AllFreeNovel
Share Us
The waiter dropped off the beers, and I took a long swig of the cold brew as I weighed what I wanted to say. I needed to be transparent here so there was no misunderstanding.
“You know this isn’t a good idea.”
Solo’s dark eyebrow rose. “Dinner? This much spicy salsa?”
“This.” I motioned between us. “Whatever this is.”
“Then why are you here?”
A blunt question, just like the man himself. I hadn’t expected anything less. “Because,” I said, lifting the beer to my lips, “you got my attention.”
That earned me another sexy grin, and it made me realize how much I’d be willing to give to keep scoring those. My gaze moved to the small silver hoops in his ear. He’d been wearing them the night we met, but since jewelry of any kind wasn’t allowed on base, I’d forgotten he had them.
“You like?” Solo asked.
“I do. Any other surprises?”
“Yes, but you’ll have to find out for yourself.”
Shit. Now I’d wonder for the rest of dinner what the hell he was hiding beneath those clothes. Just picturing what it could be had my cock throbbing, and I shifted in my seat.
“I’d ask the same question, but I’d rather find them with my tongue.”
God-fucking-dammit. Now I was sweating.
As I wiped my brow, I had to laugh. “You’re not going to make this easy, are you? You know what? Don’t answer that. You like to do everything the hard way, in and out of the cockpit.”
Solo groaned, his head falling back. “You’re right about that. I like everything fuckin’ hard. Especially you.”
31 Solo
IT WASN’T SHOCK written all over Panther’s face, but a combination of amusement mixed with frustration, maybe? Like every time I opened my mouth, it made the guy exasperated, but he still somehow found it hot. At least, I was assuming he found it hot. His actions while on his knees yesterday had told me as much.
“That should have me out the door,” Panther said.
“Then why aren’t you?”
Panther looked down at the beer bottle he rolled between his hands. “I don’t know. I really don’t.”
“I can help you there.”
He lifted his head, a line forming between his brows. “You got me figured out?”
“Easy. You’ve always played by the rules, and now you want to break a few.”
Panther snorted and shook his head. “And you assume I’m going to break them with you?”
“Well, it was your mouth all over my dick yesterday—”
“Jesus.” Panther glanced around, looking to see if anyone was listening in. Newsflash—they weren’t.
“Can I ask you something?”
“I have a feeling I’ll regret it if I say yes.”
I leaned forward, not to keep my voice down, but to get a better read on his answer. “My charming personality aside, do you see me getting shit from anyone?”
Panther frowned. “What?”
“At NAFTA. Have I gotten the short end of the stick in any way? Any hate from our instructors? What about the other trainees?”
“No. What are you talking about—”
“I’m gay.” As Panther sat there trying to piece together where I was going with that obvious statement, I said, “I’m gay, and not one person gives a flying fuck. So guess what? They wouldn’t give a flying fuck about you either.”
He stared at me, unblinking, and then shifted in his seat. “It’s different—”
“For you? Because you’re some special snowflake?”
Panther’s blue eyes turned icy. “You know why it’s different. My father would make my life there a living hell. Not everyone can be as unaffected as you are about everything. I have to be smart here.” He pushed his beer away and stood up. “You know what, this was a bad idea—”
“Wait.” I grabbed hold of his wrist before he could walk away and stood up so we were almost toe to toe. “I’m sorry. I’m just trying to help.”
With a sigh, Panther glanced down at the hold I had on him, and while he seemed to be debating whether to stay, I tugged him back to the table.
“Come on. Just dinner. I’ll drop it.”
Panther gave a short nod and then slid back into the booth as I did the same. I motioned for another round of beers and finished off my first.
Why did I always have to butt in and interfere when it was so clearly not what others wanted? I couldn’t seem to help myself. It was like my mouth had a mind of its own, and there wasn’t one damn thing I could do to stop it.
But for Panther, for tonight, I’d try.
“I appreciate you wanting to help,” he said. “But I don’t have a choice right now.”
All I could do to bite my tongue, because of course he had a choice—he just wouldn’t get the results that he wanted.
But tonight wasn’t the time to delve into all those issues. It was time to flip the switch back to why I’d asked him here in the first place.
