Page 11 of Love Me Fearless

“Hutch,” I warn.

His determined expression says he’s not joking. “Nobody hurts my girls.”

“I can take care of myself.”

“Doesn’t mean I can’t help.”

Arguing this point will lead us nowhere, so I let it go.

Zach and Sofie disappear just after the taco truck arrives, and the crowd starts to thin. Kirilee and Sawyer are next, slipping into the darkness hand in hand. They pause beyond the glow from the lights to kiss under the stars, and I have to tear my eyes away. I know it’s normal to be a little bit envious of my two besties who have both found their true love, but it feels extra sharp in this moment.

Hutch returns from escorting his mom to her car and pulls me to the dance floor for the last of Cannon’s “Loving You.” “You about ready for bed?”

“You don’t have to wait for me,” I say, giving him a look.

His face stills. “You’re gonna let me end this night alone?”

I give his chest a little shove. “You could use the practice.”

“Ouch, Greely, that hurts.”

I poke him in the side. “Good.”

From his pocket comes a steady chirping. Hutch slips out his phone, an edge of worry in his eyes. “Gimme a sec, okay?” he says to me.

“Of course.”

Hutch hurries past the dance floor and lifts the phone to his ear. “Hey,” he says in a soothing tone.

I drift to one of the tables under the tent and grab a bottle ofwater to drink while I wait. But minutes pass, and now that I’m sitting, my exhaustion might as well be a tree growing roots. From my spot, I can’t see Hutch. Maybe it’s his commanding officer calling with some critical mission details. Maybe it’s his younger sister, Beth, thirteen going on twenty and sassy as the day is long. There’s also the very real possibility that it’s a booty call from one of his Finn River standbys.

With a sigh, I roll to my feet and head down the path lit by paper lanterns. When I reach the row of cabins, all the lights are off, but I catch the occasional murmur of voices and soft groans coming through the windows of Kirilee and Sawyer’s.

With a sigh, I slip inside my cabin and close the windows so their serenading doesn’t keep me awake. Plus it was cold last night. Hutch likes it that way but it was like sleeping in an ice box. I had to get out the extra blankets.

Though I take my time getting ready for bed, Hutch still isn’t back when I step from the bathroom. When I fill my water glass from the tap, my eyes are drawn to the end of the dock and the broad-shouldered silhouette I’d know anywhere. It’s Hutch, sitting alone in the darkness.

I throw on a sweatshirt and pick up the bottle of water I grabbed for him and walk to the dock. Hutch must hear me coming, but he doesn’t turn around.

I settle in next to him and offer the bottle of water. “Hey.”

He cracks the lid and guzzles a long sip. “Sorry I left you hanging.”

“You okay?”

He nods. Over the dark lake surface zoom a pair of birds, their wings fluttering.

I gaze up at the sky so bright with dazzling stars the constellations look crowded.

“It was Luke. He’s going through a rough time.”

Luke Ballard and Hutch have been tight since their training andit’s only grown stronger thanks to being paired together on several missions. “You feel like sharing?”

He leans back on his hands. “We had a training mission that went shitways a few months ago. I’m not sure he’ll be back.”

“He was injured?”

“That’s the thing. He was the only one whodidn’tget injured.”

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