“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.”
We had a great time out on the lake. There was no talk of the Army or college. It was just a day of enjoying each other’s company under the sun with a few beers and good music. When it came time to call it a day, we loaded up and headed back to the house. Before going home, Mia wrapped her arms around me and hugged me tightly. Damn. Just like I knew it would—her body felt fucking incredible next to mine.
With her mouth close to my ear, she whispered, “I’m going to miss you, Thatch.”
“Gonna miss you, too.”
“Promise me you’ll write.”
“As often as I can.”
“Good.” She gave me another tight squeeze, her voice trembling like she’d started to cry. “Take care of yourself and come home safe.”
“You know I will.”
She wouldn’t even look at me as she turned and ran to her house. The next morning, I got up early to see Mia off to college, but she was already gone. I hated that I didn’t have a chance to give her a final goodbye, but fortunately, I didn’t have much time to dwell on it. The following day I was off to Fort Jackson, South Carolina, for basic training.
It was only six weeks, but it was fucking hell. Thankfully, I had Mia’s letters to help me see it through. She sent one every fucking day. She’d tell me all about her day at MTSU, and I’d keep my promise and write her about my experiences at Fort Jackson.
It seemed I’d barely blinked before I was packing up my shit and moving to Fort Sill, Oklahoma. AIT was an entirely different beast. I felt like I could actually breathe for the first time in six weeks and talk to Mia and my family on the phone.
I wasn’t shy about admitting that I missed her. Hell, I mentioned it all the fucking time, and she did the same with me. I wanted nothing more than to see her, take her in my arms, and finally confess exactly how much she meant to me. Unfortunately, that wasn’t going to happen—at least, not any time soon.
I was stationed too far away for my weekend passes to do me any fucking good. Mia and Camden both had classes of their own, and neither could really afford to fly out to Oklahoma for such a short visit.
I tried not to let it get to me, but fuck, I went from seeing and talking to Mia all the time to not seeing her at all, and that shit was hard. I missed her. Hell, I even missed Camden, and that was saying something. I continued to write, but Mia’s letters and calls became less and less frequent, and when they did come, they weren’t as personal or heartfelt as they used to be. She was pulling away.