final round - lrh

twenty-one.

"You do anything to fuck this up Lila, you're done for."

I resist the urge to roll my eyes at his lack of confidence in me. I'm sure he feels obligated to say this considering this is a huge deal but he's also said this to me about a million times since the second I woke up.

 Instead of saying something snarky in response, I nod my head to show that I'm determined to do this right and not screw it up.

"Have a little faith in me," I say practically to myself as I finish tying my hair up in a ponytail, in front of my mirror.

I eye myself over, turning slightly in order to observe all angles of myself. I had pulled my shorts up a little higher than normal and tugged my tank top down in hopes of distracting the army and maybe getting more answers than we think we're going to get from them.

Lieutenant Hemmings hasn't questioned it yet, and I only fear what he'll say when I turn around. I'm sure he won't approve of the attire but I'm hoping that he'll give in once he hears my reasoning behind it.

Lieutenant Hemmings stands in my doorway, eyeing me as I finish getting ready for our trip to Damien's camp grounds. This is the first time I'm leaving our camp in forever, so I don't know how today's going to go in the slightest. Especially because it's going to be just Lieutenant Hemmings and myself traveling.

This could either be really good for us or absolutely horrendous for us.

"We're on a tight schedule, could you be a little faster, princess?" he asks in a mocking way.

"I'm ready," I say tightening my ponytail once and eyeing myself over one last time. I feel good. Certainly good enough to seduce some answers out of pretentious assholes.

I turn around to face Lieutenant Hemmings, who wears black jeans as opposed to his usual black adidas pants. His chest is covered by the same black top I'm ninety nine percent sure he either owns 20 of or wears every day. His hair is down and gelled to tame the unruly curls that I can't get enough of.

And of course he effortlessly manages to look better than me.

His eyebrow immediately shoots up as he eyes me over slowly, "Is there a reason you look like you're about to go to a strip club, as opposed to an army base?"

I shrug my shoulders, not giving him time to dwell on it knowing he's in a rush.

"I'm sure I can get some answers from them," I say, fully committing to this task and wanting to prove myself even more. "Even if I have to flirt a little in order to get it."

Lieutenant Hemmings immediately narrows his eyes as he says, "This isn't an opportunity for you to have a quickie with-"

"Jesus, Lieutenant Hemmings, I don't want to have sex with them. I'm trying to make this trip as beneficial as possible. If I can find out more, I'm going to do whatever it takes to find out more."

Lieutenant Hemmings doesn't seem amused by the idea as he keeps a stern look on his face. I keep just as equally of a stern look on my face to show I won't back down. He needs to see that this is a good idea and I'm not allowing for him to tell me otherwise.

Lieutenant Hemmings seems to notice this before very clearly resisting the urge to roll his eyes. He puts his hand in his pocket, pulling out the button he had shown me earlier in the week. I prepare to take it from him because I feel confident having this considering if anything really goes wrong, he'll know.

He doesn't hesitate to take a step forward which instantly makes me freeze as he stands closer to me than normal. He keeps his eyes on mine, making it even tougher to keep my stern look as I know he'll always make me weak enough to not be able to say no.