Page 23

At some point, he’d grown a beard and started to hit the gym in the mornings before he went to work at the local McDonald’s.

He’d been made manager some months ago, and although I wasn’t sure if it was a position he’d intended to keep long-term, he was doing well, looked good, and I was happy for him for all of two minutes before I noticed the way Lucy looked at him when he approached the table.

“Hey,” he said, sitting beside her.

He smiled, allowing his eyes to linger on her for a moment too long before casting that grin across the table at Grace and me.

I narrowed my glare at him, suspicious of what exactly my best friend had been up to since I’d last been home.

I knew he’d broken up with Molly at some point.

I knew the split had been amicable, with no hard feelings between them, and I knew he’d grown pretty close with my sisters.

I’d been okay with that. He’d been keeping an eye on them for years at my request, and naturally, they were bound to get, at the very least, friendly with each other.

But suddenly, I was questioning just how friendly they’d become.

“Hey,” I replied, my tone cold and even.

“Damn, dude. You’re making me feel underdressed,” he said, gesturing toward my dress uniform. “I should’ve worn the suit I got for my granddad’s funeral.”

Despite my curiosity and skepticism, I found my laugh easily. “I didn’t have time to change.”

“Nah, man, it’s all good. I like it. Makes me feel special, like you got all dressed up for me.”

Grace laid a hand against my shoulder. “Doesn’t he look fancy?”

Lucy nodded, and it could’ve just been in my mind, but I thought I noticed her lean closer to Ricky.

“ Very handsome, Max,” she agreed. “Even Daddy was impressed.”

The reminder was enough to set her closeness to my best friend on the back burner, and my chest puffed with a sense of pride I’d never felt before in my life. Ricky glanced at me, barely looking into my eye, and I thought I caught a hint of disapproval in his gaze.

We ordered our food—burgers and fries all around—and we started to talk about this and that when my cell phone began to ring.

Few people had my number, outside of my sisters and Ricky, and I pulled it out of my breast pocket with the hope that it was Laura, only to find Sid’s name on the glowing screen of my Nokia .

“Who’s that?” Ricky asked, his brows waggling suggestively.

“Ooh, is that Laura? Tell her to come down,” Grace added.

I shook my head and tucked the phone back into my pocket. “It’s someone else. I can call back later—"

The phone began to ring again, and I groaned. It was just like Sid to call repeatedly until I finally answered, and I surveyed the table with an apology as I hit the button to accept the call.

“This is Sergeant Tailor,” I answered through gritted teeth, annoyed with him, but not entirely understanding why.

I guessed maybe I didn’t want my military life to infiltrate this rare time I had with the people from home.

Sid snorted on the other line. “So official, Sergeant. I’m gonna guess you’re still in uniform too.”

“What’s the reason for this call, Corporal?” I grumbled, glancing around the table and noticing the curious glances from my sisters and Ricky.

“I was just wondering if you had anything going on. My brother’s sick with some sniffly bullshit, my mom’s busy with … whatever the hell she’s doing, and my uncle is sleeping, so I’m kinda bored out of my damn mind.”

Sighing, I ran a hand over my hair. I had said we could hang out while I was at home—hell, I wanted to. But I hadn’t expected it to happen the first night I was back. Still, I felt guilty, thinking about him on his own when he should’ve been spending time with people who cared that he was home .

“Give me a second,” I said, then held the phone to my shoulder as I asked the table, “Would you guys mind if I invited a friend of mine?”

Now, I hadn’t expected any of them to flat-out say no, but to see the looks of eager excitement blanket all their faces was startling.

“Wait, is he one of your Army buddies?” Lucy asked, sitting up straighter.

“Yeah, he’s one of the guys in my squad.”

“Uh, correction there, Serg. I’m your right-hand man,” Sid cut in, his voice muffled by my shoulder.

Shut up, Sid , I thought to myself, even if he was right.

Sid had special training as a sniper spotter while I was a shooter. I needed him, and he needed me.

Together, we made a team. A valuable one.

“Of course he can come!” Grace said. “You don’t even have to ask.”

I glanced at Ricky, looking for his approval, and he widened his eyes, as if to say, Duh, dude, like I’d ever say no.

So, I took my phone off my shoulder and gave Sid the name of the burger place. I asked if he wanted instructions, and he said he was quite capable of using MapQuest, then hung up.

