Page 32 of Wild Hearts

"Wow. What happened?" She took a large bite of her pizza.

"I enlisted."

She chewed and swallowed. "You broke up with her?"

"Yeah."

Her brow furrowed. "Why?"

"Because I was leaving, and it didn't seem fair to try the long-distance thing."

Her forehead wrinkled. "You didn't break up because she wasn't the one for you?"

"It was the hardest thing I've ever done. I didn't want to hurt her, but I knew I needed to do this for me. I wanted the structure of the military, and I wanted to make something of myself."

Dakota finished her slice and set the crust down. "Have you talked to her about it since you've been back?"

"She doesn't want to talk about it."

"Huh."

I rolled my shoulders back to ease the tension. "What?"

"It could be she doesn't want to talk about it because it still causes her pain."

"You don't think she's already moved on and doesn't want to relive the past?" Why was I asking a thirteen-year-old for relationship advice?

"Maybe. But I think if she can't talk about it, then there's still something there."

Hope surged through me. Is that what I wanted? Another chance with the one I walked away from?

She grinned. "The question is what are you going to do about it?"

"I don't know." But my mind was racing with possibilities.

"You still like her."

"I never wanted to break up with her."

Dakota reached for another slice. "Does she know that?"

"No." I never told anyone. The other soldiers were good about not asking questions.

She tipped her head to the side, her ponytail swinging. "Don't you think you should tell her?"

I shook my head. "She doesn't want to hear about it."

"I think you haven't tried hard enough."

"How do you know so much about dating?" I asked before taking a large bite of my slice.

Dakota rolled her eyes. "Mom dated."

"She never married?"

"She said I was her focus."

I felt badly that her mother hadn't searched for happiness with someone else.

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