Page 63 of Broken Love

“Well, yeah. I’m from Oklahoma,” I say. He laughs. “Where I’m from, every girl dreams that someday they’ll get out of this dump, move to Broadway or Hollywood, become some big star, and everyone who ever wronged them would end up shining their shoes.”

“Did you?”

“Yeah,” I say, forcing a lazy shrug. I gesture around. “Obviously, not every dream comes true.”

He gazes back at me, pausing to let the words sink in. “I guess I can relate to that.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

“You didn’t dream of getting trapped out in the Afghani desert and almost dying of heat exposure?”

“I can’t say I did.” His laugh fades and he bites the edge of his mouth. “I guess it hasn’t been all bad, right?”

I give a short smile, feeling a sharp, pleasurable twinge in my core. “I guess not.”

His eyes fall to my lips, but he quickly looks away and stands up off the cot. “Well, I won’t bother you anymore,” he says. “I just wanted to clear the air and all that…”

“Boxcar.”

“What?”

I stand up, ignoring every ounce of regret screaming inside of me as I touch my lips to his cheek. When I pull back, his eyes are twice as wide as before. He blinks quickly to hide it.

“I just wanted to do that,” I tell him.

“Cool,” he says, smiling and shrugging his shoulders. “Hey, I’m gonna grab some dinner. You wanna join me?”

“Don’t push it.”

He spins around, grinning wide. “It was worth a shot.”

My own smile spreads, this one far too intense to hold back.

This damn guy. No matter how hard I try to distance myself from him, he keeps pulling me right back in.

He wanders out of the tent, leaving me alone with a very real and peculiar sense of being watched.

“Well, that was interesting.”

I jolt as Fox walks into the tent. “How long have you been out there?” I ask.

He smirks. “Since The Lion King.”

I sigh. “It’s not what it looks like.”

“Liar.”

“We’re friends.”

“No, you and I are friends.” He grins. “You two are not friends.”

I scoff. “Shut up.”

He chuckles and plops down onto his cot as I sit on mine. “I’m not poking fun here, Cal. I think it’s great. Maybe a little irresponsible given the setting, but… great.”

“Exactly,” I say. “This could be very bad for both of us.”

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