Three minutes later, he was walking through the door with the grace of a bull in a china shop, wearing baggy jeans and a sweatshirt with a Breaking Benjamin logo printed on the front.

“Civilian Serg!” he crowed, heading straight for our table and clapping a hand against my shoulder. “Bro, I was joking about the uniform. What the hell is wrong with you?”

I ignored the jab and swept my gaze around the table. “Guys, this is Corporal Sidney Sprague,” I said. “Sid, this is my friend Ricky and my sisters, Lucy and Grace.”

Ricky was the first to extend his hand. “Hey, man, nice to meet you.”

Sid’s face lit up with an even wider grin as he accepted the gesture. “You too, Rick.”

It was surreal to watch them shake hands as two completely separate parts of my life came together. And after Lucy said hi and Sid shifted his sights to acknowledge Grace, it was even more surreal to watch my little sister’s eyes light up with immediate interest.

“Hi,” she said on a held breath, holding her hand out across me.

“Well, hello there,” Sid replied as his hand engulfed hers right in front of my face.

One side of his mouth lifted in a sheepish half smile as he inclined his head toward me, never taking his eyes off Grace’s flirtatious stare.

“Serg, I knew you had sisters, but, dude, you never told me they were drop-dead gorgeous .”

“Must’ve slipped my mind, Corporal,” I mumbled, shooting him a warning glare that I hoped said, Back the fuck up .

Sid caught my eye and cleared his throat immediately, dropping her hand and wiping his palms against his jeans. Then he swiped a menu from an adjacent table .

“Well, move on over, Serg,” he said, nudging my shoulder with his knuckles. “I’m fuckin’ starving.”

***

“So, then Serg over here”—Sid jabbed his thumb in my direction—“looks up at the lieutenant—on his hands and knees, remember, his face fuckin’ green —and all he can say is, ‘With all due respect, sir,’ before barfing all over this asshole’s freshly polished shoes.”

Ricky and my sisters broke into a bubbly round of laughter.

I didn’t want to join them—the embarrassment was almost too much to bear—but the moment Sid started cackling beside me, draping his arm around my shoulders like he couldn’t hold himself up, I couldn’t help it.

I leaned forward and laid a hand over my eyes, remembering that unfortunate night when a group of us had been struck with a heinous bout of food poisoning.

Then I sat up abruptly, holding up a finger, and said, “Actually, that’s not entirely true. I don’t think I managed to say sir .”

“Oh yeah, I think you’re right. I think it was more like, s-s-s- sirrr —"

He made a retching sound, hunching over the table with his arm holding his gut, and the group of us busted out into another fit of laughter.

Tears streamed from my eyes as I tried to regain my composure, with Sid’s arm wrapped around my shoulders like we’d been best pals our entire lives, and it struck me how good this was.

How right and natural it felt for him to be here, included in the small group of people I gave a shit about at home .

And despite what I’d said to him just days earlier, I suddenly wanted him to meet Laura. I wanted her to know him and see that I was capable of having a good, real companionship with someone … even if it wasn’t romantic. Even if it wasn’t with her.

Then Grace and Lucy looked at each other.

Grace sighed, and Lucy said, “I think we should probably get going. We have to wake up early for school.”

Ricky nodded. “Yeah, me too.” Then he glanced at me and asked, “You wanna hang around for a little longer? I can drive them home.”

I hesitated, looking between my sisters and then at Sid, and I realized that, yeah, I did want to stay. I didn’t want this time to end just yet. I wanted to hang out and shoot the shit with my friend and enjoy myself without the pressure of a regimented schedule getting in the way.

So, I glanced across at Lucy, then at Grace, and asked, “Do you guys mind?”

They shook their heads almost immediately.

“Of course not!” Grace said, wrapping both of her arms around mine. “We’ll have plenty of time to hang out over the next few days. You guys have fun.”

“All right,” I conceded, nodding, swinging my gaze to Ricky’s. “Make sure they get home safe.”

He huffed a chuckle, already sliding out of the booth with Lucy close behind. “Dude, you act like this is my first rodeo. Keeping an eye on them might as well be my second job.”

Lucy playfully swatted at his shoulder. “You make it sound like a chore to be around us. ”

“I would never,” he insisted sardonically, pretending to scowl before grinning. “Come on, ladies. Your chariot awaits. Max, you still have your key to the apartment?”

“You know it,” I said, patting my pants pocket to make my keys jingle inside, knowing that at least one of them would unlock some place I was welcome.

“All right, let’s roll.”