CHAPTER 46

MS. VEILER'S EXCITING BARBECUE

"I don't know how to do that" Jason sincerely said. It always looked complicated when he watched women do that.

Dianna sighed, then she explained how he should do a bun with her hair. She didn't want it to get wet in the shower, and she couldn't do it herself. She handed him a tie and turned her back to him.

"Ok. Gather all my hair up. Higher. No, not so much, I'm not a unicorn. Ok, now twist it. Ok, never mind, do it again, and just wrap the hair with the tie, on itself. Jesus, Jason" Dianna turned to Jason, annoyed, and he still had her hair in his hand, but his pupils were very dilated. It was hard for him to focus when she asked him to touch her soft hair and avoid looking at her exposed neck and back, while she was only wrapped in a towel.

"If we have sex now do you think you'll be able to focus?" Dianna asked, amused.

"You said there was no time" he stuttered.

She glanced at him then opened the water of the bathtub. She knew he wouldn't be able to tie her hair up in a bun, so she gave up showering and would have to use the bathtub, and it took quite a while to fill anyways. Also, she realized that after the barbecue they'd probably be tired again, and she would have to take her heavy pills, so it was better to ensure some sex in the morning.

"We have until the bath is full" she stated, taking Jason by the hand and making him sit on the edge of the bed. She slowly kissed him and lowered his boxers, then they eagerly kissed until he was ready. She turned her back to him and lowered on his erection, pulling her hair to the side.

Jason gasped and eagerly kissed her neck and back, cupping her breasts, while she moved on his lap. She felt his kisses, closing her eyes. But she had to stop and stand up, turning to a confused Jason. Then she lowered herself on his lap again, this time facing him. "Sorry, I just prefer to look at you" she confessed, blushing, and he cutely smiled at her.

His eyes changed to hungry in a second. "Move like that for me" he demanded, but he didn't have to ask. She loved it too.

Dianna started to move and Jason instantly hummed in her ear, and this time her tongue was loose, an immediate consequence of Jason's husky voice.

"I gave you a high score" she blurted, and he smiled, cocky.

"In what item?" he tried to disguise his curiosity.

She hesitated, and he squeezed her buttocks. "I'd score you high, too. In all of them" he seductively said.

She smiled and thought for a while. "You're lying. You'd have to score me lower at least on a couple of them. Definitely, at least on 'strength'. And leave 'size' blank".

He chuckled. "Ok, I'd leave 'size' blank. But I stick to my decision and score you high on 'strength'". He watched as she moved again, then grazed his thumb on her bruised face, with a concerned look. "You're pretty strong to me".

"Oh God, Jason. I forgot to prepare the drinks. It'll have to be like mojito or cuba libre for Naima and Stella" Dianna said, anxious, with her hands on her face, while walking around her patio and checking if everything was ok.

Jason chuckled, very aware that Dianna was anxious because of Emma, and not some drinks. He came closer to her, and gestured around them. "Hey, calm down. It's all good. Everything looks great", they looked around, and Sonny nodded at them, with Davis beside him. They arrived earlier because the pit master didn't trust anyone to start the fire for him. And Davis was bored. "I know you're nervous because of Emma. But like I said, she already likes you, so it's all good" he said, incredibly relaxed.

Dianna stared at him, with disbelief. "Ok, I think I'm understanding my mother better now. You're sounding just like my dad when he tried to make her relax before a party. It doesn't really help much" she said, walking inside the house again, to check on the fridge for the tenth time, to make sure it didn't suddenly turn off.

Jason followed her. "Well, I don't know what else to say to calm you down", he said sincere, but amused.

"It's a little weird for me to be with someone who has grown up kids", she confessed.

He smirked, "Well, I imagine. But I was a father at a young age" he quickly told her, to make sure that she knew that he wasn't an old man because of that.

"I know" she smiled. "I usually dated younger guys, that's all".

Jason squirmed. "I'm not that much older than you" he felt a little offended.

"Younger than me, I mean" she distractedly stated, while she opened the freezer, and she didn't even notice when Jason quickly looked away. Now he was competing against Millennials, and he wasn't liking that. At all. It was the same generation that was eager to replace him at the Navy.

She looked at Jason, and she honestly didn't think before telling him that, especially because most guys mock the younger ones, saying that men beat boys and things like that. But apparently, Jason really had some self-esteem issues.

