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brown eyes unblinking. She sighed.
                  “No. If I screw him, I’ll just be sleeping my way to a commission and wouldn’t he love to throw that in my face,” she said in a deadpan voice. Then, Jessica smiled at him, and Tyson knew she was ok. She bumped her shoulder to his and they kept walking. Finally , he thought. He hated it when she was upset. He couldn’t explain it, but whenever she was down, it made his gut hurt. Thankfully, she was rarely sad. Tyson feared he would spend an inordinate amount of time trying to coax her back into the moods he preferred if she were.
    They walked to her room and stopped outside in the empty hall. They were alone in the quiet hallway. She leaned against the wall, her back flat on the surface, and looked over at him.
                  “Thanks, Ty,” she said to him.
                  “For?” he inquired. He leaned his shoulder on the wall space next to her.
                  “Being a good friend. For talking me down and walking me back.”
                  “It’s what we do for each other, right?” he said with a small smile.
    She nodded in agreement and then turned toward Tyson. Not for the first time, Tyson noticed how pretty she was. He acknowledged that he had a crush on her, and for him that was virtually unheard of. He didn’t have to seek out women; they tended to gravitate toward him. He wasn’t the kind of guy to turn ladies away either. But, he knew with the girls that did the asking instead of being asked, it was all about his looks. Looks and the uniform and the hope that someday they’d end up an officer’s wife.
    But, Jessica was smart, confident, and kind. She was more than pretty. He thought she was perfect. So, when she reached out to hug him, Tyson held her close. As the hug lingered, and her soft body sank into his hard frame, Tyson felt a tingle skitter down his spine, a sudden awareness of how good she felt in his arms and that he didn’t want to let her go.
    He pulled back but kept his hands on Jessica’s hips. She looked up and seemingly on impulse, stretched upward to place a kiss on his mouth. The first touch was light, innocent. Just as he would have retreated, thinking it one of her friendly gestures, Jessica’s hands rubbed up the back of his head and Tyson went stone still. He couldn’t move away. Instead, he tightened his hold on her and really kissed her. Tyson, inordinately please that the gesture wasn’t considered unwelcomed, teased Jessica’s mouth open for a taste of her. She tasted like the sweetest treat and all he could think was that he wanted so much more.
    Tyson’s tongue slid along Jessica’s, and he heard her moan softly. He licked at her tongue, sucked on it, and then nibbled at her plush lips. His hands instinctively moved down from her lower back to grasp her firm buttocks. Jessica let out a soft whimper and he had the urge to grind into her. He was about to flip her back to the wall, when he remembered that they were out in the hall and anyone might find them there. He pulled back. They were both breathing heavily.
                  “We have to stop,” he said. He released her and stepped back to a more respectable distance just as a door opened and other cadets stepped into the corridor.
                  “Why, because we’re friends? Or, is there someone else?”
                  “No, not that. Neither of those. It’s because we’re in the hall.”
                  Jessica looked around as if she had not realized where they were. She nodded in understanding. But instead of backing farther away, she took a step closer.
                  “Stay,” she said looking up at him. “Come inside and stay.”
                  Tyson couldn’t have turned away even if he’d remotely wanted to and he absolutely didn’t want to. They went into her room and she locked the door behind