Page 104 of Tactically Acquired

“At the house…when you were kidnapped. You know, before IRIS threw the second bomb and nearly killed us. You were pretending to fight that guy off.” At least, I truly hoped that’s what she was doing.

She pushed herself up suddenly, her eyes narrowing on me. “What are you talking about? I was doing all the moves I was taught.”

Okay, maybe I was wrong, which made the whole thing even worse. She really was that bad. I had secretly hoped that I had misread the whole situation. Maybe it was the concussion from the accident or—Hell, there had to be some reason. Flying monkeys or too many kung fu movies.

Unsure of what to say, I nodded, knowing she wouldn’t be able to really see my expression as much in the dark. “Right. They were good ones. Nice kicks.”

She shrugged, plopping down on the ground. “I enjoyed learning all that stuff. I wanted to do more of my own stunts, but they wouldn’t let me.”

Gee, I wonder why. But I wasn’t stupid enough to say that. “You’re too valuable for that.”

“That’s what they told me,” she sighed. “But I missed out on so much.”

I didn’t have a fucking clue what she was talking about. Doing stunts was missing out on things? That was bullshit. “Are you kidding? You got to work with some awesome actors and make incredible movies.”

“I thought you’d never seen anything I’d done,” she said with laughter in her voice.

“I haven’t, but I did look you up. The movies were well-received. And they wouldn’t have kept doing movies with you and Spencer if they didn’t think you were amazing together.”

“Not that it matters anymore,” she sighed. “It’s all over.”

“Is this because of your mother?”

The silence was heavy as I waited for her answer. I almost thought she wouldn’t answer.

“Do you get along with your parents?”

“Yeah, I do,” I answered, feeling bad that I couldn’t lie to her to make her feel better.

“Do you have brothers and sisters?”

“Sisters,” I grinned, thinking about them. “Three of them. One older and two younger. And all a huge pain in my ass.”

“You’re lucky,” she mumbled. “I never had a real family. Not until Spencer. He’s the closest thing I’ve ever had to a relative. He’s my emergency contact and the person I spend all my holidays with.”

“Then why are you trying to push him away?” I asked, unable to hold it in any longer. It didn’t make sense. I’d seen the way they were together. Spencer cared about her a lot.

“Because he deserves better,” she whispered. “I can’t be selfish anymore.”

I studied her as she stared up at the stars. There were tears tracking down her face again, but this time, she didn’t try to hide them. What the hell was going on with her that she didn’t feel she deserved someone like Spencer around her? I didn’t understand it. From the outside, it looked like he wanted to be by her side. He’d give anything to be with her. So, why was she pushing him away?

“You know, you can’t make someone leave you if they don’t want to.”

“Even if they’ve sacrificed everything for you?”

There had to be more to the story, something I was missing. I laid down beside her, looking up at the stars with her. I could see why she was out here. It was peaceful, even if the ground was fucking cold.

“There was a time when I gave up what I loved for someone else,” I confessed.

I felt her eyes on me as I continued to stare up at the sky. I never bared my soul to anyone. It just wasn’t in me to open up in this way, but she needed to hear it, even if only so she would understand that some choices were made for reasons beyond our control.

“Who was she?” Her voice was so quiet, I almost didn’t hear it.

“She was the girl I thought I was going to marry. I was in school and I fell for her the minute I saw her.” I swiveled my head to look at her. “Have you ever had that? You just saw someone and knew?”

She shook her head. “No. I never looked.”

“I met her on my first day of school.”

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