Hold My Hand || J.Seresin

Chapter 15

I'd learned from a young age not to question my dad's unusual methods. Today was another instance of this when I glanced at the text from Dad telling me to meet him at The Hard Deck, or more specifically the beach front behind The Hard Deck. From what I knew about the mission, the detachment had yesterday and half of the day off today before diving back into mission training. Unlike Jake, I didn't have the morning off. Being in the Navy had made me an early riser and since I'd come to Jake's without my uniform, I left early to return home to change before returning to base.

While I hadn't received any orders from Uncle Ice to test a plane, and the fact my job rarely had me flying, I still had to report my injury. Once all the blood was gone, it really didn't look that bad, even if it did hurt at times. There'd been a few glances around the base, but no one had pushed to ask what happened, which I was grateful for. Bradley could be a problem though. Maybe since I'd be with my dad, he'd ignore me and I wouldn't have to come up with a reason for how I was in a car accident and yet my car was undamaged.

Penny was sitting outside at one of the picnic tables. I gave her a small smile and wave as I approached my dad. It wasn't any of my business, but I'd always liked Penny and I thought she and my dad were good together. He screwed up the last time though and I wasn't sure if she wanted him back.

It looked like most of the detachment had already arrived. Jake and Bradley were there, talking in two separate groups. I spotted my dad and Hondo talking and joined them.
"Accident-prone Barbie." Hondo joked, looking at the bandage on my forehead.
"Ha ha." I joked, before looking at my dad. "Did you really need to tell Hondo?"
"You'll be reffing with Hondo. I was gonna have you play, but" He gestured to my head, trailing off.
"I don't have a concussion." I exclaimed, slightly frustrated at his worry, "But I guess that's fine, I'm not good at football anyway." The weather was surprisingly nice for October. Since I hadn't known ahead of time what I'd be doing, I'd dressed in a long-line black bikini with black Lululemon shorts over the bottoms. The sun made the white of my scar shine brighter, but I tried to ignore it.

The game started a few minutes later. My dad went through the rules, which there weren't many of. Dogfight football was offense and defense at the same time. I couldn't figure out why my dad had asked me to come today. This game definitely didn't need two refs. The non-Naval-focused side of me definitely did not mind. Because the sun was shining and the weather was nice, most of the men had opted to play without shirts. While I did get to see Jake naked more than anyone else here, and I had often over the past week, it still didn't change how much I was enjoying the view.

The golden light seemed to further accentuate Jake's abs. Just like yesterday, I was extra grateful for sunglasses so he couldn't see me staring. Although, and I'd never admit it if Jake asked, the other men in this detachment were very muscular and it was quite nice to watch. For the first few plays of the game, everyone was treating it like a competition, but now, they were all having fun. It was nice to see this team form, especially knowing how tense things had been the first few training sessions.

Before I knew it, Bob was lifted on some of the men's shoulders and everyone was cheering from him. I couldn't help but smile. My dad had left the game about five minutes earlier and was sitting further up the beach in a chair. I began walking to him, preparing to say goodbye and head home when Bradley's voice stopped me. So much for avoiding Bradley.
"Have fun today?" I asked.
"Don't tell Maverick, but yeah, today was good." I laughed, but then decided to push it a little,
"You gonna talk to him and clear the air?" Bradley's smile fell and after studying me, his stoic face turned to a frown,
"What happened?" He asked, pointing to the bandage on my head. I let out a sigh. I had no idea if Jake had mentioned his damaged car, so I'd take the risk and tell most of the truth,
"Just got in a little car accident. It's no big deal: no concussion, no time off from work." Bradley started to say something, but stopped himself,
"Well, I'm glad you're okay." He said, slinging his arm over my shoulder. His behavior was incredibly surprising to me.
"No overprotective brother act. Who are you and what did you do to Bradley Bradshaw?" I joked.
"I'm trying something new." He responded lightly.
"Does the new you still creep around your sister's house?" I retorted, smirking at him.
"If I need to. I still don't think anyone is good enough for you." Even if it could be irritating at times, I appreciated how much Bradley cared. He didn't have to, considering we weren't blood related.
"Speaking of," Bradley continued, "Was this car accident with the guy who was in your bed?" There was typical Bradley.
"Yes." I admitted. Bradley had a shocked look on his face.
"I can't believe you admitted that. You're always so tight-lipped about your relationships."
"I was being honest about the accident. I'm still not telling you who it is."
"I'll figure it out. You want to get lunch?"
"Let's go, Bradshaw."

