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anniesocsandgeneralstore · 2 years

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Come Over Here and Overwhelm Me: up the coast (Jake "Hangman" Seresin x OC)

Summary: Maverick stops by The Hard Deck to clear the air - then Hangman steals Ronnie away to make his intentions plain.

Pairing: Jake "Hangman" Seresin x OC (Ronnie Bradshaw)

Word Count: 6270

Warnings: hangman being soft for one ronnie bradshaw, mav reunion, lying to wait staff in order to get free food, talks of infertility/sperm banks

THREE | FOUR | FIVE

A/N: likes are great but reblogs/comments are even better!

Ronnie always thought it was fun when bars had a signature drink. A concoction unique to that place that people would drive miles and miles to try. Ronnie had been trying to come up with something for The Hard Deck for months. But anything she tested with Penny was either horrible, too strong, or not strong enough. She didn’t think that making up her own drink recipe would be this hard, but there she stood — behind the bar way before opening, a bowl in front of her and a selection of spirits and juices. Ready to be turned into what she was determined to be The Hard Deck’s signature drink.

She wanted it to be something fruity — but not something that the macho-men who frequented the bar would shy away from. She cut up limes, oranges, lemons, and strawberries and placed them at the bottom of the bowl. Next came the alcohol. A nice mix of coconut rum and peach schnapps. She picked up a wooden spoon and mixed that together before turning to the juices she had selected.

This wasn’t just her wanting to make a good drink, however. She also wanted a distraction from what happened the night before.

Jake kissing her on the beach. Her skin tingled at the thought of it still. She was still deciding on whether or not she regretted it. The majority of her said no. She hadn’t let it go any further than the kiss — and he had respected her wishes. They went to separate beds that night and it felt good on her conscience. But her mind ached at the implications of it all. Of that soft groan he let out at her calling him by his real name. Of the way his lips were soft and gentle and full of yearning against her own. She grinned as she opened the bottle of berry juice — uncontrollable and so powerful it made her cheeks hurt.

She had missed his kiss. The sheer confidence of it, like he was practiced — but that didn’t bother her one bit. She had had plenty of practice too since the last time she saw him. It reminded her of the first time he kissed her all those years ago. He had done it to shut her up, because she was rambling about how much of an ass he was. It was just one peck at first, just like last night. But then she was between the wall of the I Bar and Jake’s body and she couldn’t even remember why she was talking in the first place. She was like putty in his hands, forming whichever way he chose. And she didn’t even mind — God, she didn’t mind at all.

Should it have embarrassed her how easily she fell back into him? Probably. Was she going to actually get embarrassed by it? Absolutely not. She was a grown woman, and Jake was a grown man. Far more grown up than the last time they were together, it seemed. And she was willing, hesitantly willing, to see where this would go.

The front door of the bar opened just as she started pouring into her mixture a bit of pineapple juice. She looked up from what could really only be described as a colorful witch’s brew, expecting to see Jimmy or Jay coming in to start their shifts. But she was taken aback when Maverick sauntered into the bar.

“Uh…” She paused, half-empty bottle of juice still tipped in her hand. “C-Can I help you?”

“Penny said you would be here,” Maverick said as he put his hands into his jacket pockets.

Curse you Penny, Ronnie thought as she resisted the urge to roll her eyes into the back of her head. She knew her partner meant well, trying to give her a gentle nudge towards reconciling with those that had hurt her. But, Jesus, did she have to spring these occasions on her like a sudden tidal wave at sea?

“So, uh…” He trailed off as he lowered himself into the barstool in front of her. “Whatcha doin’?”

“Trying to create my own drink. It hasn’t gone well so far,” she replied curtly, tone clipped and tight as she screwed the cap back on the pineapple juice.

Maverick smiled. “I’m sure it hasn’t been that bad.”

“Oh, trust me, it’s been bad.” Ronnie picked over her selection of juices and decided on the orange next. “Tried this thing with tequila and cream — it was awful.”

“That does sound…That sounds pretty bad, yeah,” he chuckled.

Ronnie sighed, leaning with her palms flat on the bartop as she level Maverick with a look. Eyebrows furrowed and lips pursed.

“What’re you doing here, Maverick?”

“I got asked back to TOPGUN to train — “

“You know that’s not what I meant,” she said.

