I rubbed my eyes, squinting at Tyler as he sat on my bed, his elbows resting on his knees. He was wearing a pair of red basketball shorts, a white tee, and a navy blue baseball hat. By his attire and bare feet, it was obvious he wasn’t planning on going anywhere, but he was miles away. His twin was wearing boots, cargo pants, and an Alpine tee, a duffel bag at his feet.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

Taylor was leaning against the large wooden square that held the few things I’d brought with me to the dormitory. He was frowning, his arms crossed.

“Taylor’s leaving,” Tyler said.

I sat up. “What? Why?”

“After R & R, we’re going to Colorado Springs to join a crew to work on a fire down there.”

“You’re not?”

Tyler shook his head. “I’m waiting on the Aussies to get here, and then we’ll drive down. It’s better that Taylor goes first, anyway.”

“Why?”

He glanced over at me before looking down. “Taylor’s a better liar than I am.”

“The federal agent is going to be down there,” I said. It wasn’t a question; I knew the answer.

Taylor nodded. “I’m going to answer all his damn questions—again—and hopefully he’ll leave Tyler alone.”

“Because Tyler was the one who spoke to Travis.”

Tyler shifted. “Actually, it was Trent.”

I frowned. Without having met them, it was hard to keep the brothers straight. “Which one is he again?”

For some reason, that brought a smile to Tyler’s face. “Second youngest.”

“Oh yeah,” I said. “The tattoo artist. It makes sense why you’re both covered.”

“We all are,” Taylor said. “Except Thomas. I have to get on the road. I’m going to try to get there first. Maybe get Trexler’s third degree out of the way before we go back to work.”

“Something seemed … off about him,” I said. “Watch yourself.”

Taylor winked at me. “I got this, Ellie. Don’t worry about me. Ever since I found out we were going to Colorado Springs … I dunno. I’ve had a good feeling about it.”

“You just like that damned cowboy bar down there,” Tyler said.

Taylor arched an eyebrow. “Colorado Springs has a considerably higher percentage of attractive women, and most of them hang out at that bar.”

Tyler rolled his eyes. “They’re looking for fly boys. The Air Force base is there.”

“Yes, but it’s me we’re talking about,” Taylor said, pushing off from my armoire. He bent down to grab his duffel bag, and then slung the strap over his shoulder. “I’m out, dick head.”

Tyler stood up, hugging his brother. It wasn’t a side hug or a hand-shake-slash-shoulder-bump. Taylor and Tyler wrapped their arms around each other and squeezed. The customary hard slapping on the back followed, but they were a sweet sight.