“I don’t realize how much I miss it until I come out into the wild and spend a night like this.” Eva sighed.
“Do you ever regret joining the military?” Pete asked. “Maybe wish you lived a peaceful, less complicated life?”
Eva didn’t take any time to think before answering. “Nope. It’s the perfect life for me.”
“Apart from all of the male privilege,” Pete said.
“Yes, that I could do without. But I knew what to expect going in. It’s just going to take a long, long time to change things.”
“Things will change one strong woman at a time.”
Eva gave Pete a sidelong look. “Are you being sarcastic?”
“Not at all,” he said. “I can’t imagine the things you’ve been through.”
“You mean like being looked through most of the time by superior officers who only seem capable of seeing other men? Or the lewd comments and gestures that I’ve just had to try to ignore? Or the fact that, no matter how hard I work, I’m always almost guaranteed to lose out on a promotion to a man?” Eva gave a little huff, realizing the man she might lose the latest promotion to was sitting next to her.
“That’s terrible. I’m sorry to hear it, Eva. And I’m truly sorry, as a man, to know how much we take for granted when you’re going through hell.”
“Tell me the truth,” she said. “Did you ever really stop to think about what it was like for women in the military before?”
Pete shook his head. “Not really. Just superficially.”
“Well, even that’s a start. Try to reallyseethe women you work with. They might have had the same experiences as I’ve had, ormaybe not. But it’s a pretty safe bet.” Eva stoked the fire with a stick.
“I agree.”
“And stop looking at us in deficit terms — what wecan’tdo compared to men. Or what youthinkwe aren’t as capable of. You might be surprised.”
“Again, I can’t argue.” Pete sucked in his breath and added, “I would be very surprised if you could beat me at arm wrestling, though.”
Eva gasped in outrage. “Tell me you didn’t just say what I think you said!”
Feigning innocence, he said, “I have no idea what you think I just said.”
“Right. That does it. Pete Billings, I challenge you to an arm wrestle, right here, right now.” She looked around them and said, “Over there — on that flat ledge of rock.”
Pete held his hands up. “I surrender! I’m sorry. It was meant to be a joke. I have no doubt you could beat me.”
“I could beat you with one hand tied behind my back.Anddon’t forget that I hauled your sorry ass out of the river earlier, so my arm muscles are a little sore.”
Pete followed Eva over to the flat rock, and they both extended their arms. Eva’s fingers tingled when she laced her fingers through his, and she told herself to smarten up; there was no way she was going to let him win. Two minutes into the arm wrestle, Pete’s arm was bending back the non-winning way, and Eva was sure she had him.
In a flash, Pete pulled his arm away and moved quickly around to Eva’s side.
“Hey, what are you doing?” she said. “What’s wrong?”
Without answering, Pete pulled her body up against his. In the next second, his head had dipped low and his warm mouth was on hers. Eva felt her body softening in his embrace, almost like she was swooning.
Oh no,she thought.You’re in real trouble now.
CHAPTER 8
EVA
“This is not happening,” Eva said, pulling away.
“It feels like it’s happening to me,” Pete said.
