"What do you mean?" I asked, my eyes still closed as the warm desert night air hit me.

"You know what I mean. You and Bennett. Some people might be blind or oblivious, but I see it."

That woke me up. My eyes shot open, and panic flared in my chest, but I couldn’t let her see any of it. I kept my head turned away from her, not willing to let her read my expression.

"I don't know what you're talking about, Leti."

She laughed.

"Bullshit, Alex. I'm not fucking stupid." She paused, waiting for a response that I wouldn’t give.

She leaned over, her moist lips on the tip of my ear.

"I know there's something, but I also know I can do so much more." Her tongue reached out, lightly skimming me ear.

The move did something to me. What it was, I couldn’t place. I turned my head, lazily looking at her through beer-goggled eyes.

"Bennett seems like a nice girl. For someone else. You need these Latin hips and lips."

Cassie's face came thrashing back in my head. The pain it brought with it was worse than the headache that had somehow filtered in. The joy of looking at her was overshadowed by the sting of her beautiful eyes staring into me. I needed to get rid of her quickly.

Castillo turned in the seat and leaned toward me. She made quick work of my belt and pants, snaking her hands inside my boxer briefs. I inhaled, relishing the feel of a feminine hand on my dick. She stroked me, finally getting me hard and erect since her presence and touch alone wasn't enough to make it happen. If this was how I was going to get rid of Cassie, then so be it. Any chick would do the trick, and apparently I wasn't too picky about who it was.

She lay down, placing her mouth on my cock, her moist walls clamping down like a tight suction cup. My eyes shut as I bit down on my bottom lip. I placed my hands in her hair, grabbing hold of it while she started slow and meticulous sucks, moving her head up and down. I lifted my hips, hoping to get more of her around me, even if almost all of me was halfway down her throat.

She quickly switched to sloppy sucks, the sounds of her tongue lapping up my shaft barreling into my ears, annoying the fuck out of me.

"Suck," I commanded, needing her to take all of my frustrations away.

She obeyed, returning to the sucks that had left me speechless. I shoved my cock farther into her mouth, but the sound of her gag stopped me from going as far as I wanted to go. In that moment, Cassie came back to mind, and her impressive ability to deep throat without so much as the slightest gag.

My conscience finally whacked me upside the head. I realized that as much as I wanted to rid myself of Cassie, it wasn't going to happen tonight, and it damn sure wasn't going to happen like this.

I yanked on her hair, pulling her mouth off of me.

"What?" she asked breathlessly.

"I'm done."

"No, we aren't."

"Yes, I am," I growled, further pushing her head away.

I put my shit back into my pants, opened the door and stepped out. I looked back at her and mumbled, "I'm sorry. I can't do this."

She looked back at me, confusion and anger piercing through her eyes and filling her face.

As I was standing and zipping up my pants, I caught Riley in the distance looking out to me. I didn't say another word to Castillo as I walked away, back in the direction of the bar.

"What the fuck, man?" Riley asked. He looked like he was ready to beat my ass, and in my inebriated state, I was sure he could do it.

"Don’t fucking start with me, Riley."

He stepped in front of me and pushed me up against the wall. Anger hit me as I fought him off, but with my intoxication he was much too strong for me.

"You're a fucking idiot, Alex. You fucked Bennett and fell for her. Okay, big fucking deal. Yes, the rules of the Corps make it very costly, but it is what it is. You've been a fucking prick ever since finding out about NCO of the Quarter and now this-- Castillo."

I stood glaring at him while he spilled out everything for me in black and white.

"You can't run from your feelings for her, and fucking anything with a pussy isn't going to get her out of your system. Wake the fuck up, man. She's into you, and she’s feeling the effects of your fucking stupidity."

"You better shut your fucking mouth, Riley. You have no idea what you're talking about," I seethed. Pure malice was hidden under my words, but it was truly aimed at me. Riley was dead on, but I didn't want to admit it.

"Who are you kidding? Do you not remember that I was the one you originally confided in? Figure it out with her, Alex, but not like this. Not like this, brother."

I felt weak. I felt spent. I felt dirty and ashamed. Through fighting my allegiance to the Corps, my feelings for Cassie and my own guilt-ridden mind, I was spiraling out of control and hating every second of it.

Riley walked me out to my truck and helped me into the passenger seat.

"I'm letting the guys know you're sick, and I'm taking you home. I'll come back for them."

"Don’t say that shit. I'm not sick."

"Yes you are. Even if it's not physical."

He shut the door and took off into the darkness, headed back for the bar entrance. Turning my head to the side, I watched Castillo fix herself as she walked back towards the bar. The thought of her hands and mouth on my dick sickened me all over again. I couldn’t stand the thought of what I had done and how stupidly I had tried to erase Cassie from my mind. She was embedded in me, and for better or for worse, I wanted and needed her.

I thrust the door open, leaning my head out just in time as puke erupted from my mouth, crashing down on the gravel below. My body felt like it had been run over by a seven ton, and all of the aches and pains that accompanied it were well deserved. I couldn’t believe how senseless I had acted, and how low I had sunk. I didn't deserve Cassie, but I wanted her so badly.

Chapter 16

Cassie

Friday was a nightmare.

On the one hand, I was proud of Alex for his accomplishment, but also pissed at him for completely ignoring me. His words came creeping back into my head, how he had no intention of fucking and running. Well, the more I looked back at what had transpired between us, the more I believed that was precisely what he had done.

Alex was the model Marine, but he was also a shitty person, and sometimes the two went hand in hand. Thoughts of the things we had done, the loving and protective way that he'd come to my defense when confronted with potential issues...it hadn’t dawned on me that he was hiding his true self. Of course, I should have known better. I was now, that girl, and rather than cry about it, I wanted to kick my own ass for it.

Angelica stayed in the room all night, making everything completely awkward. I had no drive to get out of my bed after the school day, so I stayed tucked in, reading the study manual for the radio system that we would be tested on the following week. The challenge presented to us in class was music to my ears. A whole seventy-two, to myself? I couldn't think of anything better, and I was determined to win it.

Dalton came over but didn't stay long. He wanted to head out to the free concert put on by the Marine band at The General's Lawn, but amped up music and smiling faces just didn’t seem like the right place for me to be. I was also afraid that since it was a military event, I would run into Alex and feel the weight of a boulder on my chest again. I wasn't one to whine, but seeing him struck me with pain, and since I had to see him during the regular work/school day, I needed to avoid him anyway that I could.