by Morgan Blaze
Soldier’s Choice
Welcome to Covendale: Book 2
Morgan Blaze
Just friends isn’t good enough…
A shocked hiss of air escaped him.
“What’s wrong?” Luka moved closer, until she could see the painting he was looking at—and her mouth fell open. Oh, God, how could she have forgotten about that?
She’d painted Reese.
He’d been gone three years when she did that one. She’d just come off a string of bad dates. Guys she couldn’t have talked to if she tried, who were only interested in banging someone the whole town thought was easy. It made her miss him more than usual, so much that it hurt to breathe. So she’d locked herself up here for the day and brought him back the only way she could.
The painting showed him in the rain. Dark hair plastered to his head, open shirt, hands in his pockets. Half his face was hidden in shadow, and one brilliant blue eye stared from the other half as rain tracked down like tears. The sorrow and longing in his expression reflected her own emotional state at the time.
“I’m sorry,” she said, breaking the perfect silence between them. “I just…I should’ve asked for permission. But you weren’t here…”
He straightened fast. Before she could react, his arms were around her, and his lips were on hers.
“Don’t apologize,” he rumbled. “God, Luka. I don’t even have words. It’s…”
He kissed her again.
If she had any sense at all, she’d pull away. Maybe slap him for good measure. But this felt so good, so right. All of her convictions crumbled to dust, and her mind insisted that it would be different this time—even though her heart knew better.
When he pulled back, she said, “Couch?”
“Yes.”
* * * *
Read on for more!
Prologue
Covendale High School – Senior Year
Three dates and you’re out—the phrase that summed up every single one of Luka Dawson’s relationships so far in her whole life. Sure, nobody was supposed to fall in love forever while they were still in high school. But she thought it would’ve been nice to have a boyfriend for longer than a month.
That was her record. Calvin Johnston, tenth grade. And it only lasted that long because he’d gotten mono and couldn’t leave his house for two weeks. They’d still split after the third date.
“Okay, that’s it,” Luka said, leaning against the lockers while she waited for her best friend to get the rest of her stuff. “I’m officially defective.”
“You are not defective, Luka.” Sydney Davis crammed a paperback into her overflowing backpack and closed her locker. “The third date was a week ago, and he didn’t break up with you.”
“Yeah, but he didn’t ask me back out either.” She held back a sigh as she watched the other kids rush past, headed for a bright new weekend. If there was one guy she wanted to break the three-date curse with, it was Reese Mathers. She still couldn’t believe he’d asked her out in the first place. He was one of the Pretty People—what her and Syd called the popular crowd around here.
And Luka was the kid sister of trouble, times three. Her big brothers were legendary in Covendale for picking fights. And winning them decisively. And getting tossed into jail. Maybe that’s why no one hung around her for long. They were afraid the Dawson boys would break them in half.
Sometimes, Luka really wished her last name wasn’t Dawson.
Syd shouldered her backpack and slung an arm around her. “There’s still plenty of time for him to ask. It’s only Friday,” she said. “We’re going to Mags’ for pedis, right?”
“Definitely.” Magic Mags was the premier beauty salon in Covendale—mostly because it was the only beauty salon. The two of them went there at least once a month. And she hadn’t told Sydney yet, but she’d been talking to Mags for the last few weeks about working there after she graduated, doing nails.
She’d planned to go to community college, just like Syd was. She wanted to take a few art classes, talk to some professors and find out if she really did have talent, or if she was deluding herself. So far she hadn’t gotten the guts to show anyone her paintings except Sydney…and Reese. That had been an accident, but it was a happy one. He hadn’t laughed at her, anyway.
But they just didn’t have the money. Her oldest brother, Jonah, was working two jobs already. Even if financial aid covered most of it, she’d never be able to come up with the rest. She had to work, same as her brothers—because it was just the four of them at home. Everybody had to pitch in.
Sydney wasn’t going to be happy about that. Unfortunately, she didn’t have any other options.
When they walked out the main doors of the school, someone called Luka’s name. She looked around and spotted Reese leaning sideways against the bike rack, one hand lifted in the air. As usual, her pulse raced and her heart flipped like crazy. God, was he gorgeous—dark hair, clear blue eyes framed with thick lashes, a body to die for. And whenever she was with him, the world felt right. He was funny, and smart, and so gentle it broke her heart sometimes.
She was almost convinced she loved him, but too scared to find out for sure.
“Somebody looks happy to see you.” Syd nudged her and grinned. “I told you. He’s definitely going to be the record-breaker.”
“Yeah. We’ll see.”
She tried not to get her hopes up as they walked over. Up close, she noticed that Reese’s smile was more of a grimace—and there was a nasty bruise under one eye. He was trying to hide it with his hair, but it wasn’t quite long enough. “Oh my God,” she breathed, suddenly terrified that one of her brothers had started in on him. If they did, she’d strangle whichever one it was. And maybe the other two for good measure. “What happened?”
“Nothing.” His eyes flashed dark for a split second, but then he smiled. “It’s kind of embarrassing, actually. My little sister left a cabinet open in the kitchen, and I didn’t turn the light on when I went to get a drink. Walked right into it.”
