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“You mean the scorching hot desert? Yeah, for sure.” He laughed and spooned out a big chunk of vanilla. “But please, go on.”
“So it turns out Maggie’s into Tyler,” I continued. “Which was odd because she usually dated blonds, but she was going through a dark hair phase or something. Somehow she lets me know without revealing it to the guys, so I’m prepared to give Jay a shot.”
“You liked Jay better?”
“No, not at all,” I replied, thinking back. “Actually, I thought they were both equally cute.”
“So you were being a good wing-woman.”
I laughed. “I guess so, yeah.”
“And then what happened?”
Dropping my gaze, I plunged my spoon back into the pint and rolled it a half-turn. To my delight it came back with a good sized chunk of cookie-dough.
“What happened was fate intervened,” I smiled. “Suddenly without realizing it we were at the front of the line. The lift came up behind us, fast as hell, and the operator shoved Tyler into the seat with me.”
“And I guess the rest is history,” laughed Luca.
I let out a long, nostalgic sigh. “Yes.”
I thought back to our lift ride together: all the talking, the flirting, the laughter. Ten minutes went by like ten hours, and by the time we’d reached the summit I was totally falling for Tyler. We fell into bed that first night. By the end of the weekend we were in love.
“Wow,” Luca whistled. “Maggie must’ve been pissed.”
“She was at first,” I chuckled. “But she took to Jay quickly enough. He’s funny. Charming. Very persuasive.”
“I get it.”
“Plus he’s hot as hell, so could shereallycomplain?”
His big thigh was pressed against mine, all warm and hard beneath the blankets. I became very aware of the heat being generated down there, between our mostly naked bodies.
“And now you’ve got both of them,” he interjected smoothly. “At once.”
My stomach fluttered. Slipping my free hand beneath the blanket, I slid it high along his muscular thigh. “And then some,” I murmured.
Luca smiled and winked. “And then some.”
Our faces drifted closer, the movie forgotten. We could start kissing, and that would be it. The ice cream would go back in the freezer, the TV would go off. Luca would throw me over his shoulder and carry me up to his bed where I would be thoroughly and spectacularly laid. Just as I had been last night, and the night before.
But there was something else I wanted first. Something I needed to do, while he was in such a seemingly great mood.
“Can I ask you something?” I murmured, just before our lips touched.
“Of course.”
I nodded gently over my shoulder. “Those dogtags on the mantle back there. Whose are they?”
Luca stopped, glanced down, then settled back. His eyes flitted over to the darker shadows above the glowing firebox.
“They belonged to a man named Michael Serrano,” he said. “A fellow sniper from my squad.”
I nodded, remaining silent. Eventually Luca smirked.
“You don’t look all that surprised.”
“Well no,” I admitted, “I sort of figured you were more than just a communication’s officer. You have… nightmares sometimes.”
