C. Brown - Fraternizing

"She stopped by my room and made sure to let me know that you're the world's best Marine and that me and my bullshit career can be chucked out with the latest garbage."

The thick sarcasm laced in her words gutted me, making me want to find Castillo and check her ass right along with Ruiz. Threats to Cassie weren't going over well with me. I found myself easily offended every time I heard one, and little by little, they were breaking my will power to give a shit about what people knew-- or thought they knew.

"Fuck that shit. I'll be backing her off of you. Don't worry about it."

"Don't worry about it?" she shrieked, backing further away from me. "You don't even know what it's like to be in my shoes, Alex. I'm a nothing. A nobody. It won't be hard to get rid of someone like me."

I grabbed her wrist, pulling her back to me. "Don't ever fucking say that about yourself. You're a goddamned Marine. You've earned that shit! You are somebody. And, I don't think it's as easy or as hard as you think it is. We're in this shit together, whether you want to believe that or not. Word gets out about this, and they'll be chewing off their own fucking fingers to get rid of me. I'm an NCO, an instructor, and I'll be looked at like a predator. I've seen it happen."

"And yet you're still willing to keep going with this?"

"I sure am. Because when I want something, I don't give up. I'll fight the entire goddamned Marine Corps to be with you."

A bone chilling laugh crept out of her, freezing me on the spot. Confusion passed through me before I regained my bearings. She was baffling me with every statement, every movement. I had no idea what she was thinking.

Did she want me?

Or should I just let it all go?

There was no way I was going to let her go so easily. When shit gets tough, you fight your way through it.

"You have no idea what you are saying," she muttered, throwing a dismissive hand my way.

I swooped on her, cradling her face in my hands and holding her gaze as I tore into her.

"I know exactly what the fuck I'm saying. I know that the first night you swiveled those hips in my direction I jumped, and I haven't been able to get you out of my head ever since. I know that everything I believed in and thought was the gospel has been challenged and balked at since I met you. I know that I hate the thought of you sleeping in the same room with that evil bitch you call a roommate, and I damn sure know that I hate having to share you with that fucking prick, Dalton. He wants in your pants probably as badly as I do. And the fact that he can flaunt his time with you, with no one questioning it, is like sand in my throat. I hate all that shit."

A frown flitted across her lips.

"I feel all of this, and I haven't even fucked you, yet.

Passion erupted inside of me with those words. My insides were on fire, a smoldering blaze tearing through every inch of me, but not in anger, more like intense desire.

"You don't bring Dalton into this!" she yelled, her eyes darkening.

The look she gave off froze me, thrusting darts in my direction and hitting on every single try at the realization that there was something inside of her for him. Fury seeped in, hating the fact that, in only a week, that skinny jeans wearing twerp was able to break through and find a place within her that I was hoping was reserved only for me.

"Do you think I appreciate the fact that he can walk around, hanging all over you if he so chooses and yet, there isn't a damn thing I can do about it? Are you trying to make me jealous because I can assure you it's working. I don't mind a challenge, but I don't play fair, and he might get hurt in the process."

"You really want to bring jealously into this? Because I'm pretty sure your dates with Castillo qualify."

"I haven't been on a single date with her. Not one."

"Really? Your dinner date at the food court, or how about last night on duty? None of that counts?"

"How did you know about the food court?" Suspicion went off inside of me with the mention of the coincidental meet up.

"How did you know about me being in the barracks room that night?"

"Ruiz," we spit out in unison, both of our faces contorting in disgust as her toxic filled name left our lips.

"That bitch is about to be knocked down a few notches. You just wait."

I moved around the island to the fridge, pulling out a beer and using my teeth to rip the lid off. I offered it to her which she briskly declined.

"Now back to this fucking Dalton problem. Are you going to shut him down or am I going to have to squash his hopes of getting in your pants? Because I promise you, it'll be a cold day in hell before he gets to do that while I'm still around."

"You're out of control, you know that?"

"Yes, I do. I've been this way ever since you sauntered out in front of me. Now I'm your problem to deal with. So what's it gonna be?" A crooked smile curved on my lips. I wasn't against getting dirty to keep Dalton away from her, so it was probably in her best interest to let him know before I had to.

"What are you going to do about Castillo?" she countered, effectively throwing the ball back in my court.

Her stubbornness was one of the many things that I loved about her.

"This one sided shit doesn't work for me. You're not getting your cake and eating it too, Alex." The sass in her voice ignited a hunger inside of me that would only be quelled by her touch. I needed her on me, feeling me, caressing me, fucking me.

She was so much more than any other chick I had come across. Her attitude, her confidence, her demeanor...it was so appealing, and her physical attributes just added the icing on the cake. Standing there, looking at her, was beginning to suffocate me. One way or another, I needed to get my hands on her, every part of her.

"There is no need to worry about Castillo, I promise you. But that fucking Dalton, he's poking thorns in my side, and I'm about ready to go ape shit on him." I moved around the island and held her face in my hand. "You better tell him to back the fuck up, or shit is gonna get dirty."

"He doesn't want me, Alex!" she yelled, seemingly frustrated with my demands.

I didn't much care in that moment. As long as he was put in his fucking place, I was fine with it.

I dropped her face from my hand.

"Right, and my dick doesn't punish me every time I get near you and can't do shit about it."

"That's a personal problem," she quickly responded, laughing at my expense.

"I'm being fucking serious. I don't find any humor in it. You know how badly I want to be inside of you, feeling the warmth of you, and yet you keep bullshittin' with that kid."

"He's gay, Alex!" She blurted it out so loud and quickly that I wasn't t sure I had heard her correctly.

My gaze softened as the realization of what she had just said washed over me like a flood. Cooling liquid filled my veins, calming me down almost immediately.

"Now I feel like a horrible friend. He confided that to me. It's been hard for him because of his family, and now the Corps."

Embarrassment hit me like a wrecking ball. I'd just pulled all stops on the asshole train and finally made her spill it, something that she was probably uncomfortable telling me anyway.

"What do you mean the Corps?"

"He doesn't want to be ostracized by the Corps because he's gay. He's a damn good guy, Alex. Don’t do anything to jeopardize his career, please."

I laughed at her insinuation.

"You think I'd do something to him because he's gay?" I held my hands over my heart, feigning hurt. "I might be an asshole, but I don't give a shit who my Marines are fucking. Well, besides you."

Her entire body relaxed with my words. Did I really come off as that big of a dick?

"And furthermore, the days of don't ask don’t tell are over. If he wanted to grab his boyfriend and kiss him right in front of the entire class, there wouldn't be a fucking thing me or anybody else could do about it."