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“You hungry?”
I looked over to see Solo tapping his hand on the top of the steering wheel in time to the music. Though how he could hear it over the howling wind was beyond me.
“What?”
“Are. You. Hungry?” he said, and as though my stomach was triggered by the suggestion, it growled.
I nodded and reached for the volume knob of the stereo. “I could eat.”
“You like seafood?”
I loved seafood. “As long as I don’t have to catch it, then yeah. TJ’S Seafood is great, and only about fifteen minutes out.”
Solo reached for his phone and tossed it to me. “Why don’t you call and order ahead? We can pick it up and head back to Black Rock Cliffs if you like?”
Black Rock Cliffs? Wait, that was the same place our motorcycle race had come to its epic finale, wasn’t it?
As I had memories of me kneeling at Solo’s feet with his jeans around his thighs, and the sounds he’d made when he finally came against me, he grinned and nodded as though he knew exactly where my mind had gone.
“I thought this time we could park up top and enjoy the views. You know, since the last time I was there, I didn’t get to see much of it.”
You and me both, I thought, pulling up a search for TJ’s Seafood to get the number. “This place has the best beer-battered fish, but I don’t think you can go wrong with whatever you get.”
“Beer-battered fish sounds good to me. I trust you.”
“Do you?” I looked at him, the reckless hotshot everyone called Solo for a reason. “I thought you didn’t trust anyone. That’s where you got your call sign, right?”
“Not everyone should be trusted.” He reached over and tapped the phone in my hand. “Food, then talk.”
I quickly placed a couple of orders of fish, along with a few sides and drinks, and not long after, we were pulling into TJ’s.
“Stay here,” Solo said, sliding out of the car. He started toward the restaurant, then turned back and spread his hands along the frame of the car. “Don’t even think about getting behind the wheel. You drive off without me, and there’ll be hell to pay.”
“I’m too fuckin’ hungry to leave you behind.”
“Good.”
As he walked away, I took a nice, long look at his ass, that perfect ass that was, unfortunately, covered in a loose pair of jeans that were practically threadbare. Definitely his favorite pair, I thought, remembering exactly what lay beneath them.
With everything that had happened, it felt like the night we’d spent in the hotel together was years ago, not days ago, and truth be told, I didn’t know what the hell to think about it all now. The last thing either of us needed was to make things complicated with any real feelings, or to lose focus on why we were at NAFTA.
It’s casual. We’re friends who find each other attractive. It’s fine.
But as Solo came out of the restaurant with a to-go bag and drink carrier, looking more striking than anyone had the right to, I felt a sinking sensation in my gut that told me I might be falling for trouble.
“You okay?” Solo asked as he placed the bag in the back seat and handed me the drinks. “You look like someone told you that you couldn’t take this baby out for a ride.”
Forcing my thoughts back in the deep recesses of my mind, I slapped a smile on my face. “I wouldn’t worry about me too much. I’ll just figure out a way to steal the keys.”
“Ahh, so I’ll be sleeping with them in my pants tonight. Deal.” Solo winked at me as he started up the car, and then he lowered his Aviators and took off out of the parking lot.
It was a warm day, but the breeze felt amazing as we drove along the coastline toward the cliffs. Even with the aching soreness in my body, it felt good to get out, to feel somewhat back to normal. Staying busy with my parents and now Solo seemed to help, and I welcomed the distraction. Anything to get my mind off the lingering nightmare I’d had last night.
During my time in the hospital, I hadn’t relived what happened when I had to eject. My mind knew the facts; I knew what others told me, saw the resulting marks on my body…but I hadn’t felt it. I hadn’t let it in. And sometime during the night, all those memories had crashed through my subconscious, only I didn’t get off so easily then. I’d lost oxygen and struggled to breathe; I hadn’t had time to get myself into position before ejecting and felt the warm blood oozing below my waist from an injury I couldn’t see. I felt the terror of falling, the fear of my parachute not working, that I’d hurtle to the ground in a fiery blaze along with the Hornet.
