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“What are we laughing about?” one of the soldiers, Sarah, asked, coming to stand beside me, playfully tugging at my ponytail.

She leaned in to whisper in my ear, “It’s good to see you out.”

“It’s good to be out,” I whispered back, happy to see her.

Being surrounded by mostly men every day could be cumbersome at times. But Sarah added the feminine energy I needed in my life, and was without a doubt my closest friend.

“We were talking about the two recruits who passed out today,” Niall said, shooting Hunter a glare, daring him to bring his piss-pants back up.

The second soldier, Sarah’s boyfriend, Connor, grabbed Niall’s beer, as he said to no one in particular, “The new group is definitely n-not impressive.” He hiccuped. “Kids th—ese days are so lazy,” he slurred.

“Coming from a guy who isn’t even thirty yet,” said Sarah, clearly annoyed. “Connor here decided to go shot for shot with Kyle before we got here.”

I looked pleadingly at Sarah, my stomach dropping. “Please tell me Kyle is not coming here.”

She looked nervously at me, biting her bottom lip. “Just ignore him if he does. He’s a jerk, Bryn, everyone knows it.”

Understatement of the year. Kyle was your standard meathead with good looks and an ego that said he knew it. The guy hadn’t attempted to hide his disdain for me ever since I’d rejected his advances years ago, and now I was convinced he had made it his life’s mission to make mine as miserable as possible because he couldn’t handle the thought of a woman saying no to him.

“Here he comes now,” Sarah whispered, pouring herself a beer.

I braced myself for an awkward encounter, and gulped as much of my beer as I could before the guy walking through the front door could reach our table. But my chugging wasn’t fast enough to get down the alcohol content needed to tolerate the man closing in on us; the soldier’s attractive face carrying an overconfident smile.

“Evening friends . . .” Kyle said, coming to stand with us. “Bryn.” He nodded at me without meeting my eyes, slapping Connor on the back. “You guys are already drinking without me? No worries, we warmed up beforehand, isn’t that right, Connor?” He winked at Sarah.

Sarah flipped him off.

“I think our table is full tonight, friend,” Hunter said between clenched teeth.

“Nonsense,” Kyle scoffed. “The night is just getting started.” He waved his hand, signaling for a waitress. “I think we all need a shot to celebrate a good first day.” He sneered at me. “Except for Bryn, of course, she wasn’t there.”

Hunter made to move, but I cut him off. “Don’t worry, brother, I don’t listen when he talks.” I grinned at Kyle, who looked ready to snap a vulgar retort back, but was interrupted by the waitress he had summoned.

I turned toward Sarah, ignoring Kyle as he flirted with the waitress who was all but eager to take his order, easily enamored by his ice blue eyes and broad shoulders. “Tell me everything, what have I missed the last few weeks?”

Sarah giggled. “Well, Connor and I took a quick trip last weekend. We had some vacation time saved up, and thought a few days away at the beach would be nice.”

That did sound nice.

“We drank way too many margaritas, and Connor professed his love for me, of course.”

“Of course.” I giggled, too. “You are extremely lovable.”

“I am.” She laughed, brushing her long dark hair behind one ear with her left hand.

My eye caught the glimmer there. “Oh my gosh!” I squealed. “Is that what I think it is?” I grabbed her hand, examining the ring there: an oval-shaped diamond set on a light gold band. “It’s beautiful, Sarah. I’m so happy for you, the both of you.” I squeezed her hand, sincerely happy for my friend.

Sarah looked over at Connor, then back at me. “I never knew I could love someone so much.”

Connor looked over at us, his glazed eyes clearing to find me holding Sarah’s hand, and he smiled, blowing a kiss at Sarah.

“Even if that someone is easily influenced to drink too much,” Sarah finished.

We both laughed, picking up our glasses to clink them together.

“Cheers to you,” I said as brightly as I could. “I better be invited to the wedding.”

“You’ll be in the wedding!” Sarah exclaimed, as if she couldn’t believe I would think otherwise.