I didn’t want to admit it, but I was starting to feel that addictive pull. Addicted. There was no other word for it. His beautiful face. His strong body. His confident voice. I loved the way he didn’t bother with small talk, as if he knew instinctively what was important. I could tell that the other guys looked up to him. But what else was going on? What was it that made him shift from being another random guy at a party with a beer to a soldier, hypervigilant and on guard? What had Mendoza been trying to tell me about his boy?

Mendoza’s voice in my head was drowned out by the sound of my brother’s snores as I passed his room. I was glad he was asleep. I didn’t want to talk to him. Or anyone else, for that matter. Just a quick pee and I’d—

“Oh, crap! Oh . . . I’m so sorry. I had no idea anyone was in here.” I backed out into the hallway, trying to avert my eyes. Not knowing if I should leave or if I should wait until she came out, I was trying to figure out what the etiquette was in a situation like this.

The bathroom door opened and Katie appeared. “You sure know how to make an entrance, don’t you?” She had a toothbrush in her hand and her hair was brushed neatly to rest just above her shoulders.

“Hey, um, hi.” As if this wasn’t awkward as hell. “Hey, I’m sorry.”

“This is getting to be a habit with us. Me surprising you. You apologizing to me.” She laughed.

I guess it was kind of funny.

“Look, it’s okay,” she said. “Really. No harm done. I was caught off guard last night. By what you said, I mean.”

“Yeah, about that . . .”

“No, it’s okay. Really. Well, the stuff about me still being in high school wasn’t cool at all, but that other stuff, about your brother, you didn’t tell me anything I didn’t already know.”

“Wait. You mean—”

“I’m not an idiot, Karina. I’ve heard a lot about your brother. But like you, I don’t listen to everything I hear.” The look on her face was a knowing one. Her blue eyes homed in on me. She certainly didn’t seem like a high school girl now.

“And that means?” I was hazy from the hangover and the embarrassment of walking in on her like that, but what the fuck? Her candor shocked me. Had I underestimated her? “Are you referring to my brother, or Kael?”