"Jason, I'm not talking about that much younger, ok? Like my age or a bit younger, that's all" she came closer to him, but he was already grumpy and trying to disguise it. "Because I look younger, I think, that's all. I obviously didn't know what I was missing" she tried to make it better, but Jason wasn't buying it that much, so she just gave up.

Just in time, everyone started to show up to the barbecue, and Emma arrived last, with Ray and Naima. She joyfully greeted Jason and Dianna, looking concerned at her face, then she received a private tour of the house downstairs, saying she loved the décor, and Jason walked with them, showing her things, and she didn't think much of it. Jason glanced at Dianna and decided to tell Emma before they had lunch, so she wouldn't feel like they were hiding it from her.

"So" Jason started, sitting next to her at one of the chairs outside, with Dianna standing up close to them, not sure what to do, "I, hum, I wanted to tell you that Dianna" he pointed at Dianna, right next to them, "and I are dating. Officially".

Emma took a couple of seconds to register his words, nodding. Looking from him to her. "I'm… I'm sorry, since when? I mean. You just broke up with Natalie" she asked confused, and Jason nodded.

"It's a long story" he gestured, glancing at Dianna, "We were kind of dating a few months ago, then we broke up, then she went to training, then when she got back we, hum, started talking again".

Emma looked, amused, at the two of them. "What do you mean months ago? Like, when you asked me to do that video? Because that was interesting. And Mikey said you were at our house at dawn one day" she teased, and Dianna was awkwardly standing next to Jason.

Dianna tried to explain, already sweating. "Not really. You see, I really was just, like, his friend, and he gave me a ride home. Once or twice. And that time at your house we were just passing time, talking, until Davis picked me up", and Jason exaggeratedly nodded, "But we, hum, started to have… something after we deployed".

Emma gestured for her to stop, chuckling. "That's ok, guys. Please, I don't need the details" she looked away, then had a more serious face. "I did think it was kind of sudden how you broke up with Natalie, dad".

Jason looked down, then at Dianna, then at Emma. "I didn't broke up with her because of Dianna" he murmured to Emma, serious, and held Dianna's hip in place when she tried to leave them alone. "I really don't want to get into details, but trust me, it was the best for me", he added, not wanting to speak ill of Natalie to Emma, so she wouldn't feel hurt too. He knew that if Emma found out that Natalie was being fake that whole time, it would break her heart.

Emma nodded. Then shrugged. "Well, that's ok. Sometimes couples don't work out, right?" She then looked at Dianna, amused. "Maybe now that you date my dad, I have the clearance to know what happened to you?" she tried, naively smiling.

Jason intervened. "No, you don't. Sorry, kiddo".

Dianna smiled, nodding. "But I can tell you that your dad rescued me from a horrible man", she said, glancing at Jason, and Emma opened a wide smile.

"That's my dad" she stated, proud.

The lunch was great, thanks to Sonny's meat, and, surprisingly, to Jason's mojitos. He looked online how to prepare them, so he made mojito in batches for the ladies, with 'virgin' versions for Dianna, Davis and Emma, and some of the guys tasted them and wanted too, the alcoholic version, of course. They said it was 'refreshing'. The day was sunny but not as hot as the day before, fortunately, so they could all sit on the patio, under the shadow.

Dianna decided it was a good time to make an announcement, before everyone got too drunk to remember later on.

"Guys" she stood up and called, lowering the volume of Sonny's country music, "I have an announcement. Well, more of an invitation", and everyone turned to her, curious, even Jason.

She continued, shyly smiling. "So. My dad called me right before the… last op" she quickly stopped herself before sharing classified intel, and the guys nodded, "and it turns out his wife, current wife, convinced him to throw a big party for his 75th birthday. And since he loves a big gathering" she looked at Jason, who smiled, "he told me to invite anyone I wanted. Until the limit of 15 to 20 people, give or take" she chuckled, nervous, because everyone kept staring at her, confused. She sighed.

"So, I'm inviting you guys. And the single guys can take a plus one, too. And Emma and Mikey are invited too, of course" she said, affectionate, and Emma smiled, still confused. "Oh, yes, of course the party is in Uruguay, in my hometown. I can't pay for your flights, sorry, but my dad already said that they have space at my uncle's inn, which is at the same town. Since most of the guests are from there, they'll all stay at their own places. Oh, and his party is not this next weekend. It's on the next one. Two weeks from now" she finished, gesturing. And waited.

