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Ryker thought he might throw up.

“Excuse me, but don’t you run a high-end restaurant that serves gourmet food?”

“What’s your point?” He knew her eyes were squinting.

“No point. Your dinner sounds delicious. Please tell me that the t-shirt is from an event, and not store-bought.”

“I told you that it was the oldest t-shirt I own, didn’t I? Of course, it’s from an event. It’s Green Day. What about you?”

“The oldest is Rascal Flatts. My little sister bought it for me when I took her to their concert when she was fifteen. I still wear it over to her house and tell her kids stories about how their mom stood up on the stadium chair and screamed her head off.”

Amy giggled. “Do you really do that?”

“Absolutely.”

Ryker liked telling Amy about Carmen, plus it helped him stop thinking about cherry lemon drop soda.

They kept talking for another hour. It was one of the best hours of his life. He never knew what was going to pop out of her mouth next, and she knew a little bit about everything.

“So what was it like growing up in Baltimore? I have trouble imagining growing up in a city like that, considering I grew up in the burbs near the Pacific ocean.”

“Cramped. People were everywhere, you never had a moment’s peace.”

“If you felt that way about it, why did you move to D.C.? Why not someplace with wide-open spaces?”

“By the time I was ready to move out, I was acclimated to cities, they were my natural habitat. D.C. at least had better opportunities for me, and I was able to get better jobs, better tips, and eventually an apartment all on my own in a place where I didn’t room with a rat.”

“What made your roommate a rat? What did they do?”

Amy laughed, and Ryker shivered. “Ryker, I’m talking about an actual rat. The landlord never would call an exterminator, so I pretended he was that rat from that movie and I called him Fabien. But as soon as I had a shot at that better apartment, I took it, and I did not invite Fabian to go with me! What about you? Why did you decide on the military? It was just the one older brother who went in, and he went into the Marines, right? Why did you choose the Navy? Why not college like your other older brother?”

“I didn’t have the grades.”

Amy snorted.

“What does that mean?”

“Something tells me you had the test scores, though, right?”

“Maybe,” he reluctantly admitted. “But by the time I was a senior, I’d had enough of school. I didn’t like this idea of studying about things when I could be out there, doing things, you know?”

“Yeah, I get it. That’s why I only have an associate’s degree at this point. But I’m working on an undergrad degree online.”

“In all your spare time, right?”

“Hey, it can’t always be popcorn and pickles.”

“Amy, you’re kind of making me sick to my stomach.”

“Don’t change the subject, SEAL-boy. Why the Navy, why SEALs?”

“It’s the ultimate ‘doing.’ It’s the ultimate in getting things done and helping. Yeah, a lot of us are adrenaline junkies, don’t get me wrong, but every single one of us wants to do right by our country and we sincerely want to help others. The ones who don’t, they eventually find their way out.”

“Lark said that you all are as close as brothers, is that true?”

“Jerrod, Derek, Luka, and Wiley will always be my brothers, but yeah, in some ways, because of the shit that I’ve been through with the Omega Sky team, our bond is even deeper.” Then he paused, remembering watching Derek toe off his sneakers and dive into the water. “Maybe that’s not quite right. I went through some serious shit with Derek by my side, so that bond is like steel, too.”

“Oh,” Amy cleared her throat. “Now I understand why no college.”