Maverick dropped his head with a sigh, hands fiddling together on the bartop. “Right. I came here…I came here to apologize to you. For everything.”

“Uh-huh,” she hummed out.

She couldn’t look at him while he did this. Knowing that if she dared look into his face she would burst into child-like tears. So instead, she kept her head down. Focused on opened up the orange juice and pouring what felt like the right amount into the bowl. As she mixed it with the spoon she had the thought that this was more of a punch than a single serving drink. Shit. This wasn’t going to work either.

“I-I’m sorry that I stopped talking to you — that I abandoned you. I should have been there for you, I should have taken more responsibility. Your dad would have been ashamed of the way I treated you. And I’m ashamed of myself too. I just thought that…What I did to Bradley was unforgivable and so I thought that you would never be able to forgive me either. At the time I wanted to save myself the heartache — so I cut you both out. And I’m…God, I’m so sorry, Ronnie. I really am.”

“I know why you pulled his papers,” she muttered, glancing up at him as she continued to stir her concoction.

“What?”

“My mom asked you to. She always said she didn’t want either of us to fly. Rooster never wanted to listen.”

She finally looked up at him then. There were tears rimming his eyes. He looked shocked at her confession, but also relieved.

“Did you — Have you told him that?” he asked.

“No.” Ronnie shook her head. “He doesn’t need to resent her, too.”

She didn’t want him to, but he caught the meaning behind her tone. “He doesn’t resent you, Ronnie.”

“Whatever. Doesn’t matter now, does it?” She smiled stiffly as she banged the spoon on the rim of the bowl, trying to shake off the excess liquid so it wouldn’t get all over the bartop. “What I’m trying to say is — is that I understood why you did what you did. And I still wanted you around…Even if Rooster didn’t.”

Maverick’s expression softened. “I’m sorry, Veronica.”

Veronica. Maverick was always the only one to ever call her that. Something about how her dad wanted to name his little girl that for the longest time, how it always reminded Maverick of those good times. It made her smile now, tears blurring her vision. She reached out and took his hand.

“I forgive you.”

Maverick released a giant breath, like a weight was finally lifted off his shoulders. Ronnie gave his hand one good squeeze before she ducked down behind the bar. She pulled out two small glasses and coasters for each.

“Now, you wanna try this monstrosity with me?” she asked with a small smile.

“It would be my pleasure,” he replied.

She spooned a good portion into each glass, making sure to pull out a piece of each cut up fruit to go in as well. That was how she would serve it if it was a real drink, anyway. She handed one of the glasses to Maverick and raised her own.

“Cheers,” she said with a grin.

“Cheers.”

They clinked their glasses together and both took a tentative sip of the drink. The rum wasn’t too overpowering, the juices toned it down, and the slightly peachy flavor of the schnapps was just subtle enough to make the drink’s overall flavor more complex.

Maverick pulled the glass away from his lips with raised brows and narrowed eyes. “Oh, that’s good.”

“Really?” she questioned with wide smile, taking another sip of the drink.

“Oh, that’s really good,” he repeated before taking a larger gulp.

The french doors that looked out over the beach at the back of the bar opened. In the quietness of the empty bar, it was easy to hear. Maverick looked over Ronnie’s shoulder to see who it was while she turned to tell whoever it was to get lost. The bar didn’t open until five — just like the sign side. Her mouth was already opening, ready to kick them out, when she spotted exactly who it was that was walking through the door.

Jake poked his head inside, sunglasses pushed up onto his head. “Ronnie, you here?”

He grinned once he spotted her behind the bar. He took a few steps inside. But then he noticed Maverick sitting behind her and his smile dropped. Jake immediately went rigid, hand popped up to his forehead in salute.

“Captain,” he said.

“At ease, Lieutenant.” Maverick nodded his head.

“Jake, go wait outside,” Ronnie told him softly.

He didn’t even hesitate to turn tail and go back out the door. Ronnie turned back to Maverick with a guilty smile, already knowing what expression she may find on his face. And she had guessed correctly. His eyebrows were raised, lips tight — though beneath the surprise he looked amused, glad even. She didn’t have to say anything for him to know what was going on. The look on Jake’s face when he spotted her was all he needed. He set his glass down on the bartop.

