Then the banging starts.
“Hey, lovebirds!”
Lucas. Of course it’s Lucas.
I groan and bury my face deeper into the pillow. “If we’re very, very quiet, maybe he’ll go away.”
Jonah makes a sleepy noise against my hair. “That’s not how Lucas works.” His arm tightens around me. “He just gets louder.”
As if on cue, the banging intensifies. “I know you’re