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.He then helped Aldrichto the back of the Tracker.Nobel had lowered the back seats, so they hadplenty of room to stretch out.They madethemselves comfortable, their backs restingagainst the front seats.There was a cooler full ofpop, along with a pizza, plus various other snacks.Aldrich’s eyes grew wide as he looked at all thefood.“Damn, you brought enough to feed anentire frat house.”“I’m just trying to fatten you up,” Nobel teased.As soon as he saw the flicker of hurt pass overAldrich’s face, Nobel wanted those words back.Letting out a soft curse, Nobel said, “I’m sorry.”Aldrich shrugged.“It’s okay, I know I’m way80Stephani Hechttoo thin.”Nobel reached out and pulled Aldrich into atight embrace.“Only because you’ve been healing.That still doesn’t mean that I don’t think you’reperfect.”“Keep saying that.After enough times I mayactually begin to believe it.” Aldrich snuggled intoNobel’s chest.If Nobel had his way he’d be saying that toAldrich every day for the rest of their lives.Butsince he didn’t want to rush things, Nobel keptthat to himself.He knew that sooner or later, allthe things he’d be holding back would come outthough.He only hoped that when they did,Aldrich would be ready to hear them.“Let’s start with the pizza,” Nobel suggestedgruffly as they broke apart.He grabbed the box and opened it, the tangyscents of oregano, cheese and pepperoni filling theair.Aldrich leaned in and inhaled deeply.“Damn,that smells good.”Since he’d forgotten to bring plates, Nobelreached in, grabbed a slice and held it up toAldrich’s lips.“Here then, take a bite.”Aldrich parted his sinfully beautiful lips andsank his even teeth into the pizza.As he chewed,he closed his eyes and he let out a satisfied moan.“Good?” Nobel couldn’t resist teasing.Still keeping his eyes closed, Aldrich nodded.81Change on the Fly“You have no idea what a treat it is to finally getsome real pizza.”A bit of sauce clung to the corner of Aldrich’smouth.Unable to resist, Nobel leaned in a slowlylicked it clean.“You’re right.It tastes fantastic.”Aldrich opened his eyes.“I guess you probablymissed it, too.I can’t imagine they had a lot ofgood pizza in Afghanistan.”“Not as good as back home.That’s for sure.”Nobel held the slice back up to Aldrich’s lips.Aldrich took another bite and chewed for a fewmoments before asking, “What was it like there?”Nobel froze, a healthy dose of panic buildingup inside him as he recalled some of the morehorrifying things he’d witnessed during hisdeployment.His anxiety must have shown on hisface because Aldrich put a comforting hand on hisarm and said, “You don’t have share any of thebad stuff.At least not until you’re ready.Just tellme what it looked like there.I’ve never been toanother country, aside from Canada and thatreally doesn’t count since we live in Michigan.”Nobel studied Aldrich’s earnest expression anddecided to relent.“Okay, I’ll share some thingswith you.I just may not be ready to get into thereal gritty stuff.At least, not yet.”“I understand.And if you ever are ready toshare the bad stuff, I’ll be here to listen to thattoo,” Aldrich replied, his gaze soft with82Stephani Hechtunderstanding.“I’ll only talk as long as you keep eating,”Nobel negotiated.“Deal.” Aldrich parted his lips for another bit.While Aldrich chewed, Nobel began.“It’s a lotdifferent there.For one thing, it’s mostly rural anda lot of the roads aren’t paved like they are here.Instead they’re dirt.”“I heard it’s really dusty there,” Aldrich saidafter he swallowed.Nobel held the pizza up to Aldrich’s lips.“It is.I spent most of the time in Afghanistan hackingmy lungs up, because I got pneumonia.We wouldget so covered in the dirt that you could see theoutlines on our faces when we took off our eye-pro at night.”“Were you at least able to take showers?”“Most times, yes, but the facilities weren’tanything like back home.Things could be prettybasic at times.While we normally had runningwater, the construction of the showers was veryminimal.”Aldrich took another bite before saying, “Thatmust have been very hard for you.You’ve alwaysbeen such a clean freak.”“I adjusted.” Nobel reached into the cooler andgrabbed a can of soda.Cracking it open, hehanded it to Aldrich.“How did the locals treat you?” Aldrich83Change on the Flyaccepted the can and took a drink.“Some really hated us, but there were otherswho are glad we’re there.The kids really like us,mostly because of the candy we hand out.”Aldrich used his finger to trace a slow pathdown Nobel’s cheek.“I wish you never had to gothere.”“Don’t be.It helped make me who I am today.”“Why didn’t you ever answer any of the emailsI sent you?” Aldrich asked in a slightly woundedtone.Regret and a heavy dose of guilt sliced throughNobel.“Because I was a damn coward.By then I’drealized what it was I was attracted to you and itscared the shit out of me.I was also worried abouthow you’d react if you found out my true feelings.I didn’t want you to end up hating me for beinggay [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]