Read Every Soul for Free Online Page B

run off.
    “Me too. Wanna walk for a bit?” he asks.
    I nod my head, loving that we aren’t in a rush to get home. Walking hand in hand is perfect. But then when I’m with Nate, everything is perfect. “Are you going to write me often?” he asks.
    I glare at him. “I thought we weren’t talking about this tonight.”
    “You brought it up first.”
    “Yes, I’ll write you every day.”
    “Good, I’ll write you too.”
    “How are your parents taking the news?” I ask.
    “My dad is fine, but he’s been through this himself. He served overseas. My mom on the other hand, that’s a whole other story.”
    “I’ll keep an eye on her.”
    “Thank you, baby.” We continue walking in a content silence. “Look,” Nate says as we approach a huge array of sand castles. They are all lit up and range from ships to mermaids to castles. They are so many of them.
    “I didn’t even know this was going on,” I whisper.
    “Me neither.”
    Both of us stare in amazement, looking at all of the intricate creations as they stand before us.
    Nate sits in the sand pulling me down with him and I nestle against his chest watching the moon glimmer on the water. I exhale loudly and close my eyes, letting the sound of his beating heart soothe me.
    “A?” he says, and I can hear the underlying question in his tone.
    “Uh-huh,” I respond.
    “What do you see for the future?”
    I think of his question, wondering what it will hold. “What do you see for the future?” I ask, flipping the question back on him, wanting to know where his head is at.
    “After I’m home from Afghanistan, I wanna spend every waking minute with you. I mean, I want to now, so I can only imagine what will happen when we are apart for so long.”
    “I want that too.”
    “What if I asked you something crazy?”
    “You can ask me anything.”
    “Before I go, I want to make you my wife. I want to leave knowing that you’re mine – forever. Will you marry me, A?”
    Turning around in his hold, the look of sincerity is as apparent as ever. A warm smile spreads across his face and I know he is one hundred percent serious…
    Waking up again, my eyes are wet. But finally the dream was different. I made progress. For the first time in over half a year, I made progress. I’m not sure why, maybe it’s because of Bain or Brady, or just my mental state. But whatever it is, I’m shocked. Dreams are normally my biggest enemy; they haunt my sleep like a ghost that won’t go away. Yet, I want nothing more than to relive those precious memories and get as close as I can to what I once had.
    Rolling over, I check the clock on my phone. It’s almost eleven and I have to be at work at noon. Getting out of bed, I stretch and head right for the coffee machine. Even though I work at Starbucks, I need my caffeine now; my body can’t wait for me to get to work.
    Aubrey’s nowhere to be seen so I check her room, hoping to wake her lazy ass up, but it’s empty. Huh? I wonder where she is? Heading back to the kitchen, I get my fix from the Keurig and grab my phone out of my room to text her.
    Where did you sneak off to?
    The gym. I tried to wake you up, but again, you were dead to the world and mumbling some crazy ass shit.
    I can’t help, but laugh. I do sleep pretty damn hard, especially when I dream like that. With my coffee in hand I venture back to my room to get dressed for the day.
    I normally go in to work without make-up, because truly, I don’t give a shit what I look like when I’m there. I’m not going to pick up any elders or businessmen, that’s just not my flavor. So I figure, why waste my time?
    Checking the clock before I leave, I have just enough time to stop by Nate’s parents’ and see our dog. Since this apartment won’t let us have pets and it’s the only place we could afford in a decent part of town, I had to ask Barb and Jeff to take care of Zeus. It’s been working out so far.
    On the drive over, I call Barb. “Hey, how are you