Wait For Me — Lissa Matthews

Approximately 16, 250 words.

Melody Ashford has been in love with Vinny Banks since she was sixteen. He told her to wait, come back to him when she was legal. Two years later she crawled into his bed and never wanted to crawl out. They spent one blissful summer together before he left for boot camp and life in the military.

He comes back to their little South Carolina town as often as he can, but then leaves again for parts unknown. The heartache, the pitiful looks, the sympathetic smiles Mel receives when Vinny departs takes its toll and she copes in the only ways she knows how: work, friends, and the casual companionship of guys she's known all her life.

Vinny nor Melody knew what waiting would be like, especially when he reenlists for a second stint. If Vin were a better man, he'd set her free. But he's not, and it would kill him to let go of the one thing more precious than life.

Their love is volatile, and full of passion. No one has ever touched her, but Vinny's never said the words, never asked the question that would ensure no one else ever does. He's got secrets and missions he can't share, and she's got dreams of a life with him in her bed every night. Can they put both aside and simply love one another until the time is right, or is his request too little too late?

From the Author's Dedication:

For those who serve, thank you. For those who wait at home for outcomes unknown, thank you. Brave men and women fight everyday for freedom, for friends and family, for country. They sacrifice everything for the call of duty, for the call to protect and keep safe. But there are loved ones left behind who suffer loneliness, sadness, fear, who want nothing more than their husband, wife, father, mother, son, daughter, best friend, girlfriend, boyfriend, brother, sister to come home.

I admire these incredible people because the sacrifice isn't only the sacrifice of the soldier, but also of the ones who love them. This short story, however erotic in nature, is for them