He looked down at his body. Nope, still not cooperating with his need for caffeine. He closed his eyes and thought up anything he could that might deflate his situation. Sleeping in sand. Walking through an ice-cold river. Getting shot. Seeing a buddy get shot.

Yeah. That did it.

Marco shuffled to the kitchen. His jaw dropped. It was quarter after nine. He'd gotten...over eight hours of sleep. For the life of him, he couldn't figure out what had solved his insomnia and sleep-stealing nightmares, but no way was he complaining. He almost felt like a new man, not that he knew who that would be. He grabbed a mug and filled it with steaming hot coffee.

Behind him, a door opened. "I thought I heard you. Finally up, huh?"

Marco turned, cup in hand. "Yeah, you should've woken me."

She smiled. "Why would I do that?"

He shrugged, taking a long sip. "Coffee's good, thanks."

"You're welcome. Hey, Eric texted me about ten minutes ago to ask what we wanted to do about getting up there. I didn't want to presume that, you know, you and I would-"

"Of course we'll ride up together. Tell him you have a ride." And to stay the fuck away. He grinned into his next sip. Man, he felt damn good. He was actually looking forward to a couple of hours of just chilling up at the lake.

"Okay. Get your butt moving then. Everybody's meeting around ten, which makes us officially late."

"Don't rush a man through his morning coffee."

"No, come on. Hup, two, three, four."

Marco groaned, barely able to suppress a smile. He shoved off the counter. "What are you, my drill sergeant?"

Alyssa grinned. "If I need to be. Now, get a move on. I have a lake waiting for me."

He bumped her shoulder as he passed by and noticed the straps of her purple bikini under the neck of her T-shirt. "When did you get so bossy?" He meant it as a joke, but in truth, she really had come out of her shell these past few years. And damn if confidence didn't look beautiful on her.

She laughed, that full, open sound he loved.

He shook his head as he stepped into the bathroom. He shaved in case he didn't have time later, but given where they were headed, it didn't make sense to shower. Marco threw on a pair of swim trunks and a T-shirt and dug an old pair of sneakers from the bottom of his closet. As he stuffed his feet into them, he caught a glimpse of teal blue. In the midst of all his belongings hung a very pretty one-shouldered dress. It was the only thing Alyssa had hung in his closet. He fingered the material, imagining her in it. All grown up, indeed.

He found Alyssa sitting on the futon, a big tote bag and her guitar sitting at her feet.

"All ready?" she asked.

He tossed his keys into the air. "Yes. What are we waiting for?"

She rolled her eyes. "You're in rare form today."

"That's the damn truth. Amazing what a couple nights' sleep will do for you."

She smiled and busied herself with picking up her things.

Marco grabbed the guitar case. "I'll get this."

"Thanks," she said.

Outside, fingers tickled the back of his hand. He flinched away. "What in the-"

Alyssa erupted in laughter. "Keys, please?" She held out her palm and plastered a ridiculously sweet look on her face.

He unlocked the trunk and settled the guitar inside. "Has the sun already made you delirious? Maybe we shouldn't go."

"Oh, come on, Marco. Let me drive."

"Betty has but one master."

She huffed and walked around to the passenger side. "That sounds kinky."

Marco stared at her across the roof of the car. "And what would you know about that?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?" She threw him a devilish grin, then disappeared into the car.

Marco moved like he was on fire. "Yes, I would."

She settled back into her seat and crossed her arms. "A girl has to have some secrets. Now, you wanted to drive? Drive. And give us some tunes while you're at it."

She was teasing him, right? Of course. He found some music, started the car, and eased out of the driveway. "Windows down?"

"Definitely."

At the stop sign at the edge of the neighborhood, Marco looked at her. "You don't really have those secrets, right?"

She looked at him a long moment and burst out laughing. "You're cute when you're freaking out, you know that?" She slipped on a pair of sunglasses.

Marco frowned, partly relieved and partly weirded out by the images their strange conversation had created in his mind. He turned up the music and the next half hour passed in comfortable silence, the sun overhead, the music filling the car, the warm breeze blowing in through the windows. Alyssa held out her arm and made invisible patterns in the air with her hand, an expression of complete contentment on her face. That such a simple thing pleased her made him smile.

It only took thirty minutes to make the drive, and the lot was already half full when they got there. Marco recognized a number of cars and parked nearest them while Alyssa texted Eric to find out exactly where they were.

Eric came loping out of the woods a few minutes later, a big smile on his face. You don't have a chance, kid, Marco thought to himself. Not if I can help it.

Alyssa hopped out. "Hey!" She pulled off her sunglasses and waved. "Sorry we're late."

"You're not," Eric called. "Most everyone just got here. We're straight ahead down at the water."

"Eric." Marco nodded to him as he closed his door. Eric nodded back but barely pulled his gaze from Alyssa. Rolling his eyes, Marco unlocked the trunk and gathered Alyssa's things. Her bag had two towels and two water bottles. Marco's chest filled with a sensation he couldn't name. She'd packed for him.