Last True Hero Read Free Page B

was born a daughter and not a son, a military academy was out of the question. At least for my father. But they just knew I’d be headed to an Ivy League school after I graduated high school in Brunswick County, North Carolina. The last place my father was stationed when he earned admiral quickly became my home. Even though I’ve lived in many places before this town, I feel like I belong here. The Carolina coast is in my blood, and leaving it, even for four years, would have completely shattered my heart. So I fought hard, and won.
    The faces around me are a blur as I head for the dining room table, which was nearly sagging under the weight of all the food littering the top of it.
    “I swear to God, Berk, if you hadn’t shown up in the next five minutes I was going to either shoot myself, or just straight-up leave this party and hit the bars.”
    I whirl around, and the sight of the caramel-brown skin, long, spiraled hair, and chocolate eyes of my friend Mea is so healing that instant tears spring to my eyes. Wiping them away, I slam myself into her arms.
    “Mea! Ohmygod, they invited you? There is a God!”
    “Of course they didn’t,” she scoffs, cheerful as ever. “I crashed. Just got back into town. I missed you, Berk!”
    I just sigh and squeeze her tighter. After high school, Mea and I went to separate colleges, and a friendship with her didn’t really fit into my parents’ plan, anyway. She comes from blue-collar parents, and our families never ran in the same circles. But we were inseparable as teenagers for a reason. Mea just gets me, and I get her. We know who the other is, and she knows who everyone in my life expects me to be. She doesn’t judge, she just loves me unconditionally. The same way I do for her.
    “Please tell me you’re here to stay.” My words are lost in her bare shoulder, and she laughs and pushes me back so that she can look into my eyes.
    “You look like you need rescuing. Here, you take this and chug, and I’ll keep watch. Do it!”
    I grab the silver flask from her hand like a lifeline and let the liquid inside burn my throat. If Mea is going to be in Lone Sands this summer, I can make it.
    I will make it.
    “Berkeley.”
    I freeze, but only for a second. Grisham’s voice is full of disapproval. But we’ve known each other for so long, I just don’t care. And he knows it. I down about a third of the liquid in the flask before turning around to face him. The grin on Mea’s face is so wide, I’m scared that her face is going to crack from the extra pressure.
    A not-so-delicate snort escapes me, and I wipe my mouth. Good thing I didn’t apply the sensible pink lipstick my mother left on my dresser.
    “Grish? You want a sip?”
    His thick, blond brow furrows, and I can see the internal battle going on behind his gorgeous, perfectly sculpted features.
    Grisham’s dirty blond hair is so thick shampoo models everywhere are screaming with jealousy, and it’s expertly styled into an array of spikes. His skin is tan and smooth, and his eyes are a green so deep a girl could see the rain forest if she stared into them long enough. There’s no denying that his tall, muscular body, the one that helped him earn Navy its first football win over Army in twenty-three years, is every woman’s fantasy.
    He just isn’t my fantasy.
    But he’s my friend, and I love him because he doesn’t hold me to the high standard our parents do. I know he wishes things could be different. But he’s very aware that they aren’t.
    “Give me the flask.” He sighs after a minute’s hesitation.
    I grin and hand it over. “Atta boy, Grish.”
    Grinning at him as he swallows, I chuckle. “Remember the first time we got drunk? We went to Manny Reyes’s party sophomore year of high school, and I forced you to play that stupid drinking game with me? We both ended up throwing up in the bushes.”
    “Uh-huh,” he replies with a wry grin. “You were always getting me into trouble.” He leans closer