“Your brother doesn’t like him very much,” Maverick pointed out after a moment.

“He didn’t like him four years ago either. Didn’t stop me then and it sure as hell isn’t gonna stop me now.” Ronnie set down her glass as well. “Just…Don’t tell him. Okay?”

“Will that make it up to you?” he asked.

“Oh, absolutely not. But it’s a start.”

Maverick grinned. “I can work with that.”

The pair smiled at each other. Something that hadn’t happened in such a long time it should have felt foreign. But instead, it felt like home. It felt like backyard barbeques and family road trips three years after the fact when you’re no longer cramped and miserable. When all you can remember is the good stuff — the beautiful views and the entire family singing along to a song.

“Alright, now, get out of my bar.” Ronnie nodded her head towards the front door, a smile still tugging at her lips. “Come back when we’re open.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Maverick said as he got up from the stool.

“Penny’ll be here tonight,” Ronnie said with a heavy amount of implication and her eyebrows raised.

Maverick stopped on his way to the door, head tilted to look over his shoulder at her. “Will she?”

“Yep,” she replied with a pop of the p.

“Alright then.” With that, he walked out the door.

Ronnie chuckled as she watched him go. Then she turned towards the back door, to the bright blue sky and white sands of the beach. Jake was still out there, pacing back and forth out on the porch with his hands in his pockets. Butterflies erupted in her stomach at the sight of him. Her lips tingled anew.

He was in his civies today. A pair of jeans and a green t-shirt that looked glorious against his tanned skin. He still wore his watch, his dogtags poked out from the collar of his shirt. He paused in his pacing, back turned to her so he could look out over the ocean.

Ronnie slipped through the backdoor quietly. Jake turned when he heard the old door squeak open and shut.

“Did you need something?” she asked gently.

He walked up to her slowly, a cocky sort of swagger in his step as he approached. For a moment, she thought he would press her into the wall and kiss her fiercely. Part of her anticipated it. But he surprised her yet again, in the best way possible, when he simply leaned down and pressed a sweet kiss to her cheek.

“Do you, uh…Wanna get outta here?” he asked with a furrowed brow.

“And go where?” She grinned, leaning back against the wall of the bar.

Jake took her hand in his, she looked down at their conjoined hands with reddened cheeks — her stomach flipping. How did he make her feel like a teenager again? How had he opened her up so quickly? Climbed her walls and stormed the gates — leaving her defenseless? Had she ever really put up her defenses for him in the first place?

“I distinctly remember you loving this pizza place up the coast.”

“You remember Castallucci’s Albergo?” she laughed.

“Of course I remember the place,” he said, bringing their hands up to play with her much smaller hand. “You told everyone I was about to be shipped out to my death and got our table loaded with free stuff.”

It was towards the end of his time in Marimar, when he was about to graduate. When they were telling themselves that this was still just a casual fling and they didn’t really feel anything for each other. When he just wanted to get away from base and she had heard about a restaurant about forty minutes away. When he had climbed into her truck and she tried not to reach over and touch him the entire drive. When they laughed and told stories and held hands across the table. When it first started feeling like way more than just a fling.

“Yeah — and it worked didn’t it?”

Jake looked down at his boots as he laughed, then he looked back up at her through hooded eyes, a smile quirking his lips. “Wanna see if you can do it again?”

Ronnie narrowed her eyes at him, tongue poking out between her teeth as she thought. She was no fool. She knew that he was going to leave in just a few short weeks for his next assignment God knew where. He had always been adamant about not wanting to be tied down, about focusing on his career, about how he was too much of a catch to be with just one person. But she always had been able to see through that facade. That mask he liked to put on. He was with her, just her, for an entire year. He liked to act like he didn’t need anyone, but she knew better.

Still, here and now, his intentions remained unclear to her.

Eventually, she agreed. “Yeah. Sounds nice.”

Jake smiled, lowering their hands and dragging her off the porch. He barely gave her time to tell Jimmy that she was leaving — that she would be back before close. Then he was pulling her along towards his car parked out front.

He opened the car door for her like a true Southern gentleman, hand on his chest and a slight bow of his head. She rolled her eyes with a smile as she got into the car. The top was down, letting in all that beautiful sunshine that the day had given them. Ronnie pulled her sunglasses from her bag and put them on her face as Jake got into the driver’s seat.

