I walked back into the theater without another thought on him or his text messages.

Instead of going straight home, Dalton and I walked over to the food court and had an ice cream cone, then stopped at the mini mart not far from the barracks to grab soda, chips, and candy before making our way back to our rooms. Walking to the stairs that led to the upper floor rooms, we passed by the duty room again.

"That was made from scratch, with love. My tia taught me how to make those carne enchiladas. There's more where that came from."

"Thanks, Leti," I heard Cruz answer. "I haven't had a home cooked meal in a long ass time." I inched a bit closer and saw that Leti was, in fact, Sgt. Castillo. She was dressed casually, her hair down and make-up on her face. She was already an attractive chick, but seeing her out of uniform, looking more done up that usual, struck me with a pang of jealousy, making me falter on my goal of forgetting all about him.

"There's more where that came from." The smile on her face was anything but innocent and Sgt. Cruz smiled back, making my stomach turn.

She was leaning over to him as she sat in the seat next to him, both of them laughing while their bodies rubbed up against one another. My hands were beginning to ache, so I cracked my knuckles, and Dalton made his way over to me, concern etched on his face.

"You need to talk to Sgt. Cruz?" Dalton asked, breaking me from my bitter thoughts.

"No," I quickly answered. "I just smelled that delicious food, and it lured me in." I spoke up at that part, stepping further into their view, making sure that my voice could be heard.

Castillo, or, Leti, as Sgt. Cruz so casually called her, looked up and saw me. Her menacing eyes seared into me, but I stood my ground. My inner fighter wasn't about to take her shit lightly, even though she was my superior. Cruz looked up and saw me standing there, looking like I was ready to pounce.

"Can I help you, Bennett?" Cruz asked, his voice harsh but his eyes inviting.

"No. I just smelled that food, and it pulled me in. Smells good, Sergeant. We don't have anything like that around here." My gaze was stuck on him, but I managed to sneak a peek over to Castillo who looked like she would charge at any second.

Dalton moved further into the door frame beside me, much to Cruz's dismay. I couldn't find a reason to stand there any longer, enticing and infuriating my body at the same time, so I turned to Dalton, nodding my head and signaling for us to make our way out.

"Have a good night, Sergeant. Enjoy that meal." There was an undercurrent of sarcasm in my voice that was well intended. As I looked back to Sgts. Castillo and Cruz, they both seemed to have caught on to it. Cruz looked as though I had just given him the green light to come and fuck me while Castillo looked ready to rip my eyeballs out.

I walked up the stairs with Dalton, internally smiling as we walked.

"What the hell was that?"

"What?"

"That bitch fest."

I laughed at the accuracy of his terminology.

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Keep saying that. You know exactly what I'm talking about. If Castillo could have, she would've bitch slapped you, and I think you would have done the same."

"Well, I don't know. You know how male Marines treat you guys like shit? Well, she's kind of doing the same with me."

Dalton rolled his eyes but didn't comment any further. When we reached my room, he stopped just before the door, standing aside so I could take out my key and unlock it. He waved his hand for me to lead the way, following in behind me.

I walked into the room and threw my bag of junk food down onto my bed, signaling for Dalton to take a seat. It was late, and Angelica still wasn't home which made me happy. I tried to spend the least amount of time with her as possible.

We sat down, laughing about my lack of knowledge on almost everything that was popular in our childhood. Although Dalton was only nineteen years old, making him two years younger than me, he was the one person who I found it very easy to relate to.

From what he told me, he came from a very well to do family in Kenosha, Wisconsin and had a brother who was currently serving in the U.S. Army. His dad was retired Air Force, so it was a no brainer that he would serve his country in some branch of the armed forces. He chose the Marines because it was a branch that no one else in his family had served in and he wanted the challenge.

We spent the next half hour just getting to know one another a little better, spilling a few personal tidbits here and there. At one point, Dalton got emotional, wiping tears that fell from his strikingly pure azure eyes at the mention of some things in his past. I swallowed hard, unsure how we had gotten to this point and wanting to quickly remove myself from it. I had learned a long time ago to build a fortress around my emotions, not showing any signs of weakness because they could be preyed on. Apparently, Dalton didn't have that same mindset, and it somewhat shocked me that a guy of his stature would cry, but I didn't judge. Instead, I reached over and hugged him.

As we pulled away, Dalton's face flushed red, a sure fire sign of embarrassment, and he wiped his last stray tear, smiling at me and warming my heart.

"It's twenty-two hundred, Marines. Time to get back to your own rooms," a young Private on fire watch called out as he stood out in the hallway looking into my room. I looked up, the face unrecognizable to me.

"I'll come by tomorrow. Run first thing in the morning," Dalton said, standing up and then hugging me.

The Private stood in his spot until Dalton was out of the room and walking down the hallway. I shut my door, then turned to make my way to my dresser, grabbing a t-shirt and shorts to change into for bed. I still wasn't sure where Angelica was, and honestly, I didn't really care. It was nice to not have to deal with her bullshit for a night.

Just as I was washing my face, my cell phone went off on my desk, prompting me to hurry over to it. When I looked down at it, I was a bit shocked by what was on the screen.