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Rivers’ phone gets dropped to the bed as he grabs hold of me and rolls us until he’s hovering above me and looking down at me with a smile so wide that it lights up his eyes. “Are you asking me to move in with you?”
“I, um…no. That’s not what I was saying, but…I mean, I guess so. I’m just suggesting that there’s no rush to buy a place. We have here to live and I want to be where you are, though, it’s just a small apartment and not exactly great for…”
“Having a family?” he questions with a teasing grin.
“Yeah.”
Rivers’ lips come down on mine and he kisses me with everything that he’s got before slowly rising back up and gazing deep into my eyes. “You want to have a family with me?”
“Well, I mean, not right this very second, but one day…definitely.”
He smiles. “I’m going to give you the whole fucking world, babe. Anything you want, I’m going to make it happen.”
“I know,” I tell him. “I…”
Rivers’ phone ringing on the bed cuts me off and he groans, hating that this moment is getting interrupted. “Sorry, babe,” he sighs, reaching across the bed for his phone to silence it, only as he flips it over to see the screen, his brows dip down low. “Shit. I should take this,” he says, rolling off me.
“It’s fine,” I tell him, watching on in concern as he sits up in bed and hits the accept button.
Rivers brings the phone to his ear. “Hello,” he says. There’s a slight pause before he continues. “Yes, Sir. This is Samuel Rivers.”
His tone tells me exactly what I need to know; the man on the other end is someone of importance within the military. Worry grips me and I find myself latching onto Rivers’ arm as I listen to the barely audible, muffled voice on the other end. It’s too quiet for me to figure out what’s being said, but the way Rivers’ eyes flick back to mine with nothing but regret has my heart racing in my chest.
“Yes, Sir. I understand. I’ll be there.” There’s another short silence. “Thank you, Sir. Goodbye.”
With that, Rivers ends the call with his hands falling into his lap. “What?” I demand as the regret in his eyes shine brighter and brighter by the second. “What is it?”
Rivers shakes his head as he watches me and I’ve never seen someone look quite so defeated. My heart starts to sprint as the dread begins to weigh on me. He reaches for my hand, lacing his fingers through mine before closing his eyes and pulling me into his chest. “I’m so sorry,” he says, completely broken. “My presence is required on another mission. I’ll be deployed tomorrow afternoon. They need me on the next flight.”
A long breath comes sailing out of me. “What?” I say as tears instantly begin to fill my eyes. “How…why? You…you just go home.”
Rivers squeezes me. “I know.”
“How long?”
He shakes his head and I feel the movement of his chin skimming across the top of my hair. “I don’t know, Tullz. It could be a few months or it could be more. It depends on the mission.”
“No,” I cry. “This isn’t fair. I only just got you back.”
Rivers hand soothes up and down my back before he lays us down and holds me in his arms. “I don’t know what to tell you,” he murmurs. “I’ve just spent the last few weeks promising you that I’m home for good and that I’m not going anywhere and just when I get you back, I have to leave.”
Tears stream down my face. “Why you? Surely, there must be someone else they can get.”
Rivers lets out a deep breath and is silent for a moment before giving me a gentle squeeze. “I’m a sniper, Tullz, and a really fucking good one at that. Only a few can shoot as accurately as I can. I have a set of skills with guns and a certain talent for going into battle and being able to leave my emotions out of it. I guess I have my father to thank for that.” He lets out a sigh. “I’m going to be debriefed in full tomorrow, but there have been some major casualties in a deployed unit that require emergency back-up. They’re in a tight position and require me to help complete their mission.”
My head whirls with that information. He’s a snipper, and a fucking good one, and now that skill has him being deployed into a dangerous situation. Where are all the other snippers at? Why couldn’t they have chosen one of them? Surely, Rivers isn’t the only one available right now.
But the bigger question is, how did the sniper they were already using become a casualty?
Rivers wipes the tears off the side of my face. “Tullz…are you alright?”
