“Ooh, baby!” His voice rose excitedly, warranting a chorus of angry groans from the soldiers surrounding us. He snorted a sound that could only be described as a giggle. “So, what are we talking about here? One-night stand? Wildest night of passion you ever had?”
I shook my head, frowning. “It wasn’t anything like that,” I whispered. “We had dinner, and that was it. And I know all thatlove at first sightcrap is bullshit, but there wassomething. There was … I don’t know. I don’t know how to explain it. It was like I just … I dunno …” I released a shaky breath, trying to push beyond the awkwardness of this conversation. “I guess what I’m saying is, I knew we could’ve been something if we’d had the chance.”
Sid was quiet for too long. My cheeks grew hot, and shame crept in. I glanced over my shoulder to make sure he hadn’t fallen asleep on me while thinking that would’ve been the best-case scenario.
“Wow,” he said finally, sarcasm in his voice. “I can’t wait to tell Lizzie that the Tin Man did get a heart from good ol’ Mr. Oz after all.”
“Oh, fuck off,” I muttered, rolling my eyes. “I dunno why I tell you anything.”
“No, no, no, come on. I’m sorry.” He leaned back to rest his head on my shoulder. “I’m just fucking with you, dude. No, seriously. I actually know what you mean.”
I turned in his direction and asked, “You do?”
“Yeah.” I heard him swallow. “I, uh … I really do actually.”
I thought he would continue, and I waited for whatever confession was coming. But it didn’t. Before long, the telltale sound of him snoring rang in my ear, and I pushed the topic to the back of my mind. Then I leaned back, rested my head against his, allowed Melanie’s face to fill my mind, and fell into a light, dreamless sleep.
***
“Hey, Lizzie,” Sid hissed beneath the rumble of the truck’s engine. “Guess what Serg told me last night.”
I groaned from the front seat, shaking my head. “Corporal, there’s a time and place—”
“What did he say?” Lizzie asked, immediately intrigued.
“Remember when he broke down in Connecticut? When was that, Serg? A few years ago?”
The driver of our truck in the convoy glanced at me. His name was Private Mike Swinson. He’d joined our platoon around the time that Lizzie had years ago, but my relationship with him had remained on a professional level. The fact that Sid was bringing this up now, on our way to a mission and not in a more casual setting, left me bristled and irritated. He knew better.
“Corporal, I’m going to tell you—”
“Yeah, I remember,” Lizzie replied, ignoring my protests just as much as Sid was.
My nostrils flared as I rolled my eyes toward the passing buildings, running through the ways I could make them both regret this conversation later.
“Apparently, he met someone,” Sid said, his voice low and mischievous. “And he fell inlove.”
Lizzie gasped. It sounded genuine. “Wait, you’re telling me the Tin Man has a heart after all?”
“And get this: he told me he loved Laura too.”
“Oh, please. We knew that already.”
Turning to look over my shoulder and into the back seat of the truck, I caught their grins as I stared both ofthem down angrily. At the sight of my disapproval, they clamped their mouths shut, looking like two little kids who’d been caught doing something they shouldn’t.
“Do I have to remind you both that we’re out here toworkandnottalk about this bullshit?”
Sid swallowed, an apology in his eyes. “No, Sergeant,” he replied, holding my gaze. “Sorry.”
Lizzie’s smile wilted, reminding me too much of the way my sisters would have moments of happiness before our father came home, only for that happiness to be wiped away with his arrival.
“Sorry,” she said.
I turned around without another word, feeling more like my dad than ever before—even if I was just doing my job.
I knew immediately what Sid had been trying to do. A day ago, intel had received a tip that there was a potential attack being planned outside our base. The fear, of course, was that enemy forces were attempting to close in on us.
That wasn’t going to happen though. Not if I had anything to do with it.
