Dane’s head snapped toward Claire. “What motorcycle?”

“You went street racing?”

Cami instinctively slapped a hand over her mouth. “Did I just put my foot in it?”

The thing was, the gorgeous guy on the back of the beauty’s bike that night wasn’t Dane. It was someone else!

What if she had just exposed Claire’s secret rendezvous?

Why couldn’t she just keep her big mouth shut?

“No,” Claire said, addressing Cami’s panic first.

Then, she turned a sweet smile toward Dane. “I went with Owen!”

Dane was speechless. *Well played, Owen.*

He couldn’t believe the guy had taken her street racing!

Were they teenagers? One was entirely too reckless, and the other was way too bold!

Dane remembered when Claire had been his getaway driver during that ambush in Apex. He knew she had nerves of steel and phenomenal driving skills.

Still, he couldn’t help but worry.

Miles away, Owen let out a rapid series of sneezes, entirely unaware that his little sister had just thrown him under the bus.

Claire offered a silent apology to Owen in her head.

Surely, Dane wouldn’t actually go after Owen over this, right?

Hearing the name “Owen,” Cami breathed a sigh of relief. If it was just family, they were in the clear.

“You and Owen really bailed us out that night. We have to toast to that!”

Saying that, Cami reached for the nearest bottle of wine.

Catching the dark look in Dane’s eyes, Tilda quickly stopped her. “Skip the alcohol. She’s still a student, and she’s right in the middle of her military training!”

“If you’re going to toast, use tea.”

Cami blinked, looking sheepishly at Claire. “My bad. I’ll drink the wine, you take the tea.”

“You’ve already thanked me,” Claire said, finding the whole production a bit unnecessary.

But Cami insisted.

Her enthusiasm was boundless. Throughout the entire meal, she leaned in, chattering endlessly into Claire’s ear.

It left Dane sitting on the sidelines, silently cracking crab legs and sliding the meat onto Claire’s plate.

“Claire just got out of surgery,” Dane remarked, cutting into the conversation without preamble.

Tilda froze, her first instinct being that Claire was sick, before she remembered Claire had been in the operating room as a doctor.

After all, she was the one who had saved Van.

Van nodded in confirmation. “One of

the students at Camp Blackwood got badly injured. The bleeding wouldn’t stop, so Claire stepped help.”

It was a massive understatement.

Claire’s flawless hemostasis

techniques were a lifesaver in critical

emergencies, single-handedly

farting the room to respect

traditional medicine. Content”

Tilda gave Claire a big thumbs-up. “You’re incredible, Claire.”

Cami looked utterly lost. “Wait, isn’t she a student? Why is she performing surgeries? Was she hurt too?”

Tilda quickly explained that Claire was the one doing the saving.

Cami’s jaw dropped. “I can’t believe I’m sitting next to a literal genius!”

“I just study hard,” Claire replied modestly.

“But that is so badass! How many years does it take to learn how to stop bleeding

like that?” Cami’s eyes sparkled with admiration.

She kind of wanted to learn it herself.

“A lifetime,” Claire said plainly.

With Cami’s hyperactive personality, it would probably take her several lifetimes.

Acupuncture and precision medical techniques required absolute focus and meticulous care.

Cami paused. “Forget I asked!”

A lifetime? Yeah, she was definitely out.

But that only fueled Cami’s curiosity.

She

ring off even more

desperate for details on

how Claire mastered such Skills. .

Swredible

Tilda frowned. “Cami, give it a rest. Claire is exhausted from the surgery. Stop pestering her.”

“Let her eat in peace!”

Tilda figured that was exactly why Dane had brought up the surgery in the first place.

Cami was an absolute chatterbox. Claire was already drained, and there was no way she had the energy to entertain her.