We were about halfway up the beach when a voice rang out. I turned back towards the water, squinting even with my sunglasses on. Phoenix was running up the beach, trying to catch up with us.
"Barbie, you should stay longer." She said, "You too, Rooster." Phoenix didn't give us much of a choice, dragging us back down the beach after her. Some of the aviators had already waded into the water. I could feel Jake's eyes on me, but ignored it since so many people were around.

Strong arms wrapped around my waist, lifting me off the sand. My head turned to see Coyote, who was carrying me towards the water.
"Coyote, don't you dare." I warned. He had a mischievous grin on his face, but continued to ignore me. We were about 10 feet from the water when I spoke again, "These shorts are far too nice to get wet and I have a head injury." That caused him to stop. He set me down and glanced at the bandage on my head.
"Sorry Barbie." He said, his head hanging like a child who just got in trouble.

I slipped out of the shorts, throwing them back up the beach and moved towards the water. Looking around the group, I pointed at them,
"No one even think about dunking me." Once Coyote was close enough to me in the water, I shoved him, causing him to lose his balance and fall into the water. I tried not to laugh seeing his shocked facial expression as he popped up out of the water. My actions caused the others to start shoving and splashing each other.

Within five minutes, my body was soaked, leaving my head and hair dry. The aviators were respectable enough to not irritate my head injury, but that didn't stop them from making sure the rest of me was drenched. While the sun was beating down, it did nothing to warm me while I was in the water. The others were distracted in a game of chicken, so I walked out of the water. The sand was warm on my feet, but it felt good. I pulled the towel from my bag and laid it out, plopping down once it was flat on the sand.

My eyes were closed, but I could still see when a shadow moved in front of the sun. I opened my eyes, seeing Jake standing over me. His eyes scanned over my body. Jake had seen me naked countless times before and yet he never failed to show that he found me attractive. He took a seat down next to me, causing some of the sand to fly onto my still wet skin. I brushed it off my legs, sitting up slightly to rest on my elbows.

"How's your head?" Jake asked quietly. He was facing the Hard Deck, his back to the others. With the way he was sitting, no one could see our hands. He reached across the short distance between us, grabbing my hand gently and rubbing his thumb across my knuckles.
"Fine. Just like it was fine this morning." Jake gave me a look of apprehension. "Really Jake, I wouldn't lie about injuries. You know that." He nodded in agreement. After my accident, recovery had been long and difficult; Jake never wanted me to shy away from telling him everything. In the first six months of my recovery, Jake and I talked almost every day. Which was a pretty incredible feat since part of that time was spent in the middle of the ocean on a Navy carrier.

Jake's hand moved higher up my wrist, his index finger slipping under the hospital bracelet I was still wearing. It was damp and loose. Honestly, I don't know why I hadn't taken it off last night, or even this morning. My eyes followed Jake's movement as he softly rubbed the skin underneath the bracelet. It reminded me of when he'd done the same in the hospital after my accident. He must have been thinking about that as his eyes darted to the scar on my left leg. Emotions swirled behind his eyes, but I couldn't push to ask. Bradley was approaching.

I pulled my hand back and for a moment, I thought hurt crossed his face, but then Jake glanced behind, seeing Bradley. He shifted away from me, trying not to make the movement too obvious.
"So you and Coyote?" Bradley asked with a smirk, squatting down in front of me.
"What?" I asked, confused by his question.
"You two looked chummy." Oh god, he thought something was going out between Coyote and I. He'd even used the same word I used to describe him and Phoenix.
"It's called a friendship, Rooster." I responded.
"So he wasn't the guy in your bed?" He questioned. Jake perked up at that, looking towards the both of us.
"Oh, Barbie, what have you been up to?" Jake teased. I rolled my eyes, ignoring his question.
"It's bad enough you know about it," I told Bradley, "I don't need Bagman to join in your nosiness crap."
"Is it someone from base?" Jake prodded, clearly enjoying himself.
"No it wasn't." I answered. Maybe I'd have a little fun with this. "Honestly, he's a nice guy, but his dick is well..." I hesitated, gesturing with my fingers to show something small, rather than say it. Bradley groaned, realizing what I was saying.
"God, Barbie."
"Unless you want me to go into more detail, I'd suggest you stop asking." Bradley put his hands up in defense. My eyes darted to Jake, who didn't look too pleased. I'd definitely be hearing about that later. I let out a sigh, standing up and brushing the remaining water droplets and sand from my legs. Grabbing my towel and bag, I looked towards Bradley,
"Come on, Bradshaw, you owe me dinner."