"You're inviting us all to a birthday party in Uruguay?" Clay asked, in disbelief.

Dianna looked around, still standing up, feeling awkward. She didn't think much of it, until then. "Well… yeah. I mean, it's going to be a big party. There will be, like, things to do before and after. You can hang out at my uncle's farm. Like a mini vacation. I know that we'll still probably be on leave, but you guys might be called, and that's ok, I mean, the flight tickets to there are usually refundable, in case you get spun up or something like that" she explained, timid.

Sonny looked, suspicious. "And all we have to do is buy the flight tickets?".

Dianna nodded, unsure if she kept standing or if she sat down. "Yes, but you know, I researched it, and since they're in dollars, it's actually quite cheap for us, I mean, I thought so at least. Oh, and the party will be a bit fancy, you know, not too fancy, you could wear the outfits you were… at that fancy op".

A silence lingered as everyone looked at each other.

"Well" Davis smiled, "I don't know about you guys, but this seems to good to be true. Hell yes I'm going" she chuckled, and the guys said the same.

"Seriously? How could we not go" Clay added, and Sonny couldn't shut up, "And it's all free, right? Booze and food?" and Dianna nodded, happy.

She looked at Jason and Emma, waiting for their answers.

"Well, I'm definitely going, no doubt about it" Jason answered, affectionate. Emma glanced at him, and turned to Dianna. "Oh, yes, I'll definitely go too. Thank you for the invite" she said, excited.

Sonny was lazily drinking his mojito when he remembered something that Davis told him before.

"Is it true that there's a scoring of us?" he blurted to the table, and Davis laughed. Jason looked, worried, at the teammates. And at his daughter close to him.

The guys were confused, so Davis loudly meddled. "The Navy girls didn't know Dianna was with Jason, and showed her a spreadsheet they kept with the DEVGRU frogmen 'scores'."

"Davis, Emma is here" Dianna intervened, whispering, but it was too late. The guys needed to know what they were talking about.

Dianna decided it was best for her to say, in a gentler way, than Sonny or Davis, in their blunt way. She didn't want the team guys to feel offended.

"Well, when I was at the tent, watching your training, these girls were talking loudly next to me and they told me they kept a score of frogmen and DEVGRU frogmen. With separated spreadsheets. With some items that were considered for evaluation. Like beauty, strength, things like that" she explained, and the guys grumbled, a bit offended. Someone murmured 'I'm not a piece of meat'.

Jason meddled, gesticulating a lot, already kind of drunk with mojitos and beer. "Dianna made them stop with it, she shut them down. She took a photo of the spreadsheet to blackmail them to stop".

"What" Sonny loudly said, anxious, "she has the photo of our scores on her phone?"

Dianna sighed and glanced at Emma, but she was chuckling while sipping her virgin mojito. Naima, Stella and Davis were openly laughing, and the rest of the guys were more relaxed.

"Oh come on, Sonny" Clay intervened, "it's not so bad. I know I score high on beauty and strength" he cockily said, and Stella and the other guys nodded, proud and cocky.

Sonny gesticulated, exaggeratedly, "Those are not the only items, man" he almost yelled, desperate. "Davis mentioned one or two besides those. Tell them, Dianna".

Dianna squirmed, but now the guys were almost standing up, demanding that it was their right to know what they were scored about. "That's sexist" Trent surprisingly said, among the guys.

Dianna gestured for them to calm down. "Alright, wait. I'll tell you" and she glanced at Emma.

Emma quickly said, "Oh I don't care, I want to hear this. Just let me know when you say my dad's scores so I'll go inside; besides that, I'm really curious" she stated, and the other girls were curious too, for very different reasons from the guys. Jason knew what was coming, so he sat next to Dianna, to protect her from the yells that were coming.

Dianna sighed. "The evaluation items were body, face, strength, intelligence, smoulderness" and Brock and Clay grinned, "cuteness, charm" and Jason grinned, proud. Then he got serious, and Dianna sighed again, and continued, "performance, and size".

A lot of gasps and chuckles followed the last two items, and indignant words from the guys could be heard in unison.

