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“Mom said she was heartbroken after she told her you were never going to be interested in her, and not just because she’s like, ten years younger than you.”

“At least I stopped you from telling her,” Dean said, remembering the previous Easter when they’d both been given leave and had flown to visit Sloane’s family.

“I still think it would have been funny if I had.”

Sloane’s version of funny was likely a lot different from Shawna’s. Despite loving his time around such a vibrant and warm family, Dean hadn’t been blind to the teenage girl’s flirtations with him. Everyone else had been aware of Shawna’s feelings, but unlike Dean, Sloane and his mother had found it absolutely hilarious. It had certainly made Easter dinner more awkward, but Dean still counted it as the best Easter he’d ever had.

Dean rinsed his cup out. “And would you look at the time? Suddenly, I realize I have to go on shift.”

Sloane chuckled, leaning against the counter behind him with the smuggest expression possible. “How convenient.”

Dean ignored him, mainly because the sight of Sloane, cocky and sprawled out, was incredibly distracting. He shifted his attention to his neatly folded pile of clothes next to the couch and scooped them up. Dean could feel Sloane’s eyes on him the whole time, and he repressed the urge to look again. He knewfrom experience how easy it was to fall into feasting on the sight of Sloane looking impossibly handsome and casually sexy.

“You can run, but you can’t hide,” Sloane called after him.

“Tell me something I don’t know,” Dean muttered as he closed the bathroom door behind him.

SLOANE

Unable to help himself, Sloane watched the clock above the door to the guardhouse. Technology might have grown by leaps and bounds, but the military still insisted on using the cheapest things possible. That included an analog clock that monotonously ticked away in the silence.

Not that silence was easy to come by.

“I’m just saying, why take the drink and not even talk to me?” Simmons complained.

“Not her fault you’re dumb enough to buy her a drink without asking. You ask me, you’re the dumbass who got played, suck it up,” Trisha said.

“Least she could have done was shoot me down and give me the drink back.”

“Free booze.”

“Rude is what it is.”

Sloane rolled his eyes. “Have you considered that maybe your oh-so-stunning personality scared her off?”

“I didn’t even get a chance to say anything!”

Trisha chuckled. “Which is the smartest thing she could have done.”

“You guys are no help.”

Sloane snorted. “I don’t have the patience to help you with your fuck ups, and I definitely don’t want to. Try acting like a normal fucking person when you’re around a good-looking woman for once, maybe that’ll help.”

Trisha eyed him. “What happened to not helping him?”

Sloane ignored her. “And while you’re at it, act like a normal fucking person when you’re around us too. That would be nice.”

“We both know that’s not happening anytime soon,” Trisha said.

Simmons crossed his arms, slumping into his seat. “You guys suck.”

Sloane glanced at the clock, smiling. “Yeah, but only for you.”

“Why are you so happy?” Trisha asked.

Sloane nodded his head toward the clock. “That’s the end for me. I’ll leave you to deal with his pouting ass while I get the next couple of days for pure freedom.”

“Oh, great, thanks. You get his bottom lip jutting out, and now I get to deal with the fallout.”