“Can you get me there?” he asked, starting the engine.

“Yeah. Remember how to get to Old 45 North?” She watched as he lowered his own sunglasses from the top of his head to the bridge of his nose.

“Think so.”

“Once you’re on there it’s a straight shot to Castellucci’s Albergo.”

“Cool, cool, cool.”

He pulled out of his parking space and out onto the road. The wind whipped through their hair as he drove, Ronnie giving little hints to get him going in the right direction. Jake assuring her that he knew where he was going. Her not believing him.

It was a beautiful California day. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky, the ocean bright blue and sparkling on their left as they drove up the coast. Old 45 steadily climbed the side of a mountain, working it’s way up to a small town at its peak that overlooked the ocean. Castellucci’s Albergo was an inn style pizza restaurant that just so happened to get the best piece of real estate in the whole town. Right on the cliff face, over-looking the great expanse of the ocean.

Ronnie leaned her head back with a small noise of content, eyes closed, basking in the afternoon sun as they went. Jake watched her out of the corner of his eye. She looked like summer personified. Sunglasses, hair dyed blonde in places by the sun, tanned skin, wearing a blue and white striped sundress that fit her perfectly. Warm and inviting and happy. Really happy.

He could feel some of that happiness rub off on him anytime he was around her. When they talked inside the bar on his first day back. When they went surfing just the night before. It made him long to be with her again and again and again. So as soon as training was done that day, he was out the door and headed straight for The Hard Deck in hopes of seeing her. Everyone had questioned where he was going in such a hurry — but he paid them no mind.

Coyote even asked him: “Man, every single night since we got here you’ve been runnin’ off. Where’re you goin’?”

“That is for me to know — and for you to find out.”

That answer had left Coyote rolling his eyes, but he did back off. Jake didn’t want anyone else to know about Ronnie. Not yet anyway. Not like they would believe him even if he did say he had found someone. They all sincerely believed the arrogant, cocky front he put up for them. A tactic to keep them at arms length. Another layer on top of that was Rooster.

Jake glanced over at Ronnie, keeping his eyes focused on the winding road ahead. He hadn’t heard Rooster say anything to anyone about his sister being in town. Not even to Phoenix who he seemed closest to. Ronnie barely brought him up either. Jake had to wonder if he ever found out about their first relationship, and if he would find out about this one. At this point, with the distance between the two Bradshaws, it seemed unlikely.

But Jake wanted to do this right. And that meant everyone being in the know and okay with them being together.

Together. The thought of it made Jake smile.

They passed a sign that read “CAUTION FALLING ROCKS” and Ronnie suddenly sat up, gasping. Jake jerked to attention, both hands on the wheel as he looked around at the practically deserted road more closely.

“What? What?” he questioned wildly.

“I almost died on this road!” Ronnie laughed. “I totally forgot until we passed the sign!”

Jake put a hand to his chest. “Jesus, don’t scare me like that. Thought we were gonna hit something.”

“No, no — sorry!” she giggled, touching the tips of her fingers to his forearm, then immediately retracting her hand.

There was a pause as they continued on the road, a cliff face rising on their right, the ocean below them on the left. Jake shrugged. “So’re you gonna tell me how you almost died or not?”

“Oh, right. Me and my friend Jackie were taking the drive up here a few months ago. We were absolutely blaring some Taylor Swift — cause you know I love me some Taylor Swift. And the sign said caution falling rocks like it always does even though rocks like never fall around here. So we’re drivin’ and we’re drivin’...”

Jake smiled softly as he listened to her ramble on. Her hands gesticulated wildly as she embellished the details. The point of the story being that a few small rocks fell behind the car. No where close to them, in fact. Jake laughed as she reached the climax of her tale.

“You’re laughing,” she huffed, hands tossed up in the air. “I almost died and you’re laughing.”

“Sorry, sorry. You barely scraped by those rocks…That fell several yards behind you.” Jake stifled another laugh.

“They fell right behind us! It was scary!”

“I’m sure it was. You’re so brave.”

He wasn’t thinking. Just like he did when he was flying. He followed his gut, let his instincts take over — knowing that they were right at least ninety-percent of the time. And just like when he was up in the air, he was hyper aware when he lifted his right hand off the steeringwheel and placed it on her thigh instead. The skin was warm from the sun, soft, the muscle strong and hard underneath from years of balancing on surf boards and skating. He felt her tense beneath his touch for only a moment, and then she relaxed. Giving her flesh a gentle squeeze, he smiled.

