“Oh. My. God!” She surged up from the bed on a wave of honest excitement for her friend. “Congratulations! I can’t believe you let me blabber on about my pathetic life. Nat, that’s awesome—”
“It’s one of the reasons I called,” her friend said, and now Eden knew what put that satisfied note in her voice. “We’re really, really happy, and I’m bursting to tell everyone. But I also wanted to see how you were doing and what you’d be doing next May.”
“Wow. You’ve already set the date?”
“May tenth. Will you stand with me, Brix? Once you’ve Tased a girl, she’s earned a place in your wedding party.”
Her heart swelled. “I’d be honored. You’re going to make a beautiful, kick-ass bride, Alvarez.”
“I’d better, since I’m going to have beautiful, kick-ass attendants. I’ll send details as we pin them down. My big sister, Kiana—you met her at graduation—?”
“I remember.”
“She’ll be in touch about stuff, too. Bridal shower, bachelorette party.”
“That’s going to be off the chain. I can’t wait.” Yet she felt like a baby deer, taking wobbly steps. This was life beyond the op, she realized. She’d been so deep in the here and now she’d sort of forgotten a real world existed outside the assignment.
“It will, indeed. Bring your southern-ho wardrobe, mija. You’ll need it.”
“For you? Anything.”
“Hey, Eden?”
The tentative note in Alvarez’s voice had her smile fading. “Yes?”
“I want to tell you something. You might not like it, but I think you should know.”
Uh-oh. Whatever Nat wanted to confess, she was probably better off not knowing. She lowered herself to the bed. “Um, okay.”
“I didn’t draw your name on Taser Day.”
Okay, that came out of nowhere. “I don’t understand—”
“Swain drew your name, and he asked me to trade with him.”
Her stomach sank. “Why? Why would he do that?”
“I teased him and told him he was a sexist pig with no chance of surviving a career in law enforcement if he didn’t have the guts to Tase a woman. Aggressors come in either sex. He shook his head and said he didn’t care if I’d drawn a male classmate or a female classmate. Mija, he just didn’t want to Tase you.”
The walls of her chest constricted. “Why?”
Several beats of silence met the question. Finally, Nat replied, “Only Swain knows the answer. You’ll have to ask him.”
Chapter Ten
Swain steered the Bronco down the bend toward Rawley’s and looked over at Eden. Something was wrong. She was too quiet, and tonight, so far, he’d done nothing to earn the silent treatment. “How’s Alvarez?”
She glanced over and eyed him from beneath the brim of a straw cowboy hat. “Great. “She dropped a little bomb on me, actually.”
He saw his own image reflected back at him in the polarized lenses of her rose sunglasses. Her frosted pink lips tipped up at the corners, and his gut tightened. Everything about her shimmered. Even the band around the hat had gold shot through the pink ribbon. It looked damn fine on her. She’d tucked her hair into it, but loose strands floated in the breeze or twined with her jaw-sweeping feather earrings.
“What kind of bomb?”
She hesitated—just a second—but the little pause left him with the funny feeling she’d changed her mind about what to say. On her response, however, that thought scattered.
“She and Carson are engaged.”
“Kaboom.” And good for them. Carson had mooned after Alvarez all through basic. He, personally, didn’t put much stock in true love, but he figured they had as decent a shot as any two people. “Guess Carson finally found his balls and made a move.”