"Do they leave it blank if no one knows?" Brock suddenly asked, curious, when the chatter turned down, and everyone stared at him in silence. Obviously, a lot of froghogs and Navy girls had that information of him.

"I'd like to know my scores" Full Metal suddenly said, surprising everyone. "I mean, not in front of you guys. But I think I could work on myself to get better" he explained, but Jason stared at him.

"How can you get better at intelligence, or smoulderness? Or size" he asked.

Full Metal shrugged. "Maybe not in these ones" then he looked at the ladies, "even though on the last item I can guarantee myself" and they all blushed, "But I could always improve my body, strength. Or cuteness, charm" he casually said, and now Sonny and Brock were pensive too.

"Wow, wow, wow" Jason intervened, gesturing with his arms stretched, "charm isn't something you can just 'improve'. It's a natural talent, man. You're either born with it, or you're not" he cockily said, grinning at Dianna.

Ray looked at the couple's stare. "You told him his scores?" he asked Dianna, indignant.

"No I didn't" she said, then added. "But if you must know, Hayes had one of the highest scores on 'charm'. Among other items" she proudly stated, glancing at Jason, who nodded and put his arm around her shoulder.

"That's dad" Emma meddled, a bit proud, "he always used his charm to get us out of trouble with our teachers. And the principal. And at the club", she said, and Jason nodded at her, with his eyes closed, thankful for her support.

"But he didn't beat me, I bet" Brock said, defiant, and Jason almost stood up with the challenge. Brock wasn't intimidated, though. "I'm sure I was the most charming one, at least from Bravo" he then looked at the guys, murmuring, "Of course, I would never beat Kent" he humbly stated, and all the girls, including Emma, wanted to know who was Kent, because the guys were agreeing that he was unbeatable.

"Kent Sommers. He's from Foxtrot. Hot as hell" Davis bluntly said, smirking, and the girls nodded, interested.

Dianna thought for a second, and made a 'meh' face. "I wouldn't think that much about him" she stated, and the guys all looked at her at the same time, realizing something.

"You know the score of our junk?" Sonny yelled at Dianna, standing up.

The guys were now exasperated, demanding that Dianna said the names of the girls that had the spreadsheet. They wanted them all expelled from the Navy, and from VA Beach. When she said that she didn't know their names, they demanded that Dianna declared if the Alpha guys had scored better than them, at least on the size and performance items.

"I don't know. I wasn't, like, looking at each one individually. To be honest, I only saw Jason's scores, and some names that were near him. They placed them in alphabetical order, by your first names, or nicknames, so Jason H. was close to Kent S. The teams were all mixed. The team leaders had a star in front of them" she explained, and quickly kept quiet.

Jason pouted, and looked dangerously at her, from her side. "Did you happen to see Luke's scores?"

Dianna glanced at the ladies, asking for help, but they were chuckling.

"Okey, people, I'll just go inside, in the kitchen, to post some of our pictures on the insta stories, ok?" Emma quickly got up and left, amused, closing the glass door behind her, so she wouldn't hear any intimacy about her dad, or their possible fight.

"I may have glanced at them when I searched for your name" Dianna confessed, blushing, and Jason stood up, indignant.

"Dear God, woman, you worked with the guy. He's the team leader of Echo. How will I look at him now?"

The guys nodded, supporting, and Dianna just shrugged. "Proudly?" she suggested, with a knowing smile.

Jason grinned, melting, and the ladies all checked him out with interest. Clay and Ray noticed their stare and stood up, indignant.

Clay gestured, "Ok, no, that's it. I want to know what's my score. At least inside our team. I definitely scored higher than Jason. In all items" he pointed, anxious, and Stella murmured, supportive, "Of course you did, babe".

"What" Jason yelled at Clay, "you know very well that I'm the most charming of us all", and he whispered at him, "and you know that at least in another item you also don't beat me".

"What?" Clay yelled back at Jason, "that's not true. We never measured, huh, but maybe we should".

"Oh my God" Dianna intervened, nervous, "could you please stop that? Nobody is measuring anything. Besides, everyone knows that performance beats size, every time". The girls raised their eyebrows, agreeing.

"But how would they know mine? They kept it blank, probably. Naima obviously never wrote down my scores there", Ray stated.

Dianna thought for a while. "I don't know. Maybe from your times as a single man? There were only a couple of guys with blank scores, the girls showed me, I didn't know any of them", Dianna blurted.

