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I reached for my glass and swallowed down some soda as my eyes watered. When I could speak again, I said, “You’re so full of shit. Tell them how it really happened.”
Houdini’s lip curled, and as he turned to Whiplash, I braced myself for whatever was going to come out of his mouth.
“Okay, the truth? We were partnered up in officer training and Panther asked if he could use my long, thick pencil…”
Solo snorted, and I rolled my eyes. With his blond hair grown out a bit on top since our buzz-down, Houdini was able to run his hand through the longer strands. His eyes damn near twinkled, and he gave me the pretty-boy smile he used to win over the ladies.
“Then he felt my ass up and told me it was the nicest one he’d ever seen.”
“Never fucking happened. You didn’t even know I was gay then, dipstick,” I said, grabbing a handful of fries and throwing them across the table at Houdini.
He picked one off his shirt and popped it into his mouth. Around chews, he said, “Oh, right. Must be thinkin’ of someone else. Although I really do have a hot ass.”
“No offense to you, Whiplash, but really?” Solo shot her an incredulous look. “You find this asshole attractive?”
Whiplash leaned away from Houdini and trailed her eyes up and down him. “Eh, I just felt bad I’d shot him down so many times.”
“In the air?” Solo grinned.
She laughed. “That too.”
“Excuse me, I’m sittin’ right here,” Houdini said, waving his hands in the air. “And I let your sweet ass take me down.”
Whiplash reached for his milkshake and toyed with the straw, pinching it between her fingers and then sliding them up and down. Houdini’s eyes grew large as he shifted in his seat. “Sure you did, darlin’. Sure you did.” Then she took the straw into her mouth in an obscene move that made Solo and me avert our eyes.
Poor Houdini had been asking for trouble going after the likes of Whiplash, and from the looks of it, she was more than he could handle. I had to admit, that was what I liked about her. That and she was a badass in the cockpit.
Still, even with the hell we all gave each other, it felt good to be sitting in a booth on what I guessed was something of a double date. Not that I’d ever been part of one, but seeing as I was with Solo and Houdini and Whiplash had something of their own going… That counted, right? It felt nice…normal. Something I’d been missing even though I hadn’t realized it.
I was out in public on a double date, and not one person was looking our way as if there was something wrong with it.
Damn, that felt amazing.
“So do I get a real answer or what?” Whiplash asked, cutting into my thoughts. She’d given Houdini back his milkshake and turned her focus on me, probably expecting I’d give her the truth and not some outlandish sexual innuendo.
“Well,” I said, “we did meet in officer training, so Houdini was right about that. But as I recall, I’d just watched him strike out with one of the visiting instructors and took him out for a beer to lessen the sting.”
Houdini cocked his head. “I don’t remember that.”
“You wouldn’t after getting as shit-faced drunk as you did that night, which was entirely the point.”
“Nah,” Houdini said, resting his arm along the back of the booth behind Whiplash. “I think ya made that up.”
“I don’t know,” Solo said as he eyed Houdini. “That sounds more legit than any of the stories you’re trying to tell.”
Houdini narrowed his eyes on Solo, and it was all I could do not to verbally remind them to play nice. From day one there’d been a protective tension from Houdini where Solo was involved. But now that we were together, I was hoping to show him that what we had was a good thing, that Solo was so much more than a loud mouth and an attitude.
That was the plan—until, of course, Solo had to go and run his mouth.
“You’re trying to convince us that Panther hit on you? I mean, if you’re going to tell a lie, at least make it a good one.”
“And why isn’t that a good one?” Houdini asked.
“For two glaringly obvious reasons. One, it took Whiplash feeling sorry for your sad ass to actually give in and say yes to a date. And two, Panther didn’t hit on me even though I made his cock hard every time he looked my way. So I highly doubt he was grabbing your ass and playing with your—”
“Okay, I think we all get the point,” I said, and placed a hand on Solo’s thigh.
“You sure? If you move your hand a little higher, you could use my pencil to write it all down for your friend here.”
