Damage Control (Valiant Knox) by Jess Anastasi Page A

explaining the next activity.
    “Yeah. I’d say she’s got a good chance of making it to the end.”
    Seb shook his shoulder before letting him go. “Then what gives, buddy? You’ve been a bigger hard-ass than usual the past few days.”
    “It’s classified.”
    “ Pft .” Seb sent him an exasperated look but then seemed to realize he wasn’t joking. “Shut up. Really?”
    A small trickle of guilt crept through him for lying to his friend, even if it was only a small lie, and one that was necessary. Yes, the situation with the traitor weighed on him, but a lot of his bad mood definitely came back to Mia and his inability to ignore his attraction to her.
    “Things are complicated, and I wish I could tell you about it, but I can’t. So I’m going to need you to step up and have my back, even if you don’t know what that’s going to entail.”
    Seb’s expression lost the amused edge he usually had. “Of course. You know you can count on me.”
    “Good. Now, I’ve got to go deal with some of that classified stuff I can’t tell you about.”
    Seb stepped back and inclined his head to him. “We’ll hold down the fort.”
    He clasped his hands behind his back as he strode toward the hatchway. He ordered himself not to look back at Mia, repeating the command in his mind like a mantra. However as he reached the doorway, his gaze crept around, finding where she stood to the back of the crowd, listening to the lieutenant give instructions. She glanced over her shoulder and when he caught her gaze, his stupid heart bumped against the inside of his chest like he was a damned teenager.
    Cursing at himself, he left the PT room, focusing his mind on the bigger issue of a possible mole in his squadron. Solving that mystery seemed easier than facing the fact that for the first time since enlisting with the UEF, his emotions might be totally compromised.

Chapter Eight
    T he dinner crowd had started trickling out of the messdeck, some headed across the way to the common room, while others headed for the transit and likely, entertainments on commerce level.
    Mia scraped the last bits of food off her plate and glanced up at Kayla sitting across from her, who’d managed to finish her meal in record time.
    “You didn’t have to wait for me.” She set her utensils on the now-empty plate and added her cup to the pile.
    Kayla shrugged as she stood. “I’m not in any hurry. Besides, there’s safety in numbers. Steve looked pretty pissed about us taking him down earlier today. Not that I’m scared of the jerk-wad rich boy, but it might be better if we stick together for the time being to make sure he doesn’t try to corner either of us.”
    Nope, Steve certainly hadn’t been happy about Kayla and her beating him in hand-to-hand combat. Luckily, between classes for the remainder of the day and evening messdeck, they’d been able to avoid him. But it was hard not to notice the death glares he aimed in their direction whenever he got the chance.
    Some of the other recruits had been talking about a get-together Steve and his buddies were having in charlie-two dorm. As much as the idea of winding down and getting to know the other recruits tempted her, she wouldn’t be going anywhere near Steve voluntarily. Plus, when she’d told him earlier in the day that she planned on studying tonight, she hadn’t been bluffing. They might have two weeks before that exam, but the sooner she could get those schematics memorized, the better.
    She grabbed a bottle of juice and an energy bar on the way out of messdeck; she’d need it later when her overworked brain started sucking the life right out of her.
    “I heard earlier today that the best place to study is in the media room,” Kayla commented as they made it out into the passageway.
    “Good. It’ll probably be better than the dorms.” While she and Kayla were down the hall from charlie-two dorm in bravo-one, there would probably still be noise from the party, plus other