” Like I give a fuck. He can touch me wherever.
“It will be after I tear it up.”
The reminder of his cock in my ass, and the fact he’s dying to do it again, makes my dick stiff.
Turning the heat off the stove, I plate the chicken while he slicks my cock with lotion. “I like where this is heading, but can it wait till after we eat? I’m starving.”
“You’re such a cock tease, Reaper.”
Again, I laugh because it’s a total lie. He can have me anytime he wants, anyway he wants me, and anywhere.
West moves to the sink to wash his hands while I add pasta to our plates.
“What’s this?” he asks, rifling through the mail. He holds up a letter.
“I don’t know, what’s it say?”
“There’s one for each of us, and it’s from Bragg. Colonel Baskin.”
“There’s a name I thought I’d never hear again.” Colonel Baskin is our ex-commanding officer. He’s the last person I thought I’d ever hear from after I retired.
He tears it open and pulls out the letter, scanning it before reading aloud.
“The fuck?” he exclaims. “…cordially invite you to the Veterans Day ceremony at Fort Bragg to honor the fallen heroes lost while fighting for our freedom on October fourth, a day that will live in the hearts of brave soldiers and veterans everywhere. What the fuck is this shit, Reaper?”
I lay my fork down and take the letter from him. To my burgeoning horror, it’s exactly what it sounds like. Baskin is asking us for a guest appearance to honor our team. I guess the look on my face confirms it because West curses and launches into a tirade that would make a sailor blush.
“I’d rather remove my other leg than participate in this fiasco! God himself couldn’t get me to stand up on that stage and accept an award while everyone applauds me as a hero. I won’t fucking do it!”
That makes two of us.