"That wasn't it." Jim shook his head. "That wasn't why I didn't want you there. I didn't want you to sign up because I'd already worked my ass off to try to keep you alive and I didn't want you somewhere getting shot at because that was already too close to happening to you here. I was selfish. I wanted you to be... safer, even if it wasn't safe, than if you were over there."

He wasn't looking up. Steve had told him about being attracted to him, and he'd turned around, bit his head off, snarled at him, made himself sound no better than the jerks he'd thrown off Steve hundreds of times before. Now he was making himself sound like a different kind of jerk.

Well, at least it was honest.