A frown creased her lips. The explanation sounded a little too rehearsed for comfort, but she decided she’d just interrogate her brothers later. He obviously didn’t want to talk about it. “Well, all right,” she said. “Hi, then.”
“Hey, Luka. Sydney.” He nodded a greeting and straightened, stuffing his hands in his pockets—and she could’ve sworn she saw him wince. “Listen, uh…can I talk to you for a minute? Alone?”
Her heart dropped into her stomach. He was going to break up with her. She knew it as sure as she knew the sun would set tonight. “Sure,” she mumbled. Unable to look at Sydney and see the pity in her friend’s eyes, she stared at the ground and said, “I’ll catch up with you at Mags’, okay?”
Syd touched her arm in wordless support, and she almost lost it right there.
After a few minutes, she managed to look at Reese. “Okay,” she said. “Talk.”
“Luka…” He sighed and lifted his gaze to the sky, like he was hoping for divine intervention. “Walk with me?”
She gave a stiff nod. He was absolutely not going to see her cry.
He started across the grass, away from the school, and she walked next to him. When they’d reached the sidewalk and passed the last few straggling students, he said, “Thanks for going to the movies with me last weekend. It was fun.”
“Yeah, it was,” she said. “But that’s not what you want to talk about.”
He pressed his lips together. “You’re right.”
“So what is?”
“I just…” His pace slowed, and he stopped at the corner where Redmond Street crossed the main road. “I really like you, Luka,” he said.
“But?”
“But I’m leaving in a few months.” He me
t her gaze, and the darkness was back in his eyes. “I’m enlisting, like my father. So I can’t be involved with anyone.”
Enlisting? She knew that wasn’t what he planned to do after graduation. He’d told her. “But you hate the Marines,” she said.
“It’s not so bad,” he said. “Better than shelling out for college. I’ll get paid, and I’ll have benefits. An education if I want one. Free job training.”
“You sound like you’re reading a recruitment poster.”
He glared a challenge. “It’s what I want.”
“Okay. I guess I’m happy for you, then.” She scuffed a foot on the sidewalk, trying to drop the subject—but she couldn’t. She had to make an effort not to lose him. “I could write to you,” she blurted. “I mean, while you’re training. You’d come back here, wouldn’t you?”
“Damn it, Luka, don’t make this harder than it is!”
She flinched like he’d slapped her. “All right,” she said. “I won’t.”
“Jesus.” His tone gentled, and he ran a hand through his hair. “I’m sorry,” he said. “It’s just that I really have to focus on this. But I could use a friend.”
“A friend,” she repeated dully. It took a long time, but she managed to say, “Sure. We can be friends.”
He almost smiled. “I’d like that.”
“Yeah, it’s…great.” Somehow she kept sounding calm, when all she wanted to do was scream, or cry, or both. “Well, I guess I’ll see you around.”
“See you.”
She gave a quick wave and turned away, headed for Mags’ place. Her vision was already blurring, but she blinked the tears back and made herself walk slowly. Stop me, she thought desperately, like he could hear her if she thought it loud enough. Come after me. Say anything. Please…
But he didn’t. And when she finally turned to look, Reese was gone.
* * * *
The night before
Reese knew there was going to be another episode the minute his father shouted for him to come into the den. He had no idea what he’d done this time—but it never mattered. Gunnery Sergeant James Mathers, USMC Ret., didn’t need a reason to use his fists.
He finished filling the glass of water and knelt in front of his little sister. “Take it upstairs, Georgia,” he said softly. “You go on and get to bed. I’ll come get the glass in a few minutes.”
She frowned a little. “You’re not gonna tuck me in?”
“I will. In a few minutes, okay?”
“Reese! Get your ass in here.”
Georgia shivered at the sound of their father’s voice. “Daddy’s mad,” she whispered.
“Yeah. Don’t worry about it, baby.” He kissed her forehead, straightened and scooted her toward the stairs. “Go on up and say goodnight to Mommy. Hurry, now.”
“Okay, Reese.”
He waited until she was out of sight before heading toward the den. Might as well get it over with. Hopefully, his father would only hit him once and be done with it. Whatever he’d done couldn’t be that bad. He’d gone straight from school to work today, and then home.
When he walked into the den, his father glared at him from the couch. “I just talked to Mrs. Harter,” he said.
“Sir?” Now Reese was completely clueless. Melvin Harter drank with his father sometimes—but what did the man’s wife have to do with anything? He barely knew her, and he didn’t hang out with the Harter kids at school.
His father stood slowly. “She said she saw you at the movies last weekend with that Dawson girl.”
“You mean Luka?” He frowned. “Yes, sir. I told you I had a date.”
“A date.” It was all Reese could do not to back away from his father’s advance. “You didn’t mention with who.”
“I didn’t think it mattered.”
A fist plowed into his gut, dropping him to his knees. He could barely breathe. “It matters when your date is a trailer-trash slut from a family of punk bastards. Get up, boy.”
Fury coursed through him as he struggled to stand. “Luka is not a slut.”
This time, his father backhanded him.
He managed to stand his ground while the taste of blood filled his mouth. “She’s not trash,” he said. “Sir.”