“So brave,” he insisted.

Ronnie crossed her arms with a huff. “I am very brave, thank you.”

She folded her left leg under the other, moving her thigh closer to his touch. He wondered if that was some instinct of her own.

When they got to the restaurant, after a beautiful, quiet drive, Jake asked for the best seat in the house. A table for two right next to the western facing windows that had that incredible view of the ocean. He pulled the Navy card in order to get it and Ronnie gave him an impressed thumbs up as they were led back to their table. Castellucci’s Albergo was like a tiny slice of classic Italy. The floors were tiled in white and dark blue, the chairs were plush, the tablecloths were authentic and pristine, the ivy vines growing around the windows trimmed to perfection. It was no wonder it was Ronnie’s favorite restaurant.

Jake pulled out her chair for her, cutting off the waiter from doing so. Ronnie smiled softly as she sat down, heat in her cheeks. They ordered drinks first and told the waiter to come back for their food order. Jake got a water, Ronnie got a blackberry Italian soda.

A question she had been thinking about asking for a long time bubbled out of her before she could put anymore tact behind it: “Why are you doing this, Hangman?”

He flinched slightly at the reversion to his callsign.

“Doin’ what, darlin’?”

“Going surfing with me even though you’re terrible. Kissing me on the beach. Taking me on drives to a restaurant we went to four years ago. I just…I can’t…” She couldn’t find the words. And when Jake reached across the table and took up her hand in his own, she both hated and loved how much comfort it brought her. “I can’t fall in love with you again just for you to leave in a week. I need to know what your intentions are…I need to know this is real.”

He perked up, face bright as he questioned softly, “You loved me?”

“Of course I did.” She rolled her eyes, but her voice was gentle and full of longing as she tacked on, “You idiot.”

“You loved me,” he repeated to himself, almost like a prayer, “Shit, Ronnie — I fell in love with you the moment we started talking in that crusty bar four years ago.”

She chuckled, her thumb brushing over his knuckles. “Didn’t I call you an idiot then, too?”

“Wow, you’re a real idiot if you think I’m gonna fall for that bullshit.”

“Yeah, you did,” he chuckled, “You took me down a peg, and…And I know I need that from time to time.”

“More like all the time,” she muttered cheekily.

“Okay — all the time. I loved you then but I couldn’t…I couldn’t let you in. So I pushed you away.” His green eyes met her from across the table and he squeezed her hand hard, like she was about to slip away. “I — I regretted it as soon as I walked out your door that day. I wanted to run right back inside.”

“Why didn’t you?” she asked, voice barely above a whisper.

Jake shook his head. “You know me, Ronnie. Pride got in the way. But I’m not…I can’t let it happen again. I’m not letting you go this time.”

She stared at him, long and hard for moments that felt like hours. Then her lips spread in one of those classic Ronnie Bradshaw smiles that felt like looking directly into the sun.

“I won’t let go if you don’t.”

The waiter came back a few minutes later. They placed their orders, but not before Ronnie went on a tangent about how the man sitting across from her was about to be shipped out on a dangerous mission that could cost him his life. That they were sharing one last meal together — just in case it really was his last. They got a free appetizer out of it. Ronnie tried to hide her grin as she winked at Jake. And as he watched her work her magic, he felt like his insides melting, heating up like lava, ready to be poured out her feet. Some form of living sacrifice, gladly offered.

Jake pulled up to the curb in front of her house and put the car in park. It was dark by the time they got back to Marimar, full of pizza and stories and laughter. Her house was small, but homey, and absolutely screamed Ronnie. The gate was wooden and painted yellow, matching the front door. The siding of the house was a muted green, similar to his flight suit. The thought made him smile as he strummed his fingers over the steering wheel — waiting for her to get out of the car.

“When do you have to be back on base?” Ronnie asked, hand perched on the door handle, not daring to meet his eyes.

“Not until tomorrow morning, technically,” he said.

She glanced at her front door, then back to him with her lip caught between her teeth. “Wanna come inside for a drink? I have less shitty beer in my fridge.”

