“Before Starch.”
“Not since?”
“I don’t think so. Why? Are you tired of me already?”
“Yes, but that’s not the point.”
“What is the point?”
“I was just wondering…”
“The good kind of wondering, or the ‘I think we should see other people’ type of wondering?”
“Really? And what other people would I be seeing at the end of the world? Blaine? Danny? Maddie?”
“Maddie?”
“What, you think I should limit myself to just the boys?”
“Then why not include Carly?”
“Gross. She’s like my little sister.”
“I’m just saying, if we’re already going there…”
“That’s disgusting, Will. Don’t ever talk about me and Carly like that again.”
“A guy can dream, can’t he?”
“Only if he’s Danny.”
“Gotcha.”
“Anyway, I was wondering…about this thing we have. You and me.”
“What about it?”
“It’s been good. This thing.”
She saw a ghost of a smile creasing his lips in the semidarkness. “You’re not trying to get me to buy you a ring and make this official, are you?” he asked.
“Perish the thought. Besides, where would we find a minister?”
“Whew, escaped the noose by the skin of my nose.”
“Oh, that’s funny.”
She punched him as hard as she could in the chest. He laughed it off, grabbed her by the shoulders, and reversed their positions until she was lying on the bed underneath him. He kissed her, then pulled back a bit to trace the length of her breasts with his fingers as if they had all the time in the world.
She loved these moments. The quiet and solitude of the island, especially in the evenings, was a gift she was determined not to waste. To have someone to share it with, someone who had been through everything she had, made it all the more special.
Please, God, don’t take this away from us.
Lara watched his face, letting herself become lost in his soft-brown eyes. They didn’t speak for a while. It used to drive her crazy, the way he could be silent for so long. Will could do that. He was so unlike Danny in that respect. Unless someone was shooting at them — and even then — Danny always felt a need to fill the void. Will, on the other hand, could look at her in the darkness for hours without saying a word.
“By the way,” she said, “you still owe me one.”
“I do?”
“Oh, right, you forgot. Give me a break. You didn’t forget when you reminded me it was your turn last time.”
He laughed. “I’m going to take your word for it.”
“Trust me, you definitely owe me one.”
“I was hoping you’d let me get away with it. After all, I am leaving the island for who knows how long.”
“Nice try. Now get down there.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
He kissed her on the lips, then moved down to her breasts. By the time he was at her belly, the last remaining light in the room had begun to fade and she was only aware of Will, existing in this space with her, at this moment.
His touch against her skin, the warmth of his breath against her belly…
As he continued moving southbound, she sighed into the darkness, closed her eyes tightly, and found his shoulders somewhere around her waist. She held on and tried to make the night last as long as possible.
CHAPTER 3
GABY
She was happy. The last time she was this happy was when she finally hit something with the M4. After that first hit, it was all uphill. It was like sex that way — once you got it over with the first time, the second — and third, and fourth, and fifth — times came naturally.
Training on the M4 and the Glock with Will and Danny were some of the best times of her life. For the first month, it was almost exclusively Will, with Danny still recuperating from his wounds. Will didn’t so much as teach her to become a soldier as he taught her how to become more. More than she had ever thought she was capable of, or realized she had the potential to become.
“Muscle memory,” he had told her. “When you can do it without thinking about it, that’s when you can stop.”
By the end of the second month, Will had enough faith in her abilities to give her overwatch duty when either he or Danny were occupied elsewhere. She became, essentially, the third most valuable shooter on the island, and Gaby didn’t take the job lightly. Their trust in her put her on a high that she still hadn’t come down from yet.
So when Will came to her room last night and asked how she would feel about coming with him to the hospital with Jen, it was all she could do not to blurt out, “Hell yeah.”
She was packing for the trip the next morning when Danny showed up. He had a palm full of blueberries, one of the island’s more abundant fruits, and his mouth and hands were already stained with blue and purple juices. From a distance, Danny could have passed for an old teenager and not a thirty-year-old ex-Army Ranger.
“Ready to go?” he asked.
“Almost.” She stuffed only the bare essentials into the field pack she was bringing with her — a pair of shirts, pants, underwear, and socks — before filling the rest of the space with spare magazines for the Glock and M4 that she couldn’t fit into the pouches around her waist.
“Your first field work.”
“Got any advice?”
“Stay close to Will and do what he says.”
“That’s it?”
“What were you expecting? Something more Mr. Miyagi-like?”
“Who?”
“Mr. Miyagi.”
“I don’t know who that is.”
He grunted. “Never mind.”
“What else?”
“Always use a condom.”
“My mother could have told me that.”
“Don’t go into the barn.”
“The barn?”
“It’s tough getting hay out of ass cracks.”
“Good to know.”
“And finally, always follow the Army Ranger creed: It’s not your job to die for your country, it’s your job to make the other guy die for his.”
“That’s the Army Ranger creed?”
“Of course. Would I lie to you?”
“Yes.”
“I’m hurt.” Danny touched his chest, then went the extra mile and slid down the wall and let his hands flop away, the berries spilling onto the floor.
“Finally, he shuts up,” Gaby said. She slung her pack, grabbed her M4 off the bed, and stepped over Danny on her way out into the hall. “You’re cleaning up my carpet before you go.”
“Yes, ma’am,” he said after her.
She found Lara on the patio outside the hotel, watching Will, Blaine, and Maddie loading three heavy green ammo cans into Jen’s helicopter.
Lara smiled at her. “Excited, afraid, a little bit of both?”
“A little bit of both, but mostly excited.”
“You’ll do great.”
“Thanks.”
Of all the people on the island, it was easiest for her to bond with Lara. The fact that they could have passed for sisters didn’t hurt. Gaby was a few inches taller, but they had almost the exact same blonde hair, except Gaby kept hers tied in a ponytail so it wouldn’t interfere with her aim.
“Do me a favor?” Lara said. “Blonde to blonde?”
Gaby smiled. “Sure.”
“I really love him. If you could bring him back in one piece, I would really appreciate it.”
“Okay, but if he accidentally puts his hand on my thigh, can I accidentally shove my tongue down his throat?”
“Only if he puts his hand on your right thigh.”