Hozan had warned Aiden about standing out, so he had purposely kept his bench at 155, figuring this was a reasonable amount of weight to lift. He would have to lift it many times to get his pump on, but he had time for that.
One of the airmen caught Aiden looking at them and nudged one of the others. Aiden’s high and tight would have given him away as a Marine if nothing else, but his T-shirt, which featured a bulldog with a DI’s hat and the words “Marines kill’em all and let God sort’em out” left no doubt as to his service.
The four airmen seemed to confer while Aiden tried to ignore them. They put two ten-pound plates on each side of the bar, bringing it up to 175 lbs. One of the smaller airmen got down on his back, and with one airman spotting him, took the bar and proceeded to lift it six times. He settled it back on the rack to the atta boys of the others as they looked over at Aiden expectantly.
Aiden knew he should ignore them, but something got to him. The four airmen were all pretty good looking, and with their matching Air Force PT gear, they somehow reminded Aiden of the A crowd at school, a crowd that rejected him as someone with no worth. He looked down at the orange socks he had somehow thought would be appropriate and the no-name shoes he had bought on sale at WalMart. He knew he didn’t look like anything special, but he also knew he could out-lift any of them.
Hozan’s warning be damned, he got up and took two 25 pound plates and added them to his bar. He was up to 205. He tried to look nonchalant as he lay back down, but he couldn’t help but catch the airmen nudge each other as he prepared to lift. 205 was really nothing to him, but keeping Hozan in mind, he acted as if he was struggling to make the lift.
With slight nods, two of the airmen seemed to grudgingly give him his due, but the guy who’d made the 175 lift said something to the others, and the ten-pound plates came off and two more 45-pound plates went on. With 225 on the bar, he got down, and taking several deep breaths first, he made five lifts. He jumped up to the high fives of the others.
Aiden sat still for a moment. Once again, he knew he should just quit. The airmen hadn’t really done anything to him. But a fire burned in him. It wasn’t just him they were showing up, but the Corps. He, a Marine, was on their turf, and they were letting him know they were the pack alphas.
That wasn’t going to happen.
Aiden slowly got up, took off the smaller plates, then put on two 45-pounders to match the airman’s 225. The airmen didn’t even try to hide their attention as he got down into position. He placed his hands, took a couple of deep breaths, and paused. He waited a moment, then dropped his hands and sat up. One of the airmen high-fived the guy who had made the lift.
Aiden stood up, but instead of walking away, he reached to the rack and got two more 45-pounders and loaded them up. He didn’t stop there, but added yet four more 10-pounders as the airmen looked on dumfounded. This was pretty close to the maximum Aiden had worked up to, but he wasn’t worried. He quickly lay back down, and without the huffing and puffing, took the bar off the rack, brought it down to his chest, and lifted it eight times. With the bar back on the rack, he looked over at the astounded airmen and shrugged.
“It’s my light day,” he said, as he got up and started to re-rack the plates.
Aiden knew there were airmen on base who could bench more than the 355 he’d just benched, but probably none who looked as nondescript as he did. The four airmen were undoubtedly not as surprised that a Marine made the lift, but that this Marine had done it.
He wiped down the bench with his towel, then with a half-salute to the airmen, sauntered off to the locker-room to shower. Once again, he marveled at the facilities. The Air Force sure knew how to take care of its own. The shower was hot and powerful, and as he stepped out, he checked out his reflection in the large mirror. He gave a small frown as he took it in. He was much stronger than he had ever been, but while he had put on a bit of muscle, it was still a skinny, unimpressive kid who stared back at him. He had hoped that the workout would pump him up a bit, but if it did, he sure couldn’t tell.
Going back to his locker, he took out the brand new khakis and navy blue polo shirt he’d just bought that morning at Target. His mom, happy that he had a date, had insisted that Target was more fashionable than WalMart and had even gone with him to pick out the clothes. On one hand, Aiden was mortified that his mom was there with him, but on the other hand, part of him welcomed her opinion.
