Chapter 306
Cue the chaos.
Anna dimmed the lights again. Max is already waving the lighter around like it’s a torch. Mila’s got the matches. Rooster is guarding the cake like a bodyguard. Someone starts singing Happy Birthday way too loudly and off–key and Asher just groans.
He turns to me with a look of pure, exhausted disbelief.
“You planned cake?”
“I planned everything,” I say, shameless. “You thought we’d skip the best part?”
“I thought we’d skip the worst part.”
“Stop. You’re going to love it.”
“I’m not blowing out the candles.”
1
“Yes, you are.”
“No, I’m not.”
Max pipes up from behind us. “Yeah, Penny! Make him! I want to see him blow those out.”
“Or better yet,” one of the guys from base adds. “Let’s see you blow them Penny!”
There’s a beat of silence.
Asher turns his head slowly so slowly and looks at them.
–
One of those death stares. Ice–cold. Unmoving. Navy SEAL stare that says I’ve ended men for less.
Everyone goes quiet.
Like dead quiet.
Rooster mutters under his breath, “That’s the look that made three instructors cry during Hell Week.”
Without breaking eye contact, Asher walks to the cake.
Then, casually like he’s been doing it his whole life
No breath. No song. Just him.
“I blew them out,” he says, deadpan. “Happy?”
–
he reaches up and pinches the two candles between his fingers. The flame sizzles out on contact.
Max puts a hand over his heart. “I’ve never been more terrified and impressed in my life.”
Laughter explodes around the room, but I just stand there, grinning like an idiot. Because only he could turn blowing out birthday candles into a power
move.
Asher catches my eye again and leans close.
3/4
4:49 pm P Ll
Chapter 306
“You can have the first slice, Princess,” he murmurs. “On one condition.”
“What?”
He kisses the edge of my mouth, slow and deliberate.
“You never throw me another surprise party again.”
I laugh. “That’s not happening.”
He groans. “You’re lucky I like you.”
“You love me.”
“Yeah,” he says, giving my hip a squeeze. “I really fucking do.”
Comments
Fabiana Chantre
This is awesome!!! Love it! It was so funny
7 days ago
34
<SHARE
3 Comments >
12
3
Falling for my boyfriend’s Navy brother
Chapter 307
The cake’s mostly gone. Someone stuffed one of the fake grenades into it. Boomer swears it wasn’t him, which means it definitely was. There’s frosting on one of the mirrors and someone – probably Max – drew a mustache on the Grinch cutout.
In other words: things are… escalating.
I lean against the far wall, arms crossed, soda can warm in my hand, and survey the room like I’m on recon.
Some of the guys from base are tipsy already, shoulder–checking each other, retelling stories too loud and too slurred. Mila’s been mock–interrogating them for gossip. Anna started dancing in slow–motion to Danger Zone earlier and hasn’t stopped. The playlist is pure chaos half 80s action movies, half Penny’s rehearsal tracks.
–
And Penny?
She’s across the room. Laughing with Mila, hair falling out of the loose braid she threw together earlier, hands animated as she talks. She hasn’t touched a
drop of alcohol. Neither has Mila. Their ‘no booze a week before performance” pact is still holding strong.
Watching her that lit–up version of her, so completely in her element even at my dumb birthday party – feels like something I shouldn’t be allowed to
see. Like sunlight from underwater. Too much. Too good.
The kind of thing you look away from, just to survive it.
Our parents left a little while ago. Penny’s mom kissed her on the cheek and whispered something that made her blush. My dad told me to try not to destroy the structural integrity of the building, and my mom handed me a Tupperware of leftover rice balls “just in case“. I didn’t ask in case of what.
Fifteen minutes later, she showed up.
Madame Loretto.
Heels clicking. Lips pursed. Arms behind her back like she was here to issue court martial.
Everyone went quiet.
Her eyes swept the room Max in a ridiculous vest, Rooster duct–taping goggles to someone’s face, and the cake leaning precariously on a table someone had accidentally karate–kicked earlier.
She looked at me and said, “Mr. Hayes. If this studio is not returned to the exact condition I left it in, I will make you run barre drills in steel–toed boots.”
I said, “Understood, ma’am.”
She nodded. “I always approved of you.”
Then turned to Boomer. “And you But…”
Her hand lifted. Finger pointed across the room.
At Mila.
“She eats boys like you for breakfast.”
3
1:49 pm PS
Chapter 307
Boomer made a sound like a squirrel getting caught in a garbage disposal.
And now here we are. Madame Loretto has left. Most of the room is at that lovely stage between buzzed and boldly making poor decisions.
Penny walks over to me just as Rooster climbs on top of a stack of ballet mats with a beer in hand and a megaphone someone definitely should not have
given him.
I already don’t trust this.
“Alright, you degenerates,” he shouts, the beer sloshing over his fingers. “Time for the main event of the evening! Welcome to the first
annual SEAL–themed birthday party games, officially sanctioned by the Department of Party Shenanigans, codename: Operation ASHERBORN.”
–
and probably last
The room groans.
Someone throws a napkin.
Rooster dodges like he trained for this. “You think this is a democracy? That’s cute. I run this unit now.”
1
Beside me, Penny lets out a soft laugh and slides her arm around my waist, her palm resting just beneath my shirt like a calming weight. She smells like vanilla and strawberry tea and I already know I’m going to miss this moment even while I’m living in it.
Rooster slaps his clipboard. “We have five games. You will participate. You will lose. You will suffer.”
“Do we win anything?” Max calls from the floor, where he’s already seated cross–legged like a kindergartener on story time crack.
Rooster grins and points dramatically to the cake table.
At first, I don’t see it.
Then I do.
Nestled next to the candles and cake crumbs is what I assume is supposed to be… me.
A plastic army man, glued to a rock, painted gold and sparkly like a failed Pinterest craft. Someone’s added sharpie scowl lines and what appears to be an attempt at a scar down his left eye. Googly eyes wobble on his face.
“This is your prize,” Rooster says proudly. “The Asher Effigy. The golden grump. The sacred symbol of no–nonsense masculinity and scary–hot silence.”
Boomer mumbles, “It looks like it wants to die.”
2
“Don’t we all,” Rooster replies cheerfully.
2
Someone starts clapping. And then, somehow, we’re doing this.
Rooster announces the first game like he’s calling a mission drop from a helicopter.
2/3
4:49 pm P W
Falling for my boyfriend’s Navy brother
Chapter
Sara Lili is a daring romance writer who turns icy landscapes into scenes of fiery passion. She loves crafting hot love stories while embracing the chill of Iceland’s breathtaking cold.
