Covertly Strong (The Strong Series Book 1) Read Online Free PDF Page B

until they arrived at their favorite spot. The one place they could always go to and just be… together . Diamond Head Beach.
    Nix helped her out of the truck, holding her hand tight as they made their way down the rocks and onto the soft sand. The waves crashed in the distance, the crescent moon reflecting off the ocean in a way that portrayed the inevitability of the future. In a few short hours, they weren’t going to be together. Far too soon, they would be apart for an unknown amount of time. Sloan’s father wasn’t being transferred to a base within the continental US; he was being sent overseas for God only knew how long.
    The future felt bleak because there was nothing definitive to grasp on to.
    There wasn’t a black-and-white, clear-cut time frame they could follow.
    Only gray. Everything felt gray .
    And neither knew when they would have another moment like this…
    He sat down in the sand, his back pressed against a large rock sticking out from the earth. Nix gripped Sloan’s hips and pulled her down into his lap, his hands wrapping around her waist, pulling her as close as physically possible. His chin rested on her shoulder as they both looked out into the darkness, the light of the moon hovering over of them.
    “I hate this,” she announced quietly into the night.
    “I know, Meli. I hate this too, but I promise you. I fucking promise you. Everything is going to be okay. It’s only one year, and then, once I’m eighteen, I’m coming to get you,” he responded fervently, a strong edge lacing his voice.
    “But—”
    He abruptly cut her off. “No. No buts. No what-ifs. We’re not going to think that way. We will keep in touch. I’ll start a lame-ass email account if I have to. Hell, I’ll write you a letter every single goddamn day for the next year. And we’ll talk on the phone when we can. And eventually, we’ll be together again.”
    She laughed through her tears as she turned in his lap, her legs wrapping around his back, her eyes staring directly into his. “No need to start a lame-ass email account,” she announced with a smirk, knowing full well that Nix hated the mere idea of sitting around on a computer.
    He was always an outdoors kind of guy—a guy who spent his days surfing, running, and doing anything that made him one with the elements. And even if he was a computer-nerd kind of guy, Sloan knew that the quality of Internet on base in a foreign city was shoddy at best.
    Her nose brushed softly against his as a sentimental smile spread across her lips. “Just letters. Letters and pictures and care packages and anything else I can think of. Plus phone calls. I need to hear your voice whenever I can.”
    He returned her smile. “Pictures? Like naked pictures?” he asked with a raise of his eyebrow.
    She pressed her lips to his in a smacking, playful kiss. “I have a feeling John Walker wouldn’t be too thrilled with me sending you naked pictures or receiving pictures of your…” her voice trailed off as her eyes glanced downwards.
    “My dick? My cock?” he threw out friskily.
    A blush immediately covered her cheeks, and she couldn’t stop the giggle that poured from her lips in response to his crass mouth. She always got a kick out of the colorful language he used without remorse. For some reason, Nix’s frequent swearing had her picturing him in a Navy uniform in the future. He sure as hell would make a great sailor.
    “I’m going to miss that blush, Meli. I’m going to miss it so fucking much.” His thumb brushed her cheek in an affectionate way. “I’m going to miss so many things.”
    “Like what?” she urged.
    “Oh, you want a list? I feel like you’re just looking for compliments,” he answered with a small tickle to her rib cage.
    She squirmed under his flirtatious touch. “C’mon. Give me the list, Nixon West.”
    His fingers tucked errant strands of hair behind her ear as he rested his chin on her shoulder, his lips mere inches from her neck. “I’m