PROLOGUE
My brother, Camden, and I might’ve been twins, but we were complete opposites. I was all muscle and brawn with a fiery temper, while he was intelligent and athletic and had an irresistible charm that made him the legendary “boy next door.”
I was into the thrill of Talladega Speedway.
Camden was all about college football.
I loved motorcycles.
He was into the classics, especially our dad’s old Mustang. However, we had one thing in common—one thing that prevented us from fighting at every turn—our best friend and neighbor, Mia Richardson.
We were ten when Mia moved in next door, and from the second we laid eyes on her, we were both hooked. She was tall and slender with long, straight, jet-black hair and the bluest eyes either of us had ever seen, but it was her smile that knocked us both right on our asses.
I don’t know how it happened, but the three of us clicked in a way that didn’t make sense to anyone—not even us. I couldn’t explain it—at least not where anyone would really understand. Our lives were like an ultimate cheesy chick flick where the guy and girl were best friends and spent every waking moment together. There was lots of laughing and sappy, sentimental moments and senseless teenage fighting, lighthearted makeups, and everything in between.
That was us—except it wasn’t just one guy and one girl.
It was the three of us.
Mia, Camden, and me.
We were a disaster waiting to happen, but none of us seemed to notice or care.
Mia and I shared a few intimate moments—a drunken kiss or two, an admittance of feelings while under the influence; I was always hopeful that there’d be more between us but never pushed. I figured the same thing had happened between her and Camden.
I’d seen the way she looked at him and the way he looked at her. But we never talked about it. None of us did. One would’ve thought our mutual affection for the same woman could’ve driven a wedge between two brothers, but for some strange reason, it didn’t. It was as if she was the glue that held us together—until one decision destroyed everything we had.
Things started to change when we graduated high school.
Unlike Camden and Mia, I hadn’t enrolled in college or had a career mapped out for myself. In fact, I had no plan at all. On the other hand, my brother knew exactly what he wanted to do from start to finish, and I envied him for that.
I took some time to consider my options, and after a lengthy discussion with my father, he suggested that I join the military. At first, I thought he was crazy, but then I thought about Mia.
The way she looked at Camden was filled with intrigue and pride whenever he talked about becoming a lawyer. I wanted her to look at me like that. Not him.
The following day I took the ASVAB and the physical exam. When I met with the career counselor, I learned that I had scored high enough to enlist in not only the Army but every branch of the military and had various choices in careers—something I hadn’t expected after my experience in high school.
I waited until the last minute to tell Mia about my decision to join the Army, not because I was afraid she’d change my mind; I didn’t want her to worry about me during her last few days of summer break. I was helping her put her beach bag in the back of Camden’s car when I finally said, “I got somethin’ to tell ya.”
“Okay?” She turned to face me. “What is it?”
“I’ve decided to enlist.”
“What?”
“I’m joining the Army.”
“The Army? Where is this coming from?”
“You and Camden both have your college thing. Figure it’s time for me to have something of my own.”
“You’ve never even mentioned joining the military before.”
“Doesn’t mean I haven’t been thinking about it.”
Mia studied me for a moment like she was searching for the right words but couldn’t find them. I had no idea what was going through that pretty little head of hers, but I knew it wasn’t good. She was freaking out, and I had no idea what to say to set her mind at ease. After several minutes, she finally muttered, “I want you to do what makes you happy, but I don’t like the idea of you going off to the military.”
“What do you expect me to do, Mia? Work at the hardware store for the rest of my life?”
“I don’t see why not. You like working there.”
I shook my head. “Yeah, but it doesn’t pay shit. I’ll never be able to afford—”
I was about to say something I feared I’d regret, so I quickly clamped my mouth shut and stared down at the laces on my boots. Mia stepped closer, and the tone in her voice gutted me as she whispered, “What will I do without you around? You’re the only one who keeps me sane.”
“Oh, come on. You can still hang with Camden.” I gave her a reassuring wink. “Besides, you’ll be leaving for school in a couple of days anyway and won’t even know I’m gone.”
“That’s not true, and you know it,” she fussed. “I’ll miss you all the time, and if you’re off somewhere in the Army, I’ll never get to see you.”
“I’ll get to come home on leave ... And I’ll call, and we can write to each other.”
“You write?” she scoffed. “That’s a good one.”
“I’ll write, I promise, and you better write me back.”
“Of course, I will.” Tears filled her eyes. “What if you’re deployed and something happens to you?”
“Don’t do that. Nothing’s gonna happen to me, Mia.”
“You don’t know that. Crazy things happen all the time. I couldn’t take it if—”
Before she could finish her thought, Camden came barreling out the back door with a cooler in one hand and his sunglasses in the other. He walked up and threw his arm over Mia’s shoulder and asked, “Everything okay over here?”
“Thatcher’s just informed me that he’s decided to join the Army.”
“Oh, he finally got around to telling ya, huh?”
She whipped around to Camden with furrowed brows. “You knew and didn’t say anything?”
“Don’t go gettin’ riled up at me! It wasn’t my place to tell.” Camden took a step back with a scolding look. “Besides, this is good news. Thatch has finally found his thing.”
“So, you’re okay with this?”
“Hell, yeah.” I was surprised by the encouraging tone in my brother’s voice. After four years at MTSU, he had plans to attend Belmont Law School. Once he was done, he’d be well on his way to becoming some fancy-assed lawyer, so I would’ve thought he’d snub his nose at my choice of joining the military. Thankfully, he didn’t. A proud smile crossed his face as he looked over to me and announced, “I think it’s great.”
Stunned, Mia studied Camden for a moment, then turned her attention back to me. “Are you sure about this?”
“I wouldn’t have enlisted if I wasn’t.” I reached over and gave her one of my brotherly hugs, then said, “Those beers aren’t gonna get any colder. Now, get your ass in the car.”