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“But you could have made it work if youreallywanted to go. Your CO had a baby last year; how many times you babysit that snot?”
I scowl. “They’ve never asked. I would… I mean… Maybe I could…” I’ve developed a stutter. “I don’t know how to look after a baby!”
“I’m just saying, your family is your family. I get that. I love the guys I work with too. I love them dearly, and would lay my life down for them. But while you love them, you’re still guarded when around them. Eleven years in that station, Lib. Have you ever mentioned Theo to them? It’s clear you didn’t meet two weeks ago, and when I asked, he told me a different story to the one you screamed about while half-naked in my living room.”
“What did he say?”
“That he’s been in love with you since you were children, and that if I wanted to keep my hands, they were to never touch you again. So if you’ve been his for decades, why does your squad not know about him? Why did you volunteer to work today, rather than attend that wedding? Why did you snuggle into his lap when you were hurt, despite swearing that you didn’t know him? Why can’t you admit he’s the very spark to your fire, and without him, there are no more flames?”
“Drake, I–”
“It’s not shameful to admit weakness, Elizabeth. It’s not such a bad thing to have a vulnerability, so long as your weak side is the side he guards. Stop being so fucking stubborn all the damn time. You know that man is waiting for you, and you know he’ll give you anything you want.”
“Drake, I can’t!”
“You say he ran first,” he pushes on, “but maybe he spent all that time waiting for you to find him? He was just a boy, no? Maybe he was waiting for you, and maybe he’s waiting for you now. You’re the one breaking his heart. I know that if I looked at you the way he does, and you said no purely because of stubbornness and pride, I wouldn’t be able to function. I’m just saying…” He pauses. “There’s a strong possibility that you’re the villain in this story, babe.”
