June went out early as usual, took a quick, scalding shower that did nothing to loosen the knot in her shoulders, and headed straight for the mess hall.
Dark circles shadowed her eyes; she'd smeared concealer over them with the practiced flick of someone who'd done it too many mornings in her life.
The exhaustion lived deeper than skin, though—every muscle felt heavy, like her body was still carrying the weight of a night spent having sexy lewd nightmares instead of sleeping.
"Ma'am!"
Boots scraped, chairs shifted.
Half the room came to their feet in a ragged salute; the rest gave lazy nods or half-hearted two-finger gestures.
June acknowledged them with a small tilt of her chin and kept walking, already catching the morning's gossip on the air like diesel fumes.
"Did you hear what went down last night?"
"Fuck yeah. I cranked my headset to max—thought the bass would drown it out. Nope. Still heard every damn moan."
