16. Chapter 15
Before
“Come on, I swear I’ve got it this time. Just do it,” Hope insisted.
Bradford snorted, knowing she would miss again, but opened his mouth anyway—because he would do anything she asked him—as she threw a corn nut at him.
He winced when it nailed him in the eye.
“I feel like you’re doing it on purpose at this point.
” He tossed it in his mouth even though it had landed in the dirt.
“Oh my god, gross.” She threw a handful of them at him in mock horror.
“This is one of the least-gross things I’ve had over here. Have you tried the MREs?”
“Ugh, barf, good point.”
A rocket detonated in the distance, shook the ground and they both paused before he lay back on the old beach chair that had just shown up one day outside their quarters.
It was the two of them right now next to the MGPTS—Modular General Purpose Tent System.
The others would be back soon, something he was ignoring.
He wanted Hope all to himself for as long as possible .
She set the corn nuts down and stretched out next to him on a mismatched beach chair with green and white bands barely hanging on to the aluminum frame for dear life. “Can’t believe I leave tomorrow.”
“Yeah.” He’d been obsessing about it, though he kept that to himself. “I’m glad we met.”
“Me too.” Her voice was soft. “I know I shouldn’t have favorites, but I’m glad I got assigned to your team.”
“Well, we are the best.” He gave her a lopsided grin and thought he saw heat in her gaze.
But she quickly turned away, casting her eyes up to the dark sky blanketed with countless stars. “And so very humble.”
He chuckled around the pain in his chest. He hadn’t expected Hope Berkley at all, none of them had.
She’d just been some journalist they’d been instructed to show around, to answer questions for…
They’d all been cautious about meeting her.
But then she’d shown up the first day with treats (a surefire way to a bunch of Marines’ hearts) and authenticity.
That was the thing that had gotten him, how real she was. And kind. Not nice, but truly kind. There was a difference.
“You gonna forget about us?” he asked as the ground shook again.
She didn’t even seem to notice, or maybe she’d just gotten used to it like him. But she’d been like that from the beginning. Nothing seemed to faze her, which was impressive in itself.
“I don’t think that’s possible.” Her voice was whisper soft and he thought she was going to say more—
Then the guys returned, all wearing makeshift birthday cone hats on their head.
Tiago was carrying a cake with the words We’ll miss you! and a smile as he approached.
“You guys!” She hopped up from the chair as Rowan tossed one of the paper hats to Bradford. “Did you know about this?”
“Of course,” he said with a laugh. Though their timing sucked. He’d just wanted a couple more minutes with her.
Lies. He wanted all the minutes with her.
But she’d be leaving in the morning, and despite what she said, he had a feeling they would lose touch.
How could they not?
They lived in different worlds, and soon she’d be back stateside, writing her miniseries about them and the culture here and moving on to the next one.
He wasn’t sure where he’d be in a month or two, only that they had orders to ship out soon. They were headed back to California, and then…who knew.
Didn’t matter really. He would follow orders, because that was what he did.
But for tonight, he pasted on a smile as Hope handed him a piece of cake, her smile brilliant. He would enjoy what time he had with her and hold on tight to the memories.
“You’re sneaky,” she murmured, nudging him with her hip. “Oh my god, and this cake is so good. I would marry this cake.”
“Right?” Ezra had the same reaction. “I don’t know how Tiago does it, but he has the best connections.”
“I can’t help it if everyone loves me.” Tiago sniffed, only a little obnoxiously.
Bradford half listened as the conversations went on around him, but most of his focus was on Hope. The woman he’d fallen for when he’d least expected it.
The woman he would have to live without.