Sitting in traffic on the 405 is certainly not my idea of fun, but since I left work a little later than I planned, such is life. I have my windows down, and I'm listening to music, but I'm a little zoned out as I try to navigate the bumper-to-bumper traffic. My exit isn't for another ten miles, and I'm tempted to just make way off the freeway early and take the surface streets to get to the hotel.
As if sensing my current mood, my Bluetooth rings, and I glance down to see Edward's name on my display. Hitting the button on the steering wheel, I answer with a sigh. "Hi. Traffic can kiss my ass."
"Did you leave after two?" He chuckles, but I don't find any part of this funny. I came up here for a specific reason, and while I'm not as upset as I was last weekend, I'm still a little wound up about it.
"Yes, I left after two," I snark, and I can hear him suck in a breath.
"Are you okay? I know we haven't been able to talk this week, but you'd tell me if something was wrong, wouldn't you?" His worried tone makes me feel guilty instantly.
"Edward, I …" I sigh deeply. I change lanes, trying to get over to the next exit. "Are you preparing for deployment? Is that why you're up here?"
"Deployment? No. Who told you that?"
"Jake mentioned that ammunition loading happens in Seal Beach, and that happens before deployment." I'm struggling to focus on two things, and when I finally make it off the freeway, I find a gas station to pull into while my GPS catches up.
"We're doing training on loading ammunition. We don't have a deployment scheduled until next year. Bella, have you been worried about that all week?" I can picture his face, his forehead wrinkled with concern.
"Maybe? You also haven't mentioned anything about exam results and I—"
"Got into your own head too much? Babe, I love you. I'm going to tell you what's going on. I need you to trust me. I know that still might be hard for you, but—"
I have to cut him off. "No! It's not hard for me to trust you; I do. I just … panicked."
"Where are you?"
I tell him where I am, and he asks what hotel I'm supposed to be checking into. We agree to meet there in thirty minutes, so I don't have to worry about getting back on the freeway and fighting traffic.
As soon as I pull up to the hotel, I see another mistake. In my haste and cloudy judgment because I didn't understand what was going on, I selected what appears to be a super fancy hotel for the weekend. So fancy that a valet comes to open my car door when I pull up out front.
Taking the ticket and my bag that he unloaded from the trunk, I walk inside to find Edward sitting casually in the lobby, a backpack at his feet. I walk right over and tap his sneakered foot with my own. "Hey."
Looking up, he smiles. "Hey. You picked a doozy. Let's get you checked in."
The room is atrocious only in the fact that I reserved a king suite because I remembered it was the only one left, and it was the first hotel that popped up close enough to the base. I don't want to sleep in a fleabag, but this is over the top.
"Bella, there's a balcony," Edward calls as I'm entranced by the giant soaking tub in the bathroom. "Come sit with me."
I walk out to find him in one of two patio chairs, and I reach for the second, but he pulls me to his lap. We're generally not this type of couple. Alice and Jasper are, sometimes Rose and Emmett are, but not us. We can be close without being on top of each other.
Edward is stroking my hair, and suddenly, all the anxiety I've been feeling all week melts away. "What do you want to ask me?"
Sighing, I lay my head on his shoulder. "I don't know. Why haven't you heard about the exam results?"
He sighs. "I might not have passed, but sometimes, it takes longer, depending on how many people are advancing. I should probably hear something by the time we get back."
"And your next deployment?"
"Things change when the needs change, but as of right now, I have no major deployments on the books." He leans away from me, and I smile. "This is stuff we haven't really talked about because we haven't had to deal with it yet."
"I'm on board, and I want to support you, but I obviously have gaps in my knowledge of how this works. I'm not Navy, so I don't understand the Navy." He nods in agreement.
"Some of it you'll learn as we go, but I can fill you in as much as possible. I'll be better about it." He presses a kiss to my lips. "Now, how about we try out that king-sized bed, and then I'll take you to dinner?"
"Aye, aye, sailor." I laugh as he carries me into the bedroom.