Love & Camo

By Bethany Loughlin-Frost

Sergeant Sarina Rogers and Sergeant Cyrus Blake have been together since boot camp, becoming tried and true friends. Though, Sarina hopes someday they might become something more. When a new girl comes into Cyrus's life, Sarina's worst nightmares come true. She must come to terms with her feelings for Cyrus and share them or risk losing him forever.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Bethany Loughlin-Frost
• Release date: May 20, 2018
• ISBN: 9798201250164

Book preview

Also available from Bethany Loughlin-Frost:

The Witch’s Savior

Love & Camo

COPYRIGHT © 2018 BY Bethany Loughlin-Frost. All rights reserved.

1ST EDITION

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NO PART OF THIS PUBLICATION may be reproduced in whole or in part, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means: electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission of the Author.

Dedicated to all those who have served, or are

currently serving our country. May love find you!

FOREWORD

I originally started writing this novella as part of an Anthology. Though, halfway through, I realized I wanted it to be its own. As a former Army Wife, I wanted to do the military justice. I know people in the military rely on their brothers and sisters in arms to have their back, and I wanted this novella to make those who read it and are part of the military very proud.

My first novel was written about witches and magic.

This is a far different story as I tried to capture the true essence of military life from the viewpoint of a soldier in love.

My husband—who has always supported me—even enjoyed reading it for me and helping me to incorporate military jargon.

He is one of the reasons I wanted this novella to stand alone and be great, and I hope it is great. I hope members of our military who read it can relate in some way to parts of the story, or maybe even the whole thing. That’s why I dedicated it to those who have served or are serving; in hopes that I make them proud.

I also want to thank my readers. Those that read my first novel, and even my anthology piece. Thank you for believing in me and enjoying my stories. I write these stories for you, to help you escape reality, even for a short time. Finally, I want to thank my friend, Elizabeth Toles. She read this story for me multiple times, and even helped me with the ending when I got stuck. As a former military member, she really knew where I was trying to go, and helped me get there. This story would never have been finished if it wasn’t for her.

Bethany Loughlin-Frost

Chapter 1:

Sergeant Sarina Rogers

Watching my crush get a lap dance from some stripper skank sucks. I can feel myself glaring at the blonde bimbo getting all cozy with my best friend. I know I shouldn’t care, that I should ignore everything going on and try to enjoy myself. It’s not like my best friend, Sergeant Cyrus Blake, would ever see me as anything other than a friend, anyway. I am so deep in the friendzone, I’ll need a backhoe and some help to dig myself out.

Usually, if Cyrus wanted to do something on a Friday, I could talk him out of the damn strip club. Tonight, he and a few of our buddies insisted. Being the only female in a group of guys sucks sometimes. Especially, when all of us are soldiers, and if I’m honest, they’re basically my family.

Sure, there are other female soldiers in our unit, but I’ve never been a friend of girls. I always got along better with guys, and of course, being a lovesick puppy to my best friend, it’s not like I could say no to him when all he wanted was to go to see this blonde.

Because staring at Blake isn’t weird or anything. One of our friends, Sergeant Mac Keller, whispers as he hands me another soda. I look back over to Cyrus. We have been best friends since basic, and I have worked my ass off to make sure that we stuck together through every Permanent Change of Station—known as a PCS—and every deployment. He pushed me to be the best, and I tried to impress him on a constant basis. He never even looked at me as more than a battle buddy.

Shut up, I growl back. Keller is cute: blonde hair, green eyes, about 6 ft tall. But, he wasn’t Cyrus. Cyrus Blake is the epitome of tall, dark, and handsome. Brown hair and eyes, 6’2, and the perfect amount of muscle, defined but not too buff. Looking at him, even in the dim light of the club, makes me drool. We’re only here because he met that girl at Walmart, and she gave him coupons for free beer."

Be careful, Rogers. You almost sound jealous. Keller winks at me. Maybe in another life, I would be attracted to him. Too bad I’m an idiot and still holding on to a small hope that one day Cyrus will wake up and see me.

I’m too sober for this place. I deflect. Keller doesn’t buy it. His eyes even soften, and I can feel the wave of pity emanating from him.

I don’t know why you don’t tell him. You’re way better than some random stripper. He whispers, not that he needs to. The music in here is almost deafening. I don’t look back to him. I know I’m better for my best friend, but the thought of losing our friendship scares the shit out of me. Being rejected by the man I love makes everything worse. Because I know that is what will happen. He’ll feel bad for me loving him. He’ll act like it’s no big deal, but it will be. Things will change.

Hey, guys! Cyrus slurs, finally joining our group, a little too tipsy from all those free beers. Isn’t this place fun? I glance at Keller, trying to figure out the fun he’s talking about. This particular strip club is small, and not on the clean side. The air smells of stale cigarettes and stripper body spray.

You ready to leave, Blake? Keller asks, knowing all too well that I would never force Cyrus to leave, not if he was having fun. No matter how miserable I am.

Only if I can bring this little minx with me. He slurs, looking back over the blonde stripper attached to his hip. I think I might hurl.

Maybe next time, Battle. He says, using a term we use for friend. Means we have each other’s back, and if Keller is using it in the civilian world right now, that means a hell no for Cyrus. I should hug him. Cyrus and I share a two-bedroom apartment off post with Keller and another soldier as our neighbors. No one wants to hear what is bound to go on if Cyrus brings home a girl. Every time he does, I must pretend like I’m cool with it like it doesn’t destroy a small piece of me.

Come on man! No barracks rules! Cyrus whines. The whole reason he wanted out of the barracks was so he could bring home girls. I wanted the privacy of living away from the younger soldiers. Keller wanted the extra money that came with living off post and