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“So you’re the Elite,” he finally said, and though he said it without inflection, I could practically hear the sarcasm in his voice—no doubt directed at me. “The best fighter pilots in the Navy. Do you agree?”
No one dared open their mouth and risk the spotlight focusing on them, and it made my father smirk.
“Is that a no? No one in here thinks they’re the best?” He tsked. “That’s disappointing. What the hell are you all doing here then?”
“I’m the best,” Solo said, lazily grinning as he lounged casually in his chair.
“Oh?” My father turned Solo’s way, and I wanted to groan. Of course the guy had to be the first to speak up. I had a feeling he wasn’t done. “And what’s your name, lieutenant?”
“Mateo Morgan, sir. You’ll see it on the trophy at the end of the competition.”
My father whistled. “That’s a bold statement. Do you all agree Lieutenant Morgan is the best of you?”
A snort sounded from somewhere in the room, and my father’s sharp gaze found its owner immediately. Utah.
“I don’t think anyone in this room would agree with that statement, sir,” Utah said. “Especially after the, uh, incident last week.”
“The incident?”
“Yes, sir. The sky…drawing.”
“Ahh.” My father looked back to Solo, who was grinning proudly. “So you’re the Michelangelo of the skies. Solo, is it?”
“That would be me, sir. Although, if we’re talking badass painters, I prefer the Leonardo guy.”
Chuckles sounded as my father’s gaze hardened. “You were partnered up with Panther that day, correct?”
At the sound of my name, several eyes turned in my direction. It was no secret that I’d been pissed as hell about the penis-in-the-sky deal. But I also wasn’t about to open my mouth unless I was directly spoken to.
You just didn’t do that with my father. Not at home and definitely not here on base.
“That’s right. But I take full credit for the artwork that graced California’s skyline that day. Panther had no clue what talents I was withholding.”
If I could have, I would’ve groaned. Either that or told Solo to shut his damn mouth. Couldn’t he see he was just digging a bigger and bigger hole for himself? Sure, his fellow trainees might think his little stunt was amusing. But the only expression on my father’s face was incredulity. Incredulity that someone dared talk to him the way Solo was, and that someone dared be so disrespectful of not only the Navy but the multimillion-dollar plane they had the privilege of flying.
One thing my father had always instilled in me was to respect the uniform and everything that went with it. This was something he never deviated from.
“Tell me, Solo. Do you think it’s amusing to waste the hard-earned tax dollars of the citizens of this great country, by taking one of the aircrafts designed to protect them for a joyride for you to show off in?”
Shit. Shit, shit, shit. In that moment I wish I had a way to tell Solo to keep his mouth zipped. I’d been on the end of my father’s pointed questions once too often, and if Solo thought he was going to come out on top, he was dead wrong.
“I think it’s good for them to see we know what we’re doing up there and don’t always take ourselves so seriously.”
“And you think you achieved that by drawing a giant phallus in the sky and risking not only your position here in this program but also your partner’s?”
It wasn’t lost on me how tense the room had just become, and as I straightened in my seat, my father’s eyes shifted and locked on mine.
“I can’t imagine that you were too happy with the actions of your flight lead that day up there in the sky, Lieutenant Hughes.”
What did he think he was doing? It was bad enough that he’d turned up here unannounced to crash one of my courses, but now he wanted me to call out my partner in front of my class for all to see?
I didn’t mind telling Solo I thought he was a reckless imbecile of my own free will. But I had to fly with this guy for the duration of the course, we had to trust one another up there, and no matter how idiotic I thought he could be at times, I wasn’t about to throw him under the bus now, not even for my father.
“I wasn’t aware of what Solo had planned until I had already landed my plane, and while it was not part of the briefing, sir, I don’t believe there was any malicious intent behind his actions.”
17 Solo
OH MY GOD. Did Panther just defend me…to his father? Well, color me fucking shocked. If someone had pulled me aside and told me that the guy who had gone out of his way to avoid, frustrate, and scold me at every damn turn would be defending my honor this morning, I would’ve called them a liar.
