Fly With Me (Wild Aces #1)(54)

“How long has it been?”

“A year.”

I didn’t even know what to say. It was a crappy situation. A really, really crappy situation.

“That sucks.”

“No shit.”

“Maybe you’ll meet someone else,” I offered.

Easy gave me a look of amusement. “I meet a lot of girls.”

True.

“You’ve met her. Do you think I’m going to meet anyone else like her?”

I got his point. Dani seemed pretty special.

“Maybe you’ll meet someone who isn’t like her, but who you like even more.”

He didn’t respond, just kept digging at the ice cream. I didn’t know if there was anything I could say to make this better; I was beginning to suspect there wasn’t. Maybe Noah had been right about all of it and I should have just left it alone.

Fuck.

I sucked in a deep breath. “You know Dani told me about what you did for her. About the miscarriage.”

His jaw clenched.

“And she told me that you were a good guy. A really good guy. She cares about you. A lot. I know it’s not the same way you feel about her, and believe me, I know it hurts to want her and not be able to have her, but you are special to her. She sees the deep in you, and even though I didn’t see it before, I see it now.”

I reached out and squeezed his hand.

“It’s not my business, but you’re important to two people I care about, so you’re important to me. You deserve more than girls who are trying to bag a status symbol. And the girls who care, who want more, deserve better than a guy who’s just f*cking his way through heartbreak. So be the guy everyone thinks you can be. Maybe you can’t have Dani, but I promise you, there’s someone out there for you. You just have to find her.”

A moment passed, and then Easy pulled me into a side hug, the carton of ice cream between us.

“Thanks.” He released me, picking the spoon up. “Go back to Noah. I’m going to drown my sorrows a bit longer.”

“Are you going to be okay?”

He nodded.

I squeezed his hand again and got up from the couch, heading down the dark hall to the bedroom. I stopped short as my body nearly collided with Noah’s. I stifled a shriek.

He leaned against the wall, pajama pants slung low on his hips, cotton T-shirt rumpled. Pieces of his hair stuck up at weird angles from just getting out of the shower. Clearly he’d been listening to my conversation with Easy. He tucked me against his body, his arms at my waist. His lips brushed my hair, and then he whispered in my ear, his voice achingly soft.

“I love you.”

I froze, those three little words suddenly life changing.

I pulled back, my face tipping up to stare into his, my hand reaching up to trace the stubble at his jaw. His eyes closed as he leaned into my touch, and a whole other part of me melted.

“I love you, too.”

It just came out without thought or design. It just was.

“I don’t ever want to lose you,” he whispered.

“Me, either.”

“Promise me we’ll find a way to make this work.”

“I promise.”

We stood still, our limbs wrapped around each other, our heads bent, foreheads pressed together.

His grasp on me tightened. “Thanks for being nice to Easy,” he whispered.

“I was wrong about him. I didn’t understand you guys before, but I get it now. He’s a good guy.”

“Yeah, he is.”

Noah jerked his head toward the bedroom. “It’s late. Come to bed.”

He clasped hands with mine and we walked down the hall to the room that was beginning to feel like our room, to the life that was beginning to feel like our life.

It was funny how three little words could change so much, and yet, somehow they did.





NINETEEN




NOAH

The weekend went by quickly, and then I was back at work on Monday, four flights scheduled for the week.

“You got a second?”

I looked up at Joker standing in the doorway of my office.

“Yeah. What’s up?”

“I just got a call from the guy who runs the Fighter Porch.”

“About me?”

One guy at the Fighter Porch handled all of the Air Force fighter assignments. We were put in groups known as VMLs based on the months when we arrived at our current assignment and then we received our new assignment based on our VML. Mine was still two VMLs away so it was weird that they’d call my squadron commander.

“Yeah. They’re still fighting manning issues in Korea. Osan and Kunsan. They’re nonvolling guys who have been on station for at least two years in their current assignment.”

Oh, f*ck.

Joker saw my face. “Sorry, man. I know the timing sucks.”

“Sucks” didn’t begin to cover it.

“When?”

He winced.

“Three months. Your Report No Later Than Date is July thirty-first.”

Motherf*cker.

“Which base?”

“Osan.” Joker sighed. “I know this is a kick in the nuts personally, but he did tell me that they want you up at the Wing. Wing Weapons Officer.”