My Soldier: A Miliatary Romance by Leah Holt Read Free Book Online Page B

him too, but a fear like no other had wrapped around my heart.
    “I' promise, I'll be home before you know it.” Sliding closed knuckles softly across my chin, Kevin smiled with closed lips. “Don't touch my car.” Turning, he paused for a moment on the airbridge, giving one final smile to my parents.
    And all I wished from that day on was his safe return.
    Jolting up, I looked around my empty apartment. T sat by my feet, head perked up staring at me confused.
    It was a dream, just a dream, Avni.
    I had a lot of dreams about my brother; dreams of happier times, dreams of the day that changed my life.
    There was a part of me that loved having those dreams, I felt close to him again, especially when the dream was something that we actually did. But every time I woke up, that fucking pain would come back and stab me in the chest.
    And I would have to remember the truth, how things are now.
    Cupping Mr. T in the crease of my elbow, I sat on my couch, feet up on the coffee table. Looking at the clock, it was almost six, and still nothing from Levi.
    There was no text, no call yet, nothing. And even though I thought that would bring me a little ease to not hear from him, it didn't.
    I wanted him to call me, and all I wondered then was, ' where is he?'
    Stop. If he does call, going to dinner would only be a kind gesture of gratitude. If I decided to go at all.
    Looking down at my tiny companion, I ruffled the top of his head. His face stiffened, ears perking up as he stared at the door. Shifting to look at the front door, I waited to see if someone was going to knock.
    Mr. T was good at alerting me to people outside my apartment, and usually if he cocked his head that way a knock would follow.
    But after a few seconds nothing happened. “Silly dog, are you getting old? Hearing things that aren't there?” His tongue slid out of his mouth, head lowering to my belly.
    The soft ding of my phone rang, lighting up against the cushion. Glancing down at the screen, there was a number I didn't recognize. Picking it up, I slid the screen open.
    'Ready?' Arching a brow at the single word, a knock echoed against the wood. Mr. T jumped from my lap, and ran to the door, short growling barks hit the back of his throat.
    “Who is it?” I asked, pushing myself off the couch.
    “It's Don Juan, who do you think it is?”
    “Levi? What are you doing here?” Yanking the door open, he stood there, holding his arms out with a huge shit-eating grin on his face.
    “I'm here for our dinner date,” he said, leaning over and petting Mr. T. “Hey big guy, miss me?” T rolled over, his tiny legs extended up as far as they could go, wildly wiggling his ass against the floor.
    “I thought you were going to call me?” Folding my arms across my chest, my head tilted to the side. “What happened with that?”
    I wanted to be annoyed, frustrated, anything but the feelings that were actually running through my body. Instead, my stomach was a rampaging storm of butterflies, and excitement was making its way through my chest and down my thighs.
    Shrugging his shoulders, Levi stood back up. “Yeah, I was going to. But the way you talked when you dropped me off earlier...” Pausing, he ran his fingers over his jaw. “I figured this would help with your decision, make it a little harder for you to say no.”
    The butterflies went into a torrent, crashing against the walls of my gut. Tingles flooded my spine, sparking my entire body to life. And I didn't expect that, I didn't expect to be hit so strongly.
    A smile started to lift, curling up to my ear. “Well, maybe I'd planned on agreeing. But you didn't even give me that chance.”
    “Nope, I wasn't risking it.” Holding his hand out, he said, “Are you going to invite me in? Or are you just going to make me stand here with my thumb in my ass?”
    Stepping to the side, my arm fanned out, guiding him in. “You know you're real ballsy showing up here like this, I could have told you to go