Sofia stared at the picture, glancing back at him, she smiled. “I’m glad for you. I always knew you had it in you, Brandon. ”

He held her gaze and she had to look away. She brought her attention back down at the album, and he turned the page. The next pages had certificates and awards. Then there were pictures of what appeared to be him and his troop in combat. They were holding weapons and crawling in mud. In others, they sat behind trees and rocks like they were hiding. “You weren’t in a war, were you?”

“No,” he laughed, making her feel dumb, “but it felt like it. That was just boot camp, but they did their best to make us feel like we were in hell.”

Fascinated, Sofia continued looking at the pictures. She’d been looking at the pictures for a while when she noticed Brandon staring at her. Startled, she brought her eyes back at the album. “Is this you?” She pointed at a picture of a soldier climbing a wall. His face was turned away.

Brandon put his hand on hers. “Yeah, that’s me.”

Sofia flinched, pulling her hand back, immediately feeling ridiculous.

Brandon was quick to apologize. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be.” She felt so stupid. “I just… I don’t know why—”

Brandon smiled. “Forget about it, you wanna see something else?” He stood up.

She didn’t. All she wanted was to get out of there. It was getting a little weird. She should’ve never come inside his house. But she stood up, nodding, and followed him into the hallway.

When she realized it was his bedroom, she stopped at the door. He went into his closet and pulled out a long briefcase, setting it on the bed. He undid the clasps then turned back to her. “Come over here.”

Chewing on her pinky nail, Sofia looked around. She walked over to get a closer look. He worked fast, unzipping the bag. It was a rifle, a big one like the ones in the pictures.

Her eyes grew wide. “They let you bring that home?”

“No. My old man got it for me.” There was no hiding how proud he was of that. “He surprised me with it when I got home. It’s a replica, but the resemblance to the real thing is amazing. If I hadn’t handled one of these as much as I have, I probably wouldn’t be able to tell the difference.”

Sofia was intrigued. Her family owned a gun they kept in the restaurant for protection. But her brothers had barely let her see it, much less handle it. “Can I touch it?”

Brandon seemed pleased she wanted to. “Sure.” He took it out of the case.

“Is it loaded?”

Brandon laughed again, handing it to her. “No.”

She felt her cheeks warm as she chalked up the inane questions, but she appreciated his patience. “Wow. It’s so light.” She weighed it up and down in her arms. “I thought it’d be heavy.”

“They make them light for a reason. When in combat, you could be out there walking for days with one of these over your shoulder. Along with your backpack and other belongings, you wouldn’t get very far if it was too heavy.”

Sofia ran her finger over the barrel, then held it up to her face, pointing it at the window like she’d seen him holding it in the picture. “Who’d have thought I’d ever be holding one of these?”

Brandon came around her. “Actually, this is how you’re supposed to hold it.”

He put his arms around her and picked up her arms, his face inches from hers when he adjusted her head so that she could focus on aiming. Sofia heart rate spiked. His breath against her temple made her feel warm. It felt wrong. No one but Eric should be able to make her feel like this. With his body up against her back, big and hard, suddenly her eyes were on the bed in front of them. Thoughts of her and Brandon on it flooded her mind. She trembled, squeezing her eyes shut.

His hand came around her waist and pulled her closer to him. He whispered in her ear. “You okay?’

She nodded without saying a word, but gulped hard. Brandon leaned in closer to her temple. “I’m feeling it, too.”

He pushed up against her and she felt exactly what he meant. Sofia let go of the rifle. Brandon had a hold on it. He put it down on the bed, and spun her around to him. They stood for what seemed forever, lips inches away from each other.

Sofia brought her hand up and flattened against his chest. Though she didn’t push him away like she should, at least she had something in between them. Brandon’s hot breath was on her mouth and she could almost taste him.

“I think your brothers’ plan to make you so forbidden may’ve backfired on them.” His arm slipped around her waist. “I saw the way all those boys looked at you in high school. Saw it, because I was looking at you the same way. Every one of us had a hard on for you, Sof.”

He spoke right in her mouth, her heart pounding in her chest. “Tell me to stop and I will, Sofia. Otherwise,” he licked his lips. “I’m gonna have to kiss you.”

A part of her screamed say stop, but an even bigger part wanted him to. When her eyes went from his eyes to his lips, it was sealed. For the first time in her life another man’s tongue was in her mouth. The incredible excitement was of a different kind. One she’d never felt.

Even back when she and Eric were sneaking around, being with him never felt wrong. This was wrong on so many levels. Still, she kissed him back almost too eagerly. His hands were all over her body in an instant. Her hands cradled his face. The stubble on his face excited her even more. Eric had very little facial hair. She’d never thought something like that could excite her, but excite her it did. When his hand dropped down and caressed her behind, something in her brain finally snapped and she pulled away.