He left the gym and got into his mom’s old Grand Am. It wasn’t much of a car, but his mom was happy to lend it to him to go out with Teri. She never knew that Teri had punked him—Aiden had told her he had suddenly gotten sick when he’d left her apartment that day. Now, she thought this was a rain date.
He was very careful while driving on base; the MPs[41] were pretty strict on traffic regs, and he didn’t need a violation report getting back to his battalion, but once he got out the gate, he sped up as he drove down the rather depressing area on East Craig. It was a little better after crossing I-15. The housing developments springing up in North Las Vegas looked nice, and they brought with them a number of shopping malls. Turning down Jones, he drove south to Teri’s apartment, one of many complexes surrounded by huge pine trees. Teri, and others who lived in the complex, liked to say they lived in Summerlin, but in reality, they were still in plain old Las Vegas like the rest of them.
He parked in one of the visitor spots and got out, smoothing his shirt, but resisting the impulse to check his gig line, the line made by a uniform shirt, belt buckle, and trouser fly. He looked up at Teri’s apartment, a feeling of anxiety coming over him. What if this was all a joke again? That would wreck things. For the thousandth time, he considered just leaving, of not showing up. But that would be too easy. He wanted to reject her, but not yet. It had to come at a better time when it would hurt the most.
He tried not to think of Claire. He was going to spend his last week of leave with her at her home in San Antonio. He felt guilty about going out with Teri, but he rationalized it that he was not really going out with her. He was getting back at her, and certainly Claire would understand that? At least that is what he tried to convince himself.
Squaring his shoulders, he walked up the stairs and knocked on the door before he could lose his nerve. It wasn’t Teri who opened the door, though, but her little sister, Chloe. The little sister had blossomed into a cute young woman despite the scowl on her face.
“Teri, it’s your date,” she shouted over her shoulder, with an emphasis on the “date.”
She looked back at Aiden and simply tilted her head as an invitation to come in. Aiden followed her into the living room, and when Chloe flopped on the couch, he took the easy chair. Chloe pulled her legs under her butt and stared at him. Aiden felt uncomfortable under her scrutiny and looked everywhere but at her.
“Teri says you’re a soldier now,” she suddenly said.
“Well, I’m a Marine,” he told her, meeting her eyes.
“So, did you, like kill anyone?” she asked, her intensity evident.
Aiden didn’t know how to reply. He hadn’t thought that through. If he said yes, would that push Teri away before he had a chance to spurn her? Or would it make him seem more manly, maybe a bit dangerous? He decided to go with the truth.
“Yes, I killed a few insurgents,” he said, trying to sound matter-of-factly.
“Really? Awesome!” she said, leaning forward. “How’d you do it?”
As she leaned forward, her oversized T-shirt hung low, exposing quite a bit of her breasts. That threw Aiden. What was she? Sixteen? Seventeen? Too young for him to be looking, he was sure.
“Uh, you know. They were trying to take me out, so I had to kill them first. It was them or me, like that,” he stammered out, looking away from her.
“What was it like?” she asked. “To see them dead?”
Right then, Teri came into the room, rescuing him. Aiden jumped up to greet her, and she took his breath away.
Teri had been one of the prettiest
girls at school, and the ensuing two years had been very kind to her, at least to her looks. She still had the short bob haircut, and that did wonders for her long neck, but she seemed more womanly, more, well, “ripe” came to mind.
She was wearing some sort of designer jeans and an off-the-shoulder open-necked T-shirt. She was stunning.
“No hello, Teri?” she asked.
“Oh, yeah, sure. Hi, Teri. You look great,” he managed to get out.
“He said he killed some guys,” Chloe offered.
“Chloe! You know what I told you. How about you go back to your room, and like I said, I don’t want to see you when we get back.”
Chloe stared at her sister. Aiden saw there was tension, but he didn’t understand it. Chloe looked like she was going to argue, but then she simply shrugged, got off the couch, and trounced off with a “OK, but you owe me” as she went.
“Sorry about that,” Teri told him as he took his arm. “Little sisters, you know. What say we get out of here.”
