Siren In The Sky // Bradley Bradshaw

Chapter 7

"You guys fucked again, didn't you?"

I choke on my food after hearing Regina's words. It's been a full 24 hours since Bradley and I agreed to be fuck buddies. She didn't say anything all day at Top Gun, so I thought that we weren't obvious. Apparently not.

Letting out a sigh I answer. "How did you know?" She gives me a look that's almost like 'how could I not know'. "Well for starters when you got back yesterday you went straight to bed, with a limp I might add. Then today the two of you were actually civil. Not to mention when he first saw you I could feel his smirk from across the room." 

"We argued all day." I defensively mention. "Ya but it was teasing arguing, not real arguing. Yesterday when I left you two looked like you were going to kill each other."

I shrug. "Fair enough." I take another bite of my food, lost in my own world. Regina clears her throat. Setting my eyes on her I notice her gawking at me. "What?" 

"What do you mean what?! Do I get no details?!!" I cackle at her dramatics. "Ok so...."

~~~~~~~~

The next day was the most boring one yet. We spent most of it in the classroom instead of flying. I was about to fall asleep on my desk because the admirals voice has become white noise at this point when a note hits me in the face. Furrowing my eyebrows I look around the room. The culprit is none other than Rooster, smiling and raising his eyebrows. Moving the note to my lap I soundlessly open it as to not draw the admiral's attention.

'Wake up or else you'll get in trouble beautiful.'

I roll my eyes but can't help the way my lips quirck up. Beautiful. That damn word again. I quickly scribble back 'You'd enjoy that, don't lie'

When I get a chance I throw the note over to him. He opens it and a goofy grin breaks out on his face. Before I know it the crumpled paper returns. 

'I'd only enjoy it if I get to be the one to punish you. But then again, if memory serves correctly you'd enjoy that too'

My cheeks flame red and I subconscious squeeze my thighs together. Choosing not to respond I simply shoot him a glare. He starts to chuckle but tries to cover it with a cough making me try and cover up my own snigger.

I manage to pay attention for the rest of class. When it's finally over I can't help but stretch in relief. My joints feel stiff and I feel tiredness behind my eyes just from sitting. Everyone begins talking about how dull it was. 

"We should all go do something," Coyote says.

"We could go to the beach? Play some volleyball?" Hangman asks.

Everyone gives murmurs of agreement. Striker and I are heading to the car as Rooster and Omaha jog up to us. "You going to the beach with everyone?" Rooster asks me. "Why? Desperate to see me in a bikini?" I tease. His face lights up, a challenge flickering in his eyes. "Always." 

"Before they jump each others bones," Omaha starts. "Regina I was wondering if I could talk to you?" Regina's eyebrows shoot up to her hairline in surprise. She nods quickly and begins to follow him a few feet away. Sending me a look over her shoulder asking 'do you know whats happening'. I simply shrug in response.

Watching them talk I unintentionally lean into Bradley's side. When I realize what I'm doing I start to move away but he quickly snakes his arm around my waist, pulling me back into him. I can't help but relax into his touch. He's intoxicating.

"Any idea what that's about?" I inquire, gesturing to our two best friends. "He's asking her out." My head snaps up to him. "Really?" I squeal. Regina said he was attractive in passing, but I don't miss the way her eyes wonder over to him from time to time. He chuckles either from my response or the look on my face. "Yep. He wants to take her to dinner after the beach tonight."

I can't help but awe. "That's so cute. I ship." 

"Do you know what that means?" Bradley asks, a suggestive glint in his eye. "Tell me, what does it mean?" My neck is craned up looking at him. "That means we can have some quality time too. What do ya say? We can cook up some dinner and hang out." 

"Hang out?" I incredulously ask. This seems to make him shy as he scratches the back of his neck. He always does that when he's nervous. "You know what I mean."  I laugh at his flushed face. "You know Bradshaw, it's cute that you can call me a dirty slut during sex but can't ask me TO have sex."

Bradley groans and hides his face in my hair. "Shut up."

Regina and I head to the house to get changed into our bathing suits, her gushing the whole time about Omaha. 

"What's his actual name anyway?"

She looks at me like I'm stupid. "It's Neil." I raise my hands in surrender. "Sorry."

Once we make it to the beach, practically everyone is there. "Nice of you to join us ladies." Payback calls out. The two of us set our bags down and take off our cover ups. By cover ups I mean a t-shirt. I went with a plain brown bikini that makes my hair look lighter and my skin darker. A wolf whistle is heard and I assume it's one of the guys being obnoxious but I quickly laugh when I realize it was Pheonix. Joining the group we split into two teams. 

Bradley and I end up across from each other on either side of the net. "You're going down Rooster." "In your dreams Siren."

The next two hours or so is spent playing the most competitive game of volleyball you can imagine. There's trash talk, illegal tackling, and dramatics. At a certain point we stopped keeping score. I haven't had this much fun in a long time. When the sun sets and we can't see each other anymore we decide to call it a day. 

Saying goodbye to Regina and wishing her luck, I hop into Bradley's truck. The car ride isn't awkward at all, both of us in a great mood from the day. We tease and joke, the air never silent. Once we get back to the house we've calmed down a bit, but still happy nonetheless. The first thing I do is walk to the kitchen. 

"I'm starvingggg." I moan. Which is a fact. I haven't eaten since breakfast and it's almost 9 now. "Well what do you have? I can cook." I start pulling out ingredients to make spaghetti. "You don't have to, really." Taking the box of noodles from my hands he shushes me. "I want to. Now go sit your pretty ass down." I crack a smile and sit in a chair on the other side of the island. 

"Do you have a speaker?" I wordlessly point to it and Bradley connects his phone. I honestly expected him to play trashy white boy music but was pleasantly surprised. 'Great Balls of Fire' started playing and I laughed as Bradley danced and sang while cooking, using a spatula as a microphone. He pulls me out of my seat and gets me to dance with him. Both of us are screaming the lyrics together, probably hurting the poor ears of my neighbors. It doesn't stop with that song. We continued dancing and singing until we laughed so hard tears came out of our eyes and our stomachs cramped from the movement. After settling down I went back to my seat. Bradley finished cooking, humming the whole time. 

He brought over two plates and I stood to pull out some wine. "Wine? You spoil me," Bradley jokes. The whole time we eat we're asking questions. Favorite color? Orange. Favorite movie? Star Wars: Episode II. I feel like I could win a trivia contest if it was about him. 

I take our plates up and head to the sink. While I'm washing them two large arms circle my waist and a chin rests on my shoulder. For the first time tonight we are in silence. The music still plays softly in the background but it's drowned out by our steady breathes. The air around us crackles with electricity like it always does. This time though, it's different. More intimate.

Once I'm done washing the plates I turn, still wrapped in his arms. Sliding my hands up I hook them around his neck. We both lean in, letting our noses brush against each other for a moment before our lips meet. A shiver rolls up my spine. This kiss is long and slow, linguid and deep. Every kiss we shared before now had been rushed, feverent. Filled with lust. But this. This is like we are exploring each other for the first time. Taking the time to memorize each part of the other so that we may never forget. 

Bradley picks me up, my legs automatically wrapping around him, and carries me to my room. I deny it to myself. A reminder that this is just sex rings through my brain. But deep down, I know that what we did that night wasn't fucking, it was making love.