Page 55 of Falcon’s Forever

His mouth twitches. “It’s only a couple more hours.”

“You need sleep,” I tell him.

“So do you,” he counters.

“I’m not carrying a gun around a dark compound,” I point out.

“You could,” Falcon suggests.

I stare at him.

A real smile spreads across his face, and the sight sends something warm through my chest that I choose not to examine too closely.

“You’re impossible,” I mutter.

“So I’ve heard,” he replies.

The humour fades more slowly this time. My gaze drops to the club cut stretched across his shoulders.

“Are you doing this because of the window?” I ask.

“Partly,” Falcon admits.

“And the rest?” I press.

“It’s my job,” he answers.

The response is simple, and I believe him.

“You don’t have to stand outside this house personally all night,” I remind him.

“I know,” Falcon says.

I study his face. “Do you?”

He actually considers the question instead of brushing it off. "Yes, I do. I've got brothers covering every line. When my shift's done I'm going to bed."

"You're actually going to bed?" I laugh, because I can't help it.

"Apparently that's where people sleep,” he says, smiling.

"I've heard rumors." I smile back at him.

He laughs softly, and then his eyes find mine and something in his voice drops lower. "I'm trying, Cara."

It’s quiet enough that nobody else hears it. My heart races, not because it's the first time he's said it, but because this time I've watched him do it.

Trying isn't staying away from danger, that would never be Falcon, he'd never be that man, and I wouldn't want him to be. Trying is calling his brothers instead of running alone. Listening when a frightened woman says a patrol line makes her feel trapped. Remembering to ask before he touches a door handle.

"I know," I say.

His eyes close for a second. When he opens them again there's something vulnerable underneath the exhaustion. "You do?"

"Yes." I could leave it there. I don't. "I can see it."

Falcon swallows, and for a moment, I think he might close the distance between us. He doesn’t. Instead, he looks toward the path where Zip is still patrolling somewhere in the darkness.

“I should go,” Falcon says.