Aiden let her lead him out and down the stairs. He had originally toyed with the idea of just walking out, leaving Teri in her apartment, but once he saw her, that went out the window. He figured it wouldn’t hurt to play her along a little further, right?
He rushed to hold open the door of the red Grand Am. Teri slid into the seat ladylike.
“Sorry about the car. I left my car back on base and flew here, and my mom insisted on me taking this one instead of renting.”
“Oh, this is fine,” she said. “So what kind of car do you have?”
“A ‘Vette, of course. Cherry, really cherry. It’s got the 364 cubic inch monster under the hood, and the Tremec T56 manual tranny,” he said, stumbling over the last details. He hoped it sounded OK. He’d only looked it up that morning online. He’d considered saying he had a Ferrari, but then figured that would be stretching it.
Teri seemed to buy it, though. Her eyebrows rose and she said she looked forward to getting a ride in it. Aiden headed north and pulled into the big shopping center on North Rainbow. Teri had suggested that they go to Sweet Tomatoes for dinner, and while Aiden would have preferred something a little more substantial (read, with more meat), he went along with her choice.
As they moved down the salad bar line filling their plates with the various ingredients, Teri continued with the parade of “guess what so-and-so’s doing now,” that she had started while in the car. Aiden was focusing on selecting the salad ingredients, some of which he never knew existed, but he managed to keep up the “uh-huhs” to show he was paying attention.
When they got to the cashier at the front of the line, Aiden took out his wallet to pay. Seeing his short hair, the woman asked if he was military. When he said he was a Marine, she told him there was a 10% discount for military. Sweet Tomatoes was not the most expensive restaurant in the first place, and with the discount, at least his little revenge date was not going to cost him much.
Throughout the salad, soup, baked potato, and pasta, Teri kept up her gossip. “You remember Stacy Tarkington, right?” she asked, but not stopping long enough for Aiden to say no.
The fact of the matter was that Aiden didn’t know most of the people about whom Teri was talking, or he knew them only peripherally. This brought into stark focus that they had run in different crowds.
“Well, she’s already got one kid, and now she’s got another coming from a different baby daddy. I heard she’s already applied for welfare,” she said, with what Aiden thought was a tinge of glee in her voice.
Dinner went on and on in that vein with Aiden finding out more than he wanted about people he realized he really didn’t care about anymore. He cared about the guys in the platoon. He cared about Claire. He cared about his mom. He really didn’t care about his high school classmates or who was doing well and who had fallen from grace.
He had to admit, though, that Teri looked good, gossiping around the food. It didn’t really matter what she was actually saying. A couple of times, Aiden was going to tell her he was leaving and abandon her there, but looking at her animated face made him decide to stretch it out further. Finally, though, Teri took her last bite of blueberry muffin, and then daintily wiped her lips with the napkin.
This was when Aiden was supposed to dump her. Instead, he asked, “So, what do you want to do now?”
“Why don’t you take me home?” she answered.
Aiden immediately knew he’d messed up. Of course, Teri wasn’t interested in him, and now she was cutting the evening off. His chance to do the cutting had come and gone.
They got up and went to the car. Aiden was silent as he drove her back, but she hadn’t stopped her incessant chattering. She didn’t even have the decency to apologize. She’d gotten her free meal and a chance to gossip, and that was all she cared about.
He barely listened to her, and when he drove through the gates of the apartment complex, he thought about just sitting in the car while she got out of the car, but then he figured he’d at least be above that. He got out, opened her door, and escorted her to the apartment. She didn’t even say goodbye as she took out her key and opened the door.
Aiden, stung, started to turn to walk away when she asked, “So, you want a drink?”
She walked in, leaving the door open for him. Hesitating only a moment, he followed her, turning to close the door behind him. As he turned back, she put her arms around his neck and pulled him in close, pelvis thrust against him as her lips locked on his.
