#december7th

              He shakes his head, “No, no I don’t ma’am.”

You roll your eyes, “Please, call me (y/n).” You hold out your hand to him and he shakes it firmly.

              “Nice to meet you. Names Jude Syverson, but you can call me Sy, everybody does,” he says, with a charming smile.

You feel your stomach flutter before you take your hand back. “Do you wanna see if we can find a place away from all these dolts and finish off this?” you ask him, lifting the bottle with a little flourish.

              He smiles, “I like the way you think,” he murmurs, with a smile.

You offers the bottle to him. “Put those pockets to use, big boy.”

              He chuckles and takes the bottle, tucking it away in one of him many pockets. “Come on, I bet the back porch is clear.”

You nod and follow him as he starts to push through the crowd. The two of you almost make it out without anybody stopping you. However, your cousin pauses the two of you in the doorway to the kitchen.

              “Sy! I see you’ve met my cousin (y/n), she’s loads of fun. I’m glad you can keep each other company!” he says, smiling at the two of you drunkenly.

It’s not until his smarmy wife comes slinky out of the crowd and point above your head with a smile that you realize that you and Sy have been stopped under the mistletoe.

              “Fuck, we don’t have too,” he grumbles, looking across the room of people who now have their eyes on you.

You look at him, eyes flicking to his lips then back to his beautiful blue eyes. “It’s okay,” you whisper, placing your hand on his chest and pressing up to kiss him. He tenses for a second before placing his big, warm hands firmly on your waist, deepening the kiss briefly before you pull away and wipe your mouth gently as the crowd whistles.

              Sy flushes and rubs at the back of his neck. “Let’s get out of here,” he mutters, turning on his heel. You follow hot on his tail, fleeing the scene eagerly. When you find him out back he’s sitting in one of the lawnchairs, swigging straight from the bottle.

“Kissing me wasn’t that bad, was it?” you joke as you join him in the lawn chair opposite him.

              “Shit, it’s not that. I just hate being the center of attention like that.”

You sigh, “Me too. But you know what?”

              Sy gives you a sideways glance and offers you the bottle. You take it from him and smile at him. “what?”

“That was one hell of a kiss,” you mutter, before taking a swig too.

              He chuckles, “Thanks, I’m to hear that. Been a while.”

You look at him. “Really? For a hunk like you?”

              He flips you off, smiling at you. “I’ve been deployed regularly for the past decade. Doesn’t really leave time to find romance.”

“Well do you have any deployments in your future?” you ask, running your finger along the lip of the bottle.

              He shakes his head, “Nah, I’m getting to old for that shit. Got myself set up at the base, training greenies.”

You nod, slowly.

              “Why, do you ask?”

You shrug, “No reason, I was just hoping that we might be able to get dinner sometime.”

              Sy smiles, “You askin’ me on a date, darlin’?”

You shake your head and smile at him. “Yes, I am.”

              “I reckon that must be how they go about things in the city.”

You look at him sideways. “How did you know?”

              “The accent,” he mutters, “gives it away that you’re not from around here.”

You nod, “Well, I hope that it doesn’t get me in trouble.”

              “What do you mean?”

“I was transferred down here, starting next month. My cousin invited me tonight in hopes that I could make some connections.”

              “I’d say we made a connection,” Sy says, with a smirk.

You smile at him, “Well look at that you are right.”

              “What are you doing New Years Eve?”

You think for a moment, “I honestly don’t know.”

              “How about you come over to mine and I cook you dinner. Then we can watch shitty movies or the countdown or whatever you wanna watch really.”

You smile, “I’d like that a lot.”

              He smiles, “Perfect.”

You trade numbers, getting to know each other a little better as the whiskey bottle empties and soon you find yourself in his lap as the two of you kiss lazily, warm in each other’s arms. Once sleep teases both of your eyelids, you find yourself tucked into his side, the lawn chair reclined and the two of you gazing up at the stars. Soon enough you doze off, comforted by the steady beating of Sy’s heart. Before you know it, you’re being woke up. Sy’s rumbling voice, cutting through the sleep addled part of your brain.

              “Come on, darlin’, let’s get you cab,” he murmurs, pressing a soft kiss to your forehead.

“Don’t wanna go,” you murmur, burying your face into his chest once more.

              “Come on, ya need to go home. I promise I’ll call you tomorrow and bring over some hangover food.”

You hum as he lifts you up, carrying you out towards the front of the house where there are cabs waiting to take people home.

“What about you?”

              “Don’t worry about me. I’ll be just fine.”

“You’ll call tomorrow?” you confirm as he sets you on your feet next to a waiting cab.

              “Promise, darlin’, now go home and get some rest. I think you’re gonna find you’ll regret trying to keep up with me.”

“Alright, see you tomorrow,” you murmur, pressing a kiss on his cheek before he opens the car door for you and sets you inside.

              “Night, darlin’,” he murmurs, smiling down at you.

You blink up at him and smile, “Night, Sy.”

              He presses a kiss to your lips and then steps back to shut the door, smacking the top of it to signal to the driver that youre good to go and watches the taillights disappear as it drives away.

              He heads towards his truck, having sobered up and gets behind the wheel and heads home. As he pulls into the driveway, his phone buzzes. He smiles when he sees it’s a text from you and heads inside for the evening, really glad that he’d gone to the party tonight.