“Don’t you lip off to me, boy!” A fresh blow doubled him over. “No kid of mine’s going to throw his life away with a tramp like that. You’ll have her knocked up inside a month, and then where are you?”
Reese decided to keep his mouth shut. Much more of this and he wouldn’t be able to walk up the stairs. But as he straightened again and caught his breath, his mouth ran off without his permission. “Luka’s not like that,” he said. “And I love her.”
“You little bastard.”
A shudder moved through him with the cold promise of those words. But it was too late. He’d said it, and there was no taking it back. Now he could only wait for the rest of the pain.
His father sneered at him. “Love’s a goddamned disease,” he said. “But I’ve got the cure for that. Come June, you’re shipping out to Parris Island.”
For a moment he couldn’t speak. Parris Island—where they held basic training for the Marines. That was a lot worse than pain. He shook his head, as if he could un-hear the words his father couldn’t have spoken. “I’m going to Prescott,” he said. “I’ve already been accepted. I signed up for classes in August.”
“You’re enlisting, and that’s the end of it. I’ve already talked to the recruiter.”
“You can’t do that!”
The weight of his father’s stare crushed him. “Don’t disappoint your mother, boy.”
He might as well have gutted him. Reese knew exactly what that meant. If he didn’t do what he was told, his mother would pay—and pay, and pay again. Eventually the bastard would decide to take some of it out on Georgia, too. He couldn’t let that happen.
And his father damned well knew it.
“All right,” he finally said. “I’ll enlist.”
“Damn right you will.” The look of cruel triumph on the man’s face made him sick. “Tomorrow, you tell that Dawson girl you’re not seeing her again. Understand?”
“Yes, sir,” he ground out.
There was a long pause. “I don’t believe you mean that, boy. So I guess I’ll have to convince you.”
His father started taking off his belt.
Reese took a hasty step back. “I will,” he said. “I mean it.”
“I’m going to make sure you do. Turn around and face the wall.”
“Dad, please,” he whispered. “Don’t.”
But there was no reasoning with Gunny Mathers, no shred of fatherly love he could appeal to. In him there was only bitterness and hatred, an empty void where his heart should’ve been. “What do you think’s going to happen if I have to tell you again?” he said.
Reese closed his eyes. Then he turned around and faced the wall.
Chapter 1
Five years later
Luka stood at the bottom of the stairs, one hand planted on her hip. “Jonah! If you don’t get your ass out of bed, I’m getting the hose.”
Muffled laughter came from the kitchen, where Mark and Gage were already at the table scarfing down breakfast. “Allow me,” Gage shouted. “I owe that asshole. He came stomping in at three in the morning, and I haven’t been back to sleep since.”
“No way,” she called back. “You hose him, he’ll break your teeth. I don’t have time for a trip to the hospital today.” She blew out a breath. “Jonah!”
“Coming, goddamn it,” a rough voice finally responding.
“I don’t hear you moving!”
She waited. A moment later, feet stomped across the upstairs floor, and a door slammed.
“Good morning to you, too.” She sighed and headed back to the kitchen, fighting a swell of concern. Jonah had come in late every night this week. Of course, she knew where he’d been—knocking people around for Eddie Verona, Covendale’s only loan shark. Her brothers
had tried to keep Jonah’s “second job” a secret from her, but she’d known for years. People talked in a town this small.
She wished he’d just give it up. Her brothers’ business, Dawson Construction, was making plenty to keep up with the mortgage payments on the house they’d bought a few years back, and she wasn’t doing too bad herself at Magic Mags. But every time she mentioned the idea, Jonah glowered her into changing the subject.
“Hey, Luka.” Gage, the youngest brother, gave her his best charming grin as she walked past the table to fix a plate for Jonah.
“No.”
“I didn’t even ask yet.”
“How did I know you were going to ask for something?” She glanced back at him. “What?”
“Can we trade cars tonight?”
“I was right. No.”
“Oh, come on.” He polished off half a piece of toast in two bites, and washed it down with coffee. “I can’t take the Beast out to Greenway. I’ve got a date tonight.”
“What a surprise,” she said. Gage had more dates than a five-year calendar. The other two could’ve had just as many, if they wanted—all of her brothers had green eyes, black hair, tanned builds, and so much bad-boy charm it was practically illegal.
She had the Dawson eyes, but had somehow ended up with reddish-brown hair and skin that wouldn’t tan if she set it on fire. And charming wasn’t even in her vocabulary, much less her personality.
“So, can I?” Gage said.
Luka rolled her eyes and set Jonah’s plate on the table. “No, you can’t,” she said. “I have a date tonight, too.”
“With who?”
“Al.”
“Al Brenner from the bank?”
She shook her head. “Al-cohol. From the bar.”
Gage laughed, and even Mark cracked a smile. “Fine,” he said. “I’ll just ask Jonah.”
“Good luck with that.”
“He’ll say yes. Watch.”
A few seconds later, Jonah plodded into the kitchen, scruffy and half-asleep. He grunted something incoherent and plunked down at the table.
Gage waved a hand in front of his face. “Hey, Jonah. Can we swap cars tonight?”