"What?" I bark.
Brentley turns, grinning. "Don't play dumb. I saw the way you looked at her. Your eyes keep going to where she is on the porch. Like you were already picking out baby names."
"It's not like that," I lie.
"Bullshit."
Jake's head whips toward me, eyes narrowing. "Wait. My friend Lucy? Noah's sister Lucy? She's the girl you've been sneaking off to call at night?"
"She's not your Lucy," I mutter.
Brentley throws his head back, laughing. "Oh man, this is better than I thought."
Jake scrubs a hand over his face. "You didn't tell me."
"Because you would've told Noah. And we're not ready for that yet."
Jake sighs, but his voice is calm. "I think you forgot I'm your brother first. You serious about her?"
I glance back toward where Lucy is standing on the porch with Kassi and her sister, Grace. My chest aches just looking at her.
"Yeah. I'm serious. She's it."
Brentley whistles. "Well damn. Didn't think deployment would bring out the romantic in you."
"It's not just the deployment. It's her."
They both fall silent.
Jake finally nods. "Alright. Just don't screw it up."
Brentley slaps my back again. "Too late for that. He's already all in. I can tell."
Even though I laugh, it's laced with nerves. Because they're right—I'm all in. And there's no going back now.
"Shut up," I mutter under my breath and sneak another glance at Lucy.
"We're not blind, little brother," Jake says. "You're not exactly subtle."
I groan. "She's Noah's sister."
"So? You gonna let that stop you from being happy?" Brentley asks.
They don't give me a chance to answer before we join the girls. But the questions weigh on me all night.
Later that evening, Lucy and I sit on the tailgate of my truck, hidden away from the others. Stars blanket the sky above us.
"You ever think about what happens after your deployment?" she asks, head resting on my shoulder.
"Every day," I say. "I think about buying land. Building a house. Big porch. Rocking chairs. Dog at our feet."
She hums. "Baby on my hip?"
My heart skips. "Maybe more than one."
"I like the sound of it. Ever do more than think?"
"Yeah. Got sketches in a notebook. Floor plans, landscaping, stupid details like the cabinets I'd build. Where I'd hang our coats."
