Page 56 of My All American Girl

He nodded. “Something bad?”

“I guess that depends on how you look at it,” I said.

“Alright, shoot.”

I took a deep breath, bracing myself for his reaction. “I slept with Sarah.”

Jude’s eyes grew even wider, and his mouth hung open. “You slept with the general’s daughter? Do you have shit for brains?”

“Keep your voice down,” I growled, glancing around nervously, even though the bar was way empty.

Jude rocked back on his heels and howled with laughter, the sound echoing through the place. “All those G-forces have made you lose your damn mind. Do you want to end up flying in Antarctica? Or wherever they send idiot pilots who plow a general’s daughter.”

“Kick rocks,” I muttered, feeling my face flush with embarrassment.

Jude shook his head and wiped tears of laughter from his eyes. “Ryker, man, how did that even happen? How could you keep up with a twenty-two-year-old?”

I shot him a look. “Keeping up with her wasn’t the problem. I’m in the best shape of my life, unlike you.”

Jude clutched his chest, pretending to be wounded. “Ouch. That hurts, old friend. Seriously though, how drunk were you when you decided to throw your entire career away?”

I sighed, shaking my head and wondering when I lost my grip on my self-control. “I wasn’t drunk at all. We went out to dinner with her dad, and then Mo asked me to drive her back to base. One thing led to another…”

Jude whistled, shaking his head in disbelief. “Man, that’s wild. I mean, I saw the chemistry between you, but I didn’t think you’d actually go through with it.”

“It wasn’t planned,” I said defensively. “It just happened.”

Jude smirked and shook his head. “Well, you’ve always been a sucker for danger and a pretty face.”

I rolled my eyes but couldn’t help but laugh. “Yeah, well, this is complicated as fuck, Jude. She’s Mo’s daughter. My student. I’m her superior officer. There are so many lines crossed here, I don’t even know where to begin.”

Jude nodded, finally wiping the smile from his face. “I get it, man. It’s a tough situation. But you know what? Sometimes life throws you curveballs, and you just have to roll with it.”

“Rolling with it could cost me my career,” I pointed out. “And hers too, for that matter.”

Jude sighed, leaning against the bar. “Yeah, that’s true. Do you like her?”

I shrugged. “Yeah, of course.”

“I mean do you want to see her again? Is this a thing now?”

I rubbed my temples, feeling the weight of the situation pressing down on me. “I don’t know. I’ve never felt this way about anyone before. Not even with my ex-wife. Sarah’s different.”

Jude’s expression softened. “Sounds like you’re in deep. Just be careful, alright? For both your sakes. You’re fucking on a minefield. Stick your dick in the wrong place and it’s game over.”

“I’m not in deep,” I said. “I can’t be. I think it’s just a weird obsession. You’ve seen her. She’s gorgeous and so full of life. Like holding a live wire.”

He laughed. “Yeah, that doesn’t sound dangerous at all.”

“Exactly,” I groaned. “She’s just the polar opposite of my ex-wife. I know I can’t be with her, but dammit, I want her again.”

Jude’s eyes scanned my face, absorbing the sincerity in my words. “Then you’ve got to decide, Ryker. What’s it gonna be? Your feelings for her or your loyalty to Mo and your career?”

My throat tightened at his words. There were no easy answers. Sarah was like a magnetic force I couldn’t resist. But I had to believe it would pass. At least for one of us. She was so much younger than I was.

“I don’t even know how she feels about this,” I confessed, running a hand through my hair. “And I can’t exactly ask without making things more complicated. I think she just wanted to get laid. Not to brag, but I’m kind of a big deal. She saw me as a target. She set her sights on me and that was that.”

“Do you really believe that?”