Page 26 of Hard to Lose

And I’m smitten.

Shit. Where did that come from, Gun?

“Where are you from then?” she asks.

“A little bit of everywhere. Once you’ve been in the military—grown up in it and served in it—you’re kind of from every place you’ve been.”

“So your mom or dad was in the military?”

“My father was before he died in combat.”

“I’m so sorry.”

I nod, never wanting to dwell on that aspect too much. “Then my stepdad was in the service. And the stepdad after that.” I give a self-deprecating laugh. “We don’t have enough time in the day to delve into that chaos. What about you? Mom? Dad? Only child?”

She does a double take. “Only child? Why would you say that?”

“Because only children are typically more independent and know what they want,” I say. “That’s you.”

Chase smirks. “I am the last of four girls.”

“Your poor parents,” I groan.

“You don’t know the half of it.” She smiles as if she’s thinking of them, and I notice a softness to her expression that tells me they’re close. You spend enough time around other soldiers and behind a bar, you to learn how to read people. “But it’s just my dad. Our mom died when we were little.”

“I’m sorry,” I murmur.

She shrugs. “As you unfortunately know, it’s more shocking to others when they hear it than it is to you since it’s been your reality for more of your life than not.”

“Very true.”

“So on to happier things.” She nods and twists her lips for a moment as she studies me unabashedly. “Nix told me you were a badass. Care to elaborate?”

Fucking Nix. I shake my head and emit a half-sigh, half-laugh.

Nothing makes you a badass in combat. Fear. Worry. The unknown. The what-ifs. Horror. That’s what combat is about. I shiver from the memories that still haunt me and my dreams.

“Some days just living to see another day in combat makes you a badass,” I finally say.

“Your humility is becoming.”

“Thank you, but I assure you I’m not all sunshine and roses all the time.”

“No one ever is,” she murmurs.

If she looks at me like that one more time—those big blue eyes a mixture of amusement and desire—I’m going to have trouble standing up.

“You ready to go?” I slide cash under the salt shaker and hold my hand out to her. She takes it and we head out of the outdoor café back to the street that’s still bustling with people.

Music is playing now, a local live band at the end of the long table. Kids have sat down and are building their own creations while their parents are dancing or chatting with friends.

This is Destiny Falls. Take it or leave it. In my early days here as an enlisted soldier, I wasn’t sure which one I wanted of the two. Now as a civilian, I couldn’t imagine myself anywhere else.

“Thank you for this,” Chase says as we skirt around the edge of the dance area. “Like I said, it was unexpected and perfect.”

“Is that so?” I tug on her hand so that she turns and our bodies meet. Desire surges through me in all the most torturously delicious ways as we stare at each other, our lips inches apart, and I finally give in to what I’ve wanted to do all night. Hell, since she first walked into FU-Bar last night.

Her breath hitches. I can feel it against my chest, and I know she feels this too. The sexual tension. The desire. The pure need.