This was way out of Aiden’s comfort zone, and he hesitated for a moment before returning the kiss with a surprising passion. Thoughts of Claire tried to surface, but he pushed them back as he embraced the opportunity. Dumping her after making out would be so much sweeter, he thought to himself.
“Uh, nice show you’re putting on,” a voice broke through to them.
Aiden jumped back, whipping his hands away from Teri.
“Chloe!” Teri screamed. “You’re supposed to be gone now. You promised!”
“Well, I also promised Mom and Dad, that I’d hit the books tonight and stay in,” she said with a smirk.
“Out, now!” Teri said, anger evident.
“OK, OK. I imagine I can find something to do. Have at your boy toy, big sis!” Chloe said.
She picked up her purse and sauntered to the door. Just as she was passing them, she suddenly leaned forward and kissed Aiden on the cheek.
“If she’s too used and worn out for you, killer, give me a ring,” she said with a laugh, ducking as Teri threw her shoe at her, the shoe going out the door and over the rail.
“That little bitch!” Teri said as she closed the door and locked it. “Sorry about that, Aiden.”
Aiden didn’t know what to make of the sisterly exchange. He paused, and looked around the apartment.
“And your parents?” he asked, not wanting to be surprised again.
“Oh, don’t worry about them. They took off for LA this afternoon. With Chloe out of here, it’s only you and me. Now, about that drink?”
“Sure. I’ll have a brewski, whatever you got,” he told her.
He sat down on the worn tan couch as Teri went around the counter and into the kitchen. The apartment was a little dingy, he thought, and not well-kept. His mom’s apartment was smaller, but she kept it clean and well-maintained.
Teri came back around the counter, two bottles of Bud in her hands. She sipped one as she gave him the other before flowing onto the couch beside him, feet slipping beneath her butt, sitting just like Chloe had done earlier in the evening. He wondered if that was some sort of Brubaker habit. He figured sitting like that was probably considered rude, but he thought it was rather sexy. Despite himself, he could feel a sense of excitement come over him. He had to stress to himself that he was here for a purpose, to spurn Teri, not to get laid. On the other hand, the closer he got to that point before refusing her, the better it would be.
After monopolizing the last few hours of conversation with gossip, Teri finally st
arted asking Aiden about himself and how he’d been doing. Several times, she seemingly casually reached over to touch his arm as she asked a question. Aiden knew he had to be doing that on purpose, but it was effective. He could almost feel the blood start to course through his body as it reacted to her presence.
He had to remain aloof, he knew. He needed to find just the right time to walk out on her, so he tried to keep his mind off how she looked, how she sounded, how she smelled. He tilted up his Bud when she reached out and took it from his hand. Leaning forward, she softly kissed him.
Now, now, do it now, he thought to himself. Reject her!
But he didn’t. He let her tongue slide inside his mouth, tasting of hops. Somehow, from facing him, she slid around and leaned back into his lap, he lips never leaving his. His arms went automatically around her as his own mouth began questing.
She broke for a moment to look up at him. “I was wondering when you were going to make your move,” she said, ignoring that she had made the move.
He looked down at her porcelain face. She was exquisite, and here he was with her in his arms. He knew he wasn’t going to go too far in this, but he decided to enjoy it while he could. His could feel his erection starting to grow and press into her back. She had to have noticed it, but she said nothing. She reached with one had to trace lazy circles on his chest before pulling him back to her lips.
He dared to bring his hand up to touch the side of her left breast. She didn’t object, and before too long, the hand had shifted to cup her. She gave a quick intake of air before delving harder into her kiss.
This was new territory for Aiden. When he’d fucked Mary Kaye Lamont back in high school, it had been a quick, sordid affair underneath the bleachers. They had never even undressed, so this was the first time Aiden had felt a woman’s breast. Suddenly, he had to feel it directly, not through her shirt. He slid his hand down, then back up against her hot skin, the hand making a beeline for the surprisingly full breast. Teri was a slim girl, but her tits, at least her left one, was much larger than he expected. He shifted his hand to see if the right was as full. It was.
The Werewolf of Marines Trilogy Page 14