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“He sent a picture,” I blurted. And then, I silently cursed, squeezing my eyes shut. Whythe fuckhad I announced that?
“Ooooh!” Jayden squealed. I winced, pulling the phone from my face and rubbing at my ear. “Youhaveto send him one back!”
“I don’thaveto do anything,” I retorted, the phone back at my ear again.
Jayden huffed. “Stop being a pain in the ass, Draven.”
I snorted. “Coming from the resident brat,” I hit back. “Fine. I’ll send a picture.”
“And make it a decent one,” Cam added. I huffed. These two were asking a lot of me. “We know how you are, Draven.”
“I don’t know why I called either of you,” I grumbled, staring at Ethan’s picture and letter again. “Fine. I’ll include adecentpicture of myself.”
And hopefully, I wouldn’t regret it. Because Ethan didn’t seem like the kind of person to let go. In fact, I had a feeling a picture of me would only make him latch on tighter.
Fucking hell.
CHAPTER2
Ethan
Itoweled my hair dry before hanging the towel up in my locker so it wouldn’t mildew. Draven’s letter was sitting on my pillow, ready for me to open it. I’d wanted to open it as soon as Nikolai had done mail call, but I knew I needed to get a shower before everyone else hopped in and took all the decently warm water.
Hot water showers weren’t a thing here, really. I couldn’t fucking wait to be home. I missed it more and more every day.
“How busy are the showers?” Amree asked as he stepped into the room and opened his locker. Amree was one of my best friends, and he was also one of the best guys I knew. He kept the life in us when we were on deployment.
“Filling up when I left,” I told him. “So, I’d get your ass in there.”
“Showers are full,” Nikolai announced as he stepped into our room. “I checked on my way down the hall. Be better to just wait.” Nikolai was my other best friend. He was a damn good guy, and while he could be a bit of an asshole, I knew it was just because life had hardened him. And he was trying to keep the rest of us toughened up against the shit that could happen out here.
I climbed onto my bunk and grabbed the envelope off my pillow before pulling it open. My notebook was resting on my mattress, ready for me to write him back just as soon as—
Holy shit.
Draven had included a picture of himself. Despite how much he clearly didn’t want to be part of this and that he was only doing it for his best friend, he’d sent me a picture.
And he was fucking hot as hell.
His hair was black, the front of his hair chin length and split down the middle, but it was clear that he’d run his fingers through it, making it fall just right so it perfectly framed his face. Dark eyes stared back at me, hard and unflinching. His jaw was obviously clenched, and damn, it was a strong jaw. His lips were a little too big for his face, but fuck, I knew they’d be soft.
I’d never wanted to kiss anyone more in my life.
He was tall and slim, but he’d still be shorter than me for sure. Chains dangled from his black skinny jeans, and he was wearing a leather jacket over his black t-shirt. Knee-high black boots with thick soles and a gazillion buckles covered his feet.
I’d never had a thing for goth boys, butfuck, I had a thing for this one.
He wasbeautiful.
I’d never believed in love at first sight, but I was starting to.
I set his picture aside and pulled out his letter. It was only a tad bit longer than the last one, and a smirk tilted my lips.
Until I read his letter. Then, it fell off.
Ethan,
I didn’t want to write you back or send you a picture, but my best friends convinced me that I should give this a chance…whatever this is. Even if we become nothing more than friends.
