Page 42 of Blue Moon

“Right. She didn’t. Catherine was perfect. Then she died.”

“Huck, that’s not the point. Life is messy. People die. But they loved each other. If you asked Beck, he would tell you he didn’t regret a second of loving her and would do it again, even knowing how it would end. And they had Sky together, so Catherine lives on through their daughter. Plus, now he’s engaged to a wonderful woman who loves Sky like she’s her own daughter. He never lost faith.”

I hung on the word faith. That was where Declan and Beck had me. Faith. I didn’t have any faith. Like at all. I wasn’t religious. I didn’t believe in anything.

“Well, for now, I’m just happy she came to Seattle with me. It can’t last anyway—I already put in for unaccompanied orders to Okinawa next year. It is what it is.”

Declan knocked back his drink. “We both know orders can be changed. Especially for an Angel.”

“But that’s the point, man. I don’t want my orders changed. I just want to live my life. I want to live overseas. I want to travel without being tied down to a woman or putting down roots. I mean, Sol’s great and all, but I really don’t see this going far.”

Declan nodded. Unlike Beck, he knew when to push me and when to back off.

The bartender served us our food. I could always count on Declan to come out with me to grab a greasy burger with some crisp fries. One bite soothed my soul. This was exactly what I needed—comfort, familiarity, satisfaction.

I checked my phone. Still no word from Sol. Where was she?

Declan opened his mouth like he was going to ask me another question. I didn’t want to talk about my feelings anymore, so I spoke first.

“Are you excited to get back to Pensacola?”

“Definitely. My parents live there.”

Parents. Good excuse, but I knew why he wanted to go home so badly. Declan was hoping to see his ex, but every time we went there, he never found her. An ex from ten years ago. I didn’t understand why he couldn’t forget her, but then again, I’d never been in love.

Would I feel the same way when Sol left me?

I guessed some people never moved on—glad I wasn’t one of them.

“Be real, dude. You’re just hoping to find your ex.”

“Well, she moved away. No one’s heard from her for years. But yeah, man, I do wish I could see her again. You don’t get it. You’ve never been in love, so you don’t know what it’s like. The whole world melts away, and there’s only you and her.”

“Well, if it’s so great, how did you fuck it up?”

“You’re such a dick, man. I didn’t fuck it up. She dumped me when I got into Annapolis. I would’ve stayed in Pensacola for her, but she made me promise to go.”

“If you were so in love, why didn’t you date long distance like Beck and Catherine had? Which, by the way, I think is a stupid idea. Out of sight, out of mind.”

When I said those cruel words, Declan’s face tightened. But maybe it wasn’t that easy to forget someone. Since I had met Sol, I couldn’t stop thinking about her. Maybe if I ever fell in love, I would think about my woman all the time also.

“I wanted to, but she didn’t. She said it would be too hard for both of us, so she dumped me. And then she moved away. I don’t even know where she is.”

“That’s brutal.” I looked toward the door right as Sol sauntered in. I expected her to look out of place, but instead, she was wearing a skintight tank top with a black bra peeking out from underneath, tight jeans, and red high heels. It reminded of that scene in that movie Grease where Sandy turned into a bad girl for Danny.

Maybe Sol wanted to be bad.

I dashed over to her before one of the dickheads in this bar got his paws on her. I pulled her in for a kiss and squeezed her incredible ass.

“You look sexy as fuck.”

“Thanks, babe.”

Her eyes danced over the bar, and she tried her best to hide her disgust, but I could sense her discomfort. But to her credit, she didn’t complain.

I walked her over to Declan, and she flashed him a bright smile.

“Hi, Declan.”