Gwen greeted him with a smile. Her whole face lit up, and I felt a tingling sensation course through my body. She brushed a lock of hair from her eyes and tucked it behind her ear. I felt an erection coming on, and I shifted in my seat.
Santiago said something to me, but I wasn’t paying attention. I had zoomed in on Gwen’s lips. I thought I could read them, guess what she was saying. I soon abandoned that effort and lost myself in a daydream: my lips exploring the contour of hers, nipping at the corners of her mouth, my tongue sliding into her mouth to taste her.
Manny motioned to us. Gwen looked over, and I snapped out of my reverie.
Gwen looked back at Manny. She giggled and covered her mouth.
They both headed over to us.
I swallowed the lump in my throat and wiped the sweat from my hands.
“Gwen, I’d like you to meet my friends.” Manny motioned to Santiago. “This is Santiago. Don’t worry, he’s not as mean as he looks.”
Santiago stood and offered Gwen a devious smile. “I’ll be as mean as you want me to be.”
Gwen looked surprised. She opened her mouth to speak but said nothing.
Santiago bowed slightly then sat back down.
“And this here’s Nolan,” said Manny. “Don’t let those soft emerald eyes fool you. There’s nothing precious about him.”
Nolan stood and extended his hand.
“Hello, Nolan.”
Gwen offered her hand, which Nolan took, turned over and gave it a kiss.
“If Manny here gives you a problem,” he said, “I’d be happy to take him outside and teach him some manners.”
“Thank you,” said Gwen. “But I think I can handle him.”
I cleared my throat and tried unsuccessfully to relax.
“This is J.P., as in Jean Phillipe. So nice they named him twice.”
“Nice to meet you, J.P.,” said Gwen. “I’ve seen you around.”
I smiled. She recognized me!
“I’m a fan,” I said. “I mean: of your cooking. I mean: of the place.”
“Thank you,” said Gwen. “Manny tells me you’re in the Marines. Thank you for your service.”
“We haven’t served you yet,” said Santiago.
I jerked my head at him. “Santiago!”
“What?”
“I apologize for him,” I said to Gwen. “He doesn’t get out often.”
Gwen frowned. “That’s a shame.” And she winked at Santiago.
I felt a hot flash of jealousy course through me, which I quickly suppressed. It could have been jealousy or it could have been arousal. I was confronted with both, simultaneously, and it was confusing.
“I offered to take Gwen to the Waterfront Grill tonight,” said Manny. “But she says she’s not dating. So instead I suggested we make it a group thing.”
“It’s true I’m not dating,” said Gwen, “but I do have single friends, very attractive single friends.”
“Why aren’t you dating?” I asked. “If it’s not too personal.”
“It’s the very definition of too personal,” said Manny.
I didn’t acknowledge his remark. I was feeling proud of myself for being this forward.
Gwen curled her lips and tilted her head. “It’s a long story.”
“Maybe you’ll tell me it tonight,” I said, “at the Waterfront Grill.”
“Maybe.”
We chatted some more. Gwen told us about her friends she was going to set us up with. I pretended to be interested. But I didn’t want to be set up with anyone. I had fallen for her. She was the one I wanted; no one else.
We walked back to the base. Manny was gloating, feeling like a rock star for having scored a date with Gwen—even though it wasn’t really a date. We didn’t discourage him. Frankly, I was impressed. Also, I was excited. In my mind, I was the one who had a date with Gwen later that night.
“We have to invite the others,” said Santiago.
“Especially Axel,” I said.
Manny chuckled. “She thinks she’s going to meet three Marines and we show up with nine.”
“You should have got her number,” said Santiago.
“No worries,” said Manny. “All in due time.”
I was excited for the date—even if it wasn’t technically a date. But I was also nervous. I wasn’t nervous about how it would go, if Gwen and I would get along or anything like that. I was nervous about how Axel would react. I knew he was on duty tonight and he wouldn’t be able to go with us. He was definitely going to feel bad for missing out. And even though he’d wished me good luck, he suggested he would be OK sharing, somehow I didn’t believe him.
“I’ve got a bad feeling about this,” I said under my breath.
Manny punched me on the arm. “Why would you say that? Tonight’s going to be great.”
“We’ll see,” I said.
Manny pointed to me and addressed Santiago. “Can you believe this guy?”
“It’ll be fine,” Santiago said to me. “Girls don’t bite, unless you’re into that sort of thing.” He and Manny laughed.
“But girls do get in between friends,” I said.
The mood quickly turned somber.