“Don’t mind if I do,” he replied with a smile, turning off the car.

Ronnie got out of the car first, taking a deep breath as she did so. Her fingers slightly shaking as she walked up to the front gate. Jake followed closely behind her, hands shoved in his jean pockets and a small smile stuck on his face. She looked back over her shoulder at him as she reached over the gate and undid the barrel bolt lock on the other side. He could see the nerves lingering in her brown eyes, so he pressed his hand into her lower back. A reassurance and a promise as she led the way up the path to her door. He wasn’t leaving. Not this time.

Inside the house was just as Ronnie as the outside. Cluttered, slightly messy, years and years of nic-naks shoved into every corner and photos nearly everywhere he looked. Most of them weren’t even in frames. It was so similar to her apartment from all those years ago, only this time she chose the colors on the walls and the furniture wasn’t from Value Village. It was hand picked and curated and a place that felt lived in. A grin tugged at the corner of his mouth as he took in the vibe of the space — the smell, the sounds, everything. He had never had a place like this.

He wanted to have a place like this…With her.

“I’ll get those beers,” Ronnie said as she hurriedly cleared some throw blankets off the couch. “Just, uh — make yourself comfortable. Or whatever.”

After that, she scurried into the kitchen and Jake had to chuckle. He lowered himself onto the couch. To occupy himself he looked around at the photos and decorations. There was a picture on the side table of her posing in front of the Eiffle Tower. She went to France? He picked up the frame to study it more closely. She looked beautiful. It was obviously a rainy day in the picture, her large raincoat and hair sticking to her forehead evidence enough. But her smile was massive, radiant — its own sun. Arms stretched wide and hip thrust to one side. He wondered who snapped the photo. He wished it would’ve been him.

They lost so much time together, him and Ronnie. Time spent lonely and apart when they could’ve been making a home together, going on trips together, buying nic-naks together. Jake shook his head as he set the picture back down.

Since when did he want to buy useless junk? God, if it was with her, he would do anything.

His eyes caught on the coffee table next. It was cluttered with take-out menus and bills and —

There was a pile of brochures, hidden beneath a Chinese menu. Jake brushed the menu aside and his eyes widened a fraction. California Cryobank. Fertility Center of California. Fairfax Cryobank. Each brochure clean and crisp, depicting either a joyous pregnant woman or a whole family smiling brightly on their covers. He pried one open then immediately closed it. He could see just from his quick glance that she had circled a few things.

Jake’s brow furrowed just as Ronnie walked back into the room, a chilled bottle in each hand.

He didn’t looked up at her as he lifted one of the brochures. “Are you trying to have a baby?”

Ronnie went rigid as her eyes locked on the brochure he held between two fingers. Shit. Her grip on the bottles tightened, she feared they may just slip out of her hands from the condensation. And she could feel an intense heat rising in her cheeks, no doubt turning her face a bright shade of red. Curse her for inviting Jake inside without doing any cleaning beforehand.

“Uh…” Their eyes finally locked and he didn’t seem mad, if anything, he just looked curious. She sighed, shoulders slumping. “I’ve been thinking about it, yeah.”

He flipped it open and his eyes skimmed through the text and pictures inside. “Why?”

“C-Cause I went to the gynecologist and — Jesus, Jake, I — “ She set the beers down on the coffee table and snatched the brochure away from him, picking up the other two, she folded them up. “Forget it. It was just a thought.”

“Hey, hey — it’s okay. I’m not mad or anything.” Jake reached out as she tried to walk away, his fingers circling around her wrist and tugging her down to sit on the couch. He chuckled as he intertwined his fingers with her own. “S’not something that comes up easily in conversation with your ex you just got back together with.”

“True,” she laughed quietly, eyes focused on their joined hands.

“So…What’d your doctor say?”

“That if I wanna have a baby of my own — I’m running out of time. I thin she said your window of opportunity is closing. Her bedside manner is truly terrible. And, I don’t know…I have a good income, a house. Figured I didn’t need a man in order to be a mom. Not really.”

“You’ve always wanted to be a mom,” Jake muttered with a squeeze of her hand, more to himself than anything else.

Ronnie squeezed his hand back. She was surprised that he remembered her telling him that. She remembered that night well. When he was at her little apartment, freshly changed into a pair of sweats he kept at her place, and they were watching a movie. She couldn’t recall which one now, but it was something to do with family and kids and it had slipped out of her mouth before she even realized what she was saying. I want something like that. And in the back of her mind, that night, she imagined that life with Jake.

They were silent for a while, Ronnie biting out chunks of the insides of her cheeks — Jake lost in thought as his thumb moved idly over the back of her hand. He couldn’t remember the movie either. But he could remember the sound of her voice, the soft whisper, the longing that laid beneath. It had sent his mind racing that night all those years ago. A white dress and a baby’s cry, sitting on the porch of a ranch house in Texas. He had pushed away the thoughts then, called them idiotic and insane. He had his career to think about, he didn’t want to be tied down by anyone or anything.

He didn’t like those words anymore. Tied down. Like it was torture. Like he was some bull ready to be castrated. He looked over at Ronnie. Brown hair falling in her face and eyes lost somewhere else as she thought. It wouldn’t be miserable, not if it was her.

“Could you wait a little while longer?” he asked quietly.

Her head snapped over to look at him. From the the look on her face, she knew exactly what he was implying. Tears pooled in her eyes as she asked, “What?”

“I mean, how much longer did your doctor say you had until it was gonna get…More difficult?”

“A few years.” She angled herself towards him, taking his hand in both of hers. “Jake…Your career, I can’t…I can’t hold you back from that. It’s too important to you.”

“My career isn’t everything, Ronnie. Some things are more important.”

Ronnie stared at Jake — eyes wide and glistening with tears. He smiled at her softly, green eyes crinkled at the corners and gentle. Who was this man sitting beside her? Four years ago, he never even would have thought such a thing. He would have stepped over and on anyone in order to get ahead. Four years ago, she was just a bit of fun. Now he was talking about settling down with her, starting a family with her. It welled up in her chest, sudden and overpowering. It squeezed on her throat and made her fingers go numb.

She loved him.

“Oh, I have to go into the other room suddenly.”

She shot up from the couch and practically ran into the kitchen. The constricting feeling in her chest eased a bit when she was out of his presence. But she also wanted to just run back into the room and smother him with all the love she was feeling. Leech some of it off herself and onto him. Because surely he felt it too, right? He had to. He just had to. She put her hands on the kitchen counter and leaned with a sigh, trying to collect her thoughts.

Quiet footfalls followed her into the small kitchen. She squeezed her eyes shut against the noise, breathing in through her nose and out through her mouth. She didn’t even realize she was trembling until Jake wrapped his arms around her waist, stilling her. He pressed a kiss against her neck — once, twice.

Then he whispered, “I’m being serious, Ron.”

“What’ll happen when you leave Marimar? I can’t just…Be left here again. I won’t do it.”

“My next assignment’s stateside — DC.” His hand skimmed under the hem of her dress, leaving a fleeting touch across her thigh. “You could come with me.”

She looked over her shoulder, catching a glimpse of blonde hair and tan skin. “And leave everything behind?”

“You’d have me. You’d always have me if you want me.”

Ronnie turned in his arms. She had never seen Jake look shy before. But there he was, arms slung low around her waist, face inches from her own. And he looked sheepish, anxious even as he studied her. As he waited for her response. Her hands smoothed up his chest, running over the soft fabric of his t-shirt, up the sides of his neck, and came to rest on either side of his face. She held him like that for a moment, studying him, fingers tracing over the soft line of his cheekbones.

He wanted her around. Despite everything, he wanted her to come with him to DC. He wanted her to be there when he got home. He wanted to have a baby with her. He wanted her to see him for who he really was. He wanted her to take on his mess and his joys, his victories and his losses. And she wanted it back more than anything.

“A little life? Just you and me?” she whispered.

The corner of his mouth twitched up into a smile. “You and me, darlin’.”

“I thought you called everybody that,” she said with a grin.

“No.” He shook his head. “Just you.”

He kissed her and her hands moved to the back of his neck. Slowly, confidently, Jake put his hands under her thighs and lifted her up onto the counter. Without breaking the kiss, without even a hint of struggle.

Ronnie broke the kiss and gasped out like the words were escaping her at last: “I love you.” “I know.” He grinned impishly, so classically Jake, but it made her laugh. “I love you — so, so much.”

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