I know finding and signing a military vet to the agency is a long shot–but it’ll be good press just letting him try out. That’s what I tell my family, rather than admit I can’t get the letter he wrote us five years ago out of my head.

But what I tell the bartender in his hometown is a lie. I know veterans protect each other. So I pretend to be a graduate student.

Sparks. Flame. Fire. I accidentally got in too deep.

I didn’t expect to develop feelings for Gunner Camden.

And there’s no way I can admit to my lies now, not without destroying what we share. So I’ll keep faking it.

***

There are two versions of me: before, and after deployment.

Back then I was a screwup kid. I’d lie, cheat, and steal my way out of everything. My only love was baseball.

After I started fighting, I found out there had been another path for me. One that involved my dream. But by then I had seen too much.

The old me was dead, so I put my dreams to rest, too.

Then Chase Kinkade walks into my bar and reminds me that life is meant to live. No regrets.

Fresh. Happy. Hopeful. I can start to see a new dream, with her.

But sometimes things are too good to be true… and dishonesty is the one thing I can’t forgive.