Ruthless: Contemporary Military Romance by Kathryn Thomas

didn’t think in the same way she did. If it were up to her, they would be sitting side by side right now, enjoying each other’s company for as long as they could. She would make the most of every second, even if she knew there was a painful conclusion lying ahead. Matt, she had learned over the weeks they had spent together, wasn’t like that. If he knew there was pain ahead, he did the best to avoid it. It was just his way. Then again, he had known enough pain to last him a lifetime, whether Holly herself had never experienced real pain.
     
    Until now. The searing ache that had begun to torment her chest ever since she had stepped out of the motel room wouldn’t let go. Holly knew what it was. She had known for weeks now that she had fallen in love with Matt. She hadn’t said anything, because she knew neither of them needed the distraction at this point of their lives—they had too much to do now, too much urgent matters demanding their total, undivided attention. So Holly had kept quiet, knowing that the moment to say goodbye to the man she loved would come soon enough, and knowing that it would hurt like a bitch. Still, nothing she could have expected even remotely compared to the sorrow she was experiencing right now. It was gut-wrenching.
     
    She hunched forward in her seat and took her head in her hands. Her mind was reeling from the enormity of it all—the art school, her curt goodbye to Matt. It was beginning to really sink in now that it was done. It was over. She had lost him. She had walked out of Matt’s life, and Matt had let her. Holly blew out a slow, shaky breath. Was she making a mistake? Should she go back to him? Should she try to convince him again to make every day count? Should she let him know that every hour, every second was precious as long as she spent it with him?
     
    No, she decided after a moment. She was making the right choice. She had things to do, after all, and so did he. What were a couple more days spent together? That painful goodbye would still be waiting for them at the end of the journey. It was best to get it out of the way now.
     
    Matt was the best thing that had ever happened to her. In the span of a little over three short weeks, he had taught her more about herself and the world than she had learned in twenty-one years of life. She used to think that the time they spent together would be an intermission, a breathing space before they plunged, separately, into the dark waters of their individual journeys to discover themselves. But Holly knew now that wasn’t the case. She knew now that Matt was meant to be a crucial, vital part of her journey all along. Next to him, Holly had already begun to discover herself. Little by little, day by day, Matt unknowingly helped her to get to know herself in a way she never did.
     
    She had to tell him, Holly realized suddenly. If nothing else, she at the very least owed it to him to let him know just what a major role he had played in her life. Holly got up, said “Excuse me” as she all but trampled over the feet of the unfortunate woman sitting next to her, grabbed her duffel bag from the luggage compartment overhead, and all but ran out of the bus. She hoped he would still be at the motel.
     
    Holly ran through the walls and rivers of people crowding the Baton Rouge bus station. She felt like she was in a Nicholas Sparks movie, the kind that she loved so dearly.
     
    She managed to avoid slamming into anyone for most of the way, only to come to a full-frontal when she was nearly out of the station.
     
    “Shit!” She cursed loudly. “I’m sorry! Please move!”
     
    “Holly?”
     
    Holly froze. She looked up. But this was a Nicholas Sparks movie after all! Matt was standing there with a bemused expression on his face that probably mirrored the one on Holly’s own features.
     
    “Matt?” she said, astonished. “What are you doing here?”
     
    “I came looking for you. What are you doing?”
     
    “I came to