Page 27 of A Very Grumpy Marine

I glare at her, but she’s not wrong.

I kissed Camden, let myself melt into him, let myself fall into something that felt dangerously close to real. And then—like an idiot—I ran.

Because Camden said helovedme.

And I wasn’t ready for that.

I mean, how could he love me? We’ve only known each other for two weeks. Two weeks! That’s not enough time for love.

Right?

I sigh, dropping my head into my hands. “Ugh. I’m such a mess.”

Lilou chuckles, patting my arm. “You’re not a mess. You’re just overthinking this. You always do.”

“I donotalways overthink things.”

She gives me a pointed look.

I groan. “Okay, fine. Maybe I do. But this is different. This is?—”

“Him?”

I look up, frowning. “What?”

“This ishim. The guy. The one you didn’t think existed.”

I swallow hard. “It’s too soon to say that.”

She tilts her head, studying me. “Is it?”

I shift uncomfortably, my stomach twisting. “I don’t know. Maybe?”

Lilou sighs, setting her coffee down. “Lym, you can have your dream jobanda man who loves you. It doesn’t have to be one or the other.”

I shake my head. “You don’t understand. My whole life has been about moving forward, about chasing the next adventure. That’s my dream.”

“And no one’s telling you to give it up,” she says softly. “But have you thought about the fact that maybehecould be part of the dream too?”

I don’t have an answer for that.

Because the truth is—I have.

I’ve thought about Camden way too much these past two days. Every time I try to distract myself, my mind pulls me back to him. The way he looks at me, like I’m his whole world. The way he touches me, like he can’t believe I’m real.

The way he saidI love youlike it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Like heknew.

And I freaked the hell out.

I push my coffee away, suddenly too restless to sit still. “I don’t know what to do, Lil.”

She leans forward, smiling. “I do.”

I raise an eyebrow. “Oh, you do, do you?”

“Yep.” She winks. “You go talk to him.”

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