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“Fallon’s in there. We’ll see you after, alright?”

“Sir, yes, sir.” I saluted, wiggling my hips.

Wiggling. My. Hips.

Sometimes, I wondered what was wrong with me.

Asher smiled kindly, not commenting on my awkward dancing, before knocking on the door. A moment later, Fallon answered, face solemn. That wasn’t uncharacteristic. Our team leader was a moody bastard.

“Heard that,” Fallon muttered.

“Me Fallon. I grunt.” I lowered my voice in an admittedly poor impersonation of the man before me. It had the desired reaction: his face softened instantly and a smile dusted his face.

Pecking Asher on the cheek goodbye, I followed Fallon into a candlelit room. It had a single king-sized bed, a desk, a television and television stand, and a connected bathroom.

It was the bed Fallon sat on, twiddling his thumbs anxiously. It was shocking enough to see Fallon in a setting as mundane as a hotel room, but seeing him nervous? That was something I thought I would never see.

“You wanted to talk to me?” I asked, suddenly timid and unsure.

Was he breaking up with me?

Could he even break up with me when we were never officially dating?

Think of the children. What would we tell them?

“We don’t have children, Addie.” His lips twitched.

“I meant our nonexistent children. Obviously.” I waved a hand dismissively before joining him on the bed. Immediately, he grabbed my hand and began to play with my fingers.

That wasnotsomething you would do if you were planning on breaking up with a person, right?

“I’m not breaking up with you,” Fallon said quietly. His entire attention was riveted on my lean fingers. His hand engulfed mine, skin a few shades darker than my own pasty coloring.

Tension I hadn’t even known I’d been carrying seeped out of me. My shoulders visibly relaxed, and I shifted closer to Fallon.

“So…?”

He took a deep, shuddering breath. His eyes snapped closed, and his hand went to pinch the bridge of his nose. I might’ve believed he was annoyed with me if he hadn’t suddenly opened his eyes, allowing me to glimpse the anguish and fear.

Worry slammed into me. “What is it? What’s wrong?”

“I’m going to tell you something, but I’m afraid you’ll hate me.” His voice cracked at that. The unbreakable Sarge, the commanding leader, was scared.

He was...broken.

“I’ll never hate you.”

Another deep exhale left his chapped lips. His hand tightened over mine.

“I was engaged.”

His words were biting, fast, nearly inarticulate, but I heard them as if he had screamed.

“What?” I asked, blinking at him.

“I was engaged until two weeks after I met you.”

His words made my breath leave me. My heart ricocheted up a notch inside my chest.Thump. Thump. Thump.