Naima turned to Ray. "I sure as hell hope it is from the time when you were single, huh".

"Oh, it was" Dianna reassured, "I mean, the girls said that it's a tradition of the girls, especially froghogs, to keep that spreadsheet. It's been going on for years now".

The guys kept quiet, calculating about how many froghogs or tagchasers each have known until then, that could put their information on that spreadsheet, for better and worse, and suddenly they all were quiet. It was best to keep that topic of discussion buried.

After half an hour, when they were sure nobody would ever mention the frogmen's scores again, Jason and Dianna came back inside to call Emma, and let her know that it was safe to come out again. She was looking at her phone and texting, focused, and nodded.

"Hey, so" Emma started a conversation with them, still in the kitchen, while they took the pies and put them in the oven. "Where did you work before the Navy?" Emma asked Dianna, curious.

Dianna smiled, liking that she wanted to know more about her.

"I worked with the Washington PD, before that NYPD, and before that LAPD. And I also consulted for the FBI sometimes" she answered, and Jason and Emma raised their eyebrows, impressed.

"You were working in DC for too long? Like, two, three years?" Emma asked, interested.

"Kind of. One and a half years, actually. Something like that. Then I started working with the Navy almost a year ago. Ten months, I think".

Emma nodded, and Jason asked, curious. "You worked with Ralph at that time, right?"

Dianna nodded. "Yes, all that time".

"How is he doing? I haven't talked to him since last year" Jason asked. He liked Ralph.

Dianna chuckled. "He's ok, but seriously thinking about moving out of DC. He said it's too stressful", and Jason laughed.

"Who's Ralph? I mean, how do you know him, dad?" Emma asked, curious.

Jason glanced at Dianna, and they didn't really want to say much about Will's case. "Oh" Jason tried to disguise, "You know. He worked in a case that Dianna told me about. Months ago. Talked to him a couple of times. On the phone".

Emma nodded, suspicious. "Sure. U-hum" she got out of the stool, and noticed Jason's and Dianna's exchange of looks, and didn't like that. "So, Dianna" Emma tried to start another conversation, "How come you ended up working with the Navy?"

Dianna smiled. "Oh, I don't know. I think I wanted a new challenge. I mean, I worked in a lot of PD's, and kept hearing about the counter-terrorism units and how important the interrogations were. So I applied".

Jason smiled, cocky, "The Rangers wanted her too. But she chose us".

Dianna stared, smiling at Jason when she heard that, he remembered. "Yes. I did". He smiled back at her, timid.

Emma looked at her phone and sighed. "Oh, look, I have to go, get ready to that party" she quickly said, "I'm sorry, I didn't see the time". She walked backwards, to the door.

"Isn't it just tonight? It's still 3:30PM" Jason asked, confused.

"Oh, it's a sunset party. It goes until later on. Thanks for the barbecue dad. Dianna. I got to go, ok? Give everyone kisses. Bye". She quickly walked out of the house, from the back door.

"That's weird" Jason stated, and Dianna frowned, agreeing.

"Do you think she received some text on her phone now? When she looked".

Jason was pensive. "Maybe. I don't know. I'll talk to her tomorrow, before she leaves, just in case. Hope it's not something serious".

As Dianna suspected, the party ended up going on until the evening, and when everyone left, Jason and Dianna were exhausted, again. He helped her undress and she took her heavy pills, knowing she'd get groggy soon.

"Jason, you need to help me put on my pajamas, I'm a bit sleepy already" she chuckled, because he left her in her panties while he got undressed.

"Is it really necessary?" he asked, seductively, while he laid in his boxers on the bed and made her lay too, with her back to him. He embraced her completely, with his hands on her stomach, and pulled the blanket over their bodies.

She hummed. "Actually, it's a warm night" she agreed, chuckling, half asleep. Jason's body was extremely warm.

"U-hum, told you" he said in her ear, with a husky voice, and she slightly squirmed.

Jason noticed. "What's wrong?" he asked, looking down to her face.

She was quickly falling asleep. "Your voice".

He smirked, and kept quiet.

"It was fun. I'm happy" Dianna mumbled, exhaling as she fell asleep.

Jason breathed in the scent of her hair. "Yeah. It was. Me too".

.