Mantis zipped up his bag and was about to hoist it over his shoulder when he heard a knock at the door. He peered out the window, saw who it was, and considered pretending he wasn’t home. However, both his motorcycle and car were parked on the street in front of the condo he’d rented in the same complex where, unbeknown to him at the time he’d signed the short-term lease, Dutch was also living temporarily.

“I know you’re in there. Open up,” shouted the man who, until recently, had been his best friend.

“Leave me the fuck alone,” he muttered before unlocking and opening the door.

“I heard that,” said Dutch, pushing his way inside and eyeing the duffel bag. “Where you headed?”

“Connecticut,” he lied.

“Seriously?”

“What do you want?” Mantis was in no mood for questioning from anyone, let alone Dutch.

“Alegria is getting out of the hospital today.”

“Glad to hear it.” Mantis had no intention of admitting to Dutch that he already knew she was.

“She’s doing a lot better.”

“I wish her all the best.”

“Look, what happened…”

“Is there another reason you stopped by?”

“Mantis, come on, we’re best friends.”

“Who aren’t seventeen anymore. We don’t hang out. What do you want, Dutch?”

“She told me it was over between the two of you.”

“What is this? Are you here to ask my forgiveness for being in a relationship with my ex-girlfriend? Or is it permission you’re after? Get over yourself, neither of you is that important.”

“You don’t have to be an asshole about it.”

Mantis shook his head. “Alegria and I had a thing. It’s over. Both of us have moved on. How does that make me an asshole?” He looked at his phone. “I need to get to the airfield. Was there anything else?”

Dutch looked out the window and then back at him. “Happy Thanksgiving.”

“Same to you. Now, if you don’t mind…”

Dutch walked out the door, leaving Mantis feeling exactly like the asshole his friend had accused him of being. Maybe he was, but why did Dutch have to get involved with the one woman Mantis knew would always own him? Weren’t there four billion other women in the world he could’ve chosen from?

Maybe he should take that into consideration himself. Given the astronomical number, surely he could find another woman to love heart and soul.

He checked the time again. At Gunner’s request, he was piloting K19’s commuter jet up to San Luis Obispo from the airfield in Santa Barbara. The only reason time was an issue was because the private plane section of the regional airport was especially busy near the holidays. His flight plan was filed, and if he didn’t get there on time, it might be several hours before he could get another slot.

He was glad now that he’d called Gunner. He’d told the man he was calling to check on Raketa—who was going by Zary now—but was elated when Gunner asked what his plans were for Thanksgiving. It was precisely the reason he’d called.

“I’m a man without a mission,” Mantis had told him.

Gunner had laughed. “You’re welcome to come here. We’re opening a zoo, it appears. All the single animals will be here this week.”

“I appreciate the invitation.”

“By the way,” he’d said. “Striker will be here too.”

That made sense, he was one of the mateless animals. Unlike Dutch and Alegria.

Mantis had thanked him again and then booked a room at the inn Gunner recommended.

“If Alegria is able to ride in a car for a couple of hours, you’re both welcome to join us here. We’re in Cambria for Thanksgiving, not Oregon,” Razor told Dutch.

“I appreciate it.”

“No problem. You’re both K19 family. In fact, the two of you should stay here at the house. She’ll be more comfortable than she would be at the inn.”

Dutch thanked him again, hung up, and went into the guest bedroom to check on her. She’d been in relatively good spirits when they left the hospital, but once they got to the condo he’d rented, she told him she was exhausted and wanted to rest. That was six hours ago, and she was still asleep.

He wasn’t sure what he’d expected from Mantis when he stopped by before going to pick her up. Maybe he was looking for some sign that they were still friends. He sure didn’t feel like they were.

He’d had a flicker of hope that Mantis would be open to spending Thanksgiving with him and Alegria, but he should’ve known better. It would hurt far too much to spend the holiday with the woman he loved when he believed she was with another man. He knew firsthand; he’d spent many holidays with Alegria and Mantis when they were together.

He’d been able to bury his feelings for years because Alegria had never been his. She still wasn’t, not really. She was too stubborn to admit she wanted Mantis back in her life, but one day she would, and that would leave him the odd man out. One would think that knowing it was an inevitability, he’d walk away now, but he couldn’t bring himself to leave her.

Alegria tried to roll over, but her body didn’t want to cooperate. She needed a pain pill, but didn’t want to ask Dutch to bring one to her.

If she’d been cleared to travel by plane, she would’ve flown to France and recuperated at her parents’ house, but that long of a flight was out of the question so soon after her surgery—the outcome of which was far better than the doctors had initially hoped.

The damage to her spinal cord was significant enough that they’d told her going in that she may have long-term paralysis. When she came to, she could move all her extremities without any difficulty. The kind of pain she was experiencing now, however, they’d warned might be a constant in her life from now on.

Instead of feeling sorry for herself—and she was—she should be thankful she wasn’t paralyzed.

Without realizing how dead-on the random shot he’d fired had been, Petrov had hit her in the back as she was walking away. If she’d been facing his direction, his bullet likely would’ve killed her.

“Mon coeur.” The words Mantis had said to her when she woke from surgery echoed in her head. How lovely they’d sounded, coming from his lips, but what had she done? As soon as she realized Dutch was in the room too, she’d reached out to him, essentially pounding the last nail into the coffin that had once been her life with the man who would hold her heart forever.

“You’re awake,” said Dutch, opening the door to the room.

“Yes.”

“Time for some pain relief.”

He handed her a white pill and a glass of water.

“Merci,” she murmured.

“You need more rest,” he said, stroking her forehead.

“What time is it?”

“A little after two in the afternoon.”

“The pain…”

“I know. Rest.” He leaned down and kissed her cheek. “I’ll be back to check on you in a bit. If you need anything else, ring the bell.”

“Wait. Dutch?”

He was almost through the bedroom door but came back to her bedside.

“Have you…”

“Ask the question, sweetheart.”

“Does Mantis know I’m out of the hospital?”

“He does.”

She nodded.

“I’ll be back later.”

He left the room and closed the door behind him. Had she hurt his feelings by asking about Mantis? Why had she, anyway?

The flight had been quick and easy. The plane was now parked in the hangar at the San Luis Obispo airfield, and soon he’d be in a rental car on his way to Cambria. Any temptation he had to see Alegria would be thwarted by distance.

The drive was as easy as the flight had been; there was virtually no traffic. Mantis guessed that later in the week he wouldn’t have been so lucky.

He pulled into the inn’s parking lot and walked over to the office to check in.

“Are you here for the holiday?” asked the woman behind the front desk.

“I am.”

“We have an unusually high number of guests this year who are. In fact, we’re fully booked like the rest of the inns on Moonstone Beach.”

Mantis nodded. “I got lucky.”

“You did. A man just called, wanting a room, and we had to turn him away.”

Not interested in further small talk, he didn’t respond until she handed him his room key and he thanked her.

“I didn’t know you’d be here too,” said Striker, walking past the office with a woman who looked familiar. “Happy Thanksgiving. Mantis, you know Aine McNamara, don’t you?”

“Yes,” he said, reaching out to shake her hand. “Happy Thanksgiving to you both.”

“I guess we’ll catch up with you later,” said Striker, walking toward one of the rooms, holding Aine’s hand in his.

“Sure thing,” he murmured, but they were already too far away to hear him.

Striker and the McNamara twin? When had that begun? Mantis shook his head. It really wasn’t any of his business. If his chest didn’t hurt with loneliness, he probably wouldn’t have given the two of them a second thought.

Maybe coming to Cambria for the holiday hadn’t been such a good idea. He couldn’t have stomached being the third wheel between Alegria and Dutch, but this might be just as bad. What if he was the only single guy here?

Dutch scrubbed his face with his hand, lamenting his relationship with Alegria for the thousandth time. If he hadn’t walked into the bar that night and found her drunk enough that he knew he had to take her home, maybe the thing that should never have started between them, wouldn’t have.

If he were a better man, he never would’ve slept with her in the first place. Instead, he was the shithead who had lusted after and longed for his best friend’s girlfriend for years. When the opportunity presented itself, he’d swept in like some kind of goddamn vulture.

Having her in his bed had been like a dream come true. No matter how many times his conscience told him he should end it, he hadn’t been able to.

“Hey, you,” Dutch said, surprised to see Alegria walking into the kitchen.

“Hi. I thought maybe I should eat something.”

“Of course. Have a seat, and I’ll heat up some soup. Sound good?”

She nodded and looked out the window.

“Thanksgiving is in three days. We’ve been invited up to Cambria to have dinner with Razor, Gunner, and the rest of the crew.”

“Okay.”

“Sound good?”

“Sure. Who else will be there?”

“I don’t know, exactly, but my guess is you’re asking about Mantis, and he won’t be. He’s going to Connecticut.” He set the steaming bowl of soup in front of her and watched as she took three spoonfuls and then rested the spoon on the side of the bowl.

“I’m not as hungry as I thought.”

“You can have more later.”

Alegria shuffled back to the bedroom, leaving Dutch wondering if the news about Mantis being on the East Coast for Thanksgiving had ruined her appetite.

The first Thanksgiving she spent in America was at Mantis’ parents’ house in Connecticut. He’d invited her to go along when he realized that, as an international student, she’d be staying at the academy with a handful of other people for the holiday.

She was nervous on the flight, and he reassured her.

“My parents are really nice. You don’t have to worry. They’ve always been great about me inviting friends to the house,” he said.

“Is that what we are, Cadet Cassman?”

“What would you like us to be, Cadet Mondreau?” He smiled, leaned closer, and kissed her.

Later that night, Mantis sneaked into the room where she was sleeping, and she’d lost her virginity.

From that trip on, they’d been a couple. Sure, they’d broken up and gotten back together several times after they graduated. There were times she thought they’d never speak again, like she did now. They’d always wound up back together, though. Would this be the one time they didn’t?