Chapter 4 It had been almost 2 months since my date with Becky, which turned out to be probably the most incredible night of my life. I sat in the smoke shack at work, enjoying a break from the hustle and bustle of a Wednesday day shift when my phone rang. I checked the called ID and saw it was Becky. "Hello" "Hey you" "What's up?" "Nothing, just helping out on a friends farm and thought I'd take a break and call you. How is work going?" "It's going. Been a bit busy today but nothing I can't handle. What are you doing tonight?" "Smokey's probably. Will you be there?" "For a bit, but I can't stay too long because I work tomorrow." "When are you off again?" "I finish up Thursday evening. Then I go back on Monday night for some overtime." "Sounds wonderful" "Is that sarcasm I'm hearing?" "Maybe. We should go on another date" "Sounds like fun. What did you have in mind?" "I don't know. What do you wanna do?" "Well, the Marine Corps ball is coming up. Would you like to accompany me?" "Maybe, when is it?" "Well, the Marine Corps birthday is November 10th, but the ball isn't until the 12th." "Sounds fun actually. Will I get to meet guys you were deployed with?" "Probably. Depends on who shows up." "Ok, its a date!" "Great, I'll get all the details for you and keep you updated on any changes. I gotta go now, back to slaving away for the man." "Alright, talk to ya later devil dog." She said with a laugh and hung up before I could respond. I hated being devil dogged. It was a name given to us by the Germans after the battle of Belleau Wood and is commonly used as a motivator for Marines. More often than not it was heard right before one got in trouble, such as 'hey devil dog, come here!' I emailed her all the information for the ball and within a few days she had a dress all picked out. I had to get my dress blues dry cleaned and ready, which took the better part of 2 days. The ball was to be held at a casino outside of Temecula, CA which meant we had to take a trip. I had some money stashed aside for just such an event so on November 10th, we boarded a plane to LAX. Upon arriving in LA, I rented us a car and we drove to our hotel in Temecula, about an hour or so from LAX. We had a nice dinner that night and the following day went to Knots Berry Farm to ride some roller coasters. I had been there plenty of times before in the 7 years I was stationed at Pendleton, but I wanted to make sure she had a great time. The following day we had breakfast at a local spot and by 4:30 we were both getting ready for the ball. She had on a short red dress and a pair of black boots, while I was in my dress blues. I had just finished getting everything on but my jacket when she walked out of the bathroom, her boots clicking on the tile floor caught my attention and I looked up. "You look ravishing" I said kissing her hand. "You're not looking too bad yourself" she said looking me up and down. "I don't even have the jacket on and you want to rip these clothes off? Wait till later and maybe, if your a good girl, I'll treat you to something special" I said with a wink. She gave me a playful slap in the arm and grabbed my jacket of the hanger. She held it for me while I put it on and buttoned up the buttons, then helped me with the clasp on the collar. I turned to look in the mirror and she stood behind me with her arms around my waist. "You look so handsome" she said smiling "We make a pretty good pair don't we?" "Yes we do. What are all those medals you have?" I turned so she could see them. Most were things which took little or no effort to get, like the national defense and sea service deployment medals. As she studied them she came across 2 which stuck out. "What are these two?" She asked pointing to the two medals. "This one here is the Bronze Star with combat 'V' and take a guess what that one is." "That's a Purple Heart." "Very good." "Will you tell me how you got those?" "That, my dear is a story for another time. We need to get going." She gave me a pouty face look and grabbed her coat. I grabbed my hat and we were out the door. 20 minutes later we arrived at the casino. We followed the signs for the event and found ourselves in a large ballroom with a wooden dance floor in the middle and large round tables and chairs around the outside. Against the left-hand wall was a full bar and several tables of food. The rest of the room was decorated with potted plants and several pictures of landscapes and far off locations. We were looking around, trying to decide where to sit when I heard a familiar voice. "Holy shit on a single Batman! Is that Drew?" Two Marines were walking towards us, one had the insignia of a Corporal and the other bore the single chevron of a PFC. The Corporal was about 5'11 with close cropped brown hair and a rather boyish face, while the PFC was only about 5'7 with short blonde hair and scar on his cheek which ran from about the corner of his lip to his ear. "Why if it isn't little PFC Tyler, all grown up now." I said turning to face the pair of Marines. "That's Corporal Tyler now" he said as he turned to show off his stripes. "How long has it been?" "2 years at least. Far too long. My god, where are my manners, Becky this is Ronny Tyler, Tyler this is my date Becky." "Pleased to meet you" she said. "The pleasure is truly mine" he said with a grin. "Ok, quit hitting on my date. I know how you are." "I have no idea what your talking about" he said with a sarcastic look on his face. "Oh yes you do. You'll fuck anything that moves." "Not anything, just most things." We laughed as if we had spent no time apart. I looked to the young Marine standing with Tyler. He hadn't said a word and judging by his lack of ribbons had just gotten out of boot camp. "Hey man, I'm Andrew, but most everyone here calls me Drew, and this is my date, Becky." I said presenting my hand. "PFC Ryan Schmidt, good to meet you Sergeant." He shook our hands nervously. "Wow, I haven't been called that in a long time. You don't have to address me by rank, I've been out for 3 years now." "Got it. Nice to meet you both." "Where were you planning on sitting Drew?" Tyler asked. "Wherever's clever man. Close to the bar preferably." We found a table along the wall near the bar and ordered a round of drinks. Unfortunately for Ryan, he was too young to drink, so he got a Coke. We chatted and had some food before the ceremony started, retelling old war stories and stories of drunken revelry, much to the embarrassment of several people. The ceremony began with words from the commanding officer. "Welcome Marines and honored guests, to the Bravo Battery Marine Corps birthday ball. We are glad you could join us on this, our 240th birthday." He received a short applause before continuing. He gave a short speech as well as have the traditional reading of the commandant's remarks and Marine Corps order 47. When he finished a pair of caterers wheeled out a large, 5 tier cake which was cut by the oldest and youngest Marines present. When the ceremony was over, music began playing and people began dancing. After several songs, the DJ requested all couples to the dance floor. "Let's go" Becky said as she pulled me out of my chair, getting laughs from some of the guys. "I'm coming, I'm coming." I said as she lead us to the dance floor. The music came on and we began to dance, quickly becoming lost in each other. "Are you having fun?" I asked as we danced. "I'm having a great time. It's funny to see you with all your old friends." "I'm glad your having fun." "They're all watching us." She nodded her head towards our table. "Well let's give them something to gawk at." I lifted her up off the ground and kissed her. We kissed for I don't know how long but I remember her lifting her legs up and us twirling around. I put her back down as the song ended and we walked back to the table to the sounds of applause and whistling. "Good to know Drew still has it." Tyler said slapping me on the back. Becky looked puzzled at us. "Still has what?" She asked "The ability to make the rest of us feel inferior." She smiled at that, which made me smile. Tyler caught the whole moment. "Should we uh, leave you two alone?" I punched him lightly in the arm and we all laughed. We ordered a final round of drinks and Tyler stole Becky for a dance. As much shit as I give Tyler, he's a good man and I trust him with my life. I could see them talking while they were dancing. When the song ended Becky came up and kissed me. "I've gotta hit the little girls room, I'll be right back." Before I could say anything Tyler yelled out to us. "Hey Drew, we got some cigars, you coming?" I looked at Becky, who just smiled at me and said "go on, I'll catch up." "You sure? I can wait for you. They aren't going anywhere." "Go on, enjoy it while it lasts." "I'll see you in a few" I said as we parted ways. We went to a set of benches and lit up our cigars. Tyler was the first to speak. "That's one hell of a woman you got there Drew. She really likes you." "What did you two talk about while you were dancing?" "You mostly. She couldn't stop talking about you. It sounds to me like she is in love." Could she really be in love with me? I had fallen hard for her, but I wasn't going to say anything until I knew how she felt. Perhaps i would ask her later. "Earth to Drew, hello?!? You in there!?" "Huh? Oh, sorry. What were you saying?" "I was saying, you need to get that." "I've had that, and it was amazing." "I'll bet, but I meant on a more permanent basis." Just then Becky came through the doors to join us. She walked up and put her arm around my chest. "What's up guys?" Becky had that smile on her face again. I love that smile. "We were just talking about you actually." Tyler said matter of factly. "Oh really? Anything good?" "Just saying how your such a good catch for Drew. He has had such bad luck in the past that it's about time he found something good." "Well we aren't dating yet, but I do what I can to take care of him." She squeezed me tight in a sideways hug and looked up at me. We were lost for a second in each others eyes until Tyler brought us back. "Well, kiss her." We kissed a passionate kiss until Tyler cleared his throat, reminding us where we were. "Are you sure you two aren't together?" "Not yet." She said again. I could swear I heard her give special attention to 'yet'. She looked at me with lust in her eyes. I needed no other cue. "Alright Tyler, we should get moving. I've gotta get her to bed." "Don't wake the neighbors" he said with a wink. "Neighbors? I'm trying to wake the dead!" She called back as we walked off. We drove back to the hotel and I told her some stories of Tyler when he was younger and much less worldly. We got back to the hotel at the same time as an elderly couple. The husband noticed us and walked over as Becky was getting out of the car. "Semper fi son!" He said with a voice like gravel. "Semper fi sir. How are you tonight?" "Oh, we're fine, just getting back from a wedding. You folks just get back from the ball?" "Yes sir, I try and make them when I can." "Well I just wanted to thank you for your service to our country. Have a good night you two." He started to walk off but Becky stopped him. "Excuse me sir, could you take a picture of us together?" Becky held out a disposable camera. "Sure thing. You two make a cute couple." She smiled at his complement and we posed for the picture. He handed the camera back to Becky, we thanked him and we went back to our room. Becky went straight over to her bag and grabbed a CD case out of it. "Before you get out of that sexy uniform, one more dance." I sighed a bit in my head. That uniform looks damn good, but it is terribly uncomfortable, but how could I say no to her. "OK, one more dance." She smiled and put a CD in her portable player, hooked it up to some speakers and hit play. I recognized the song immediately, it was a Toby Keith song, 'you shouldn't kiss me like this'. We danced to the music until the chorus. I was about to start singing along to her, but she interrupted me with a kiss. The music played on.. 'You shouldn't kiss me like this Unless you mean it like that Cause I'll just close my eyes And I won't know where I'm at We'll get lost on this dance floor Spinnin' around And around And around And around' She broke the kiss and we sang together.. 'They're all watchin' us now They think we're falling in love They'd never believe we're just friends When you kiss me like this I think you mean it like that If you do baby kiss me again' It was amazing, we both kissed each other after the last line in the chorus. It was magical. We danced together until the song ended, then she helped me get out of my uniform. I hung up my jacket and turned around to see her bending over the bed shaking her ass at me and smiling. I dropped to my knees and grabbed her ass, feeling the soft fabric of her red dress as well as the firmness of her ass. She arched her back slightly, "ooh, someone's feeling frisky." "Well, I am a guy. I tend to be horny 85% of the time." "What about the other 15%?" "I'm either eating or sleeping." She laughed until I slowly slid her dress up to the small of her back, then she just looked at me with a mischievous smirk. "No panties I see. Someone must have thought they would get lucky tonight.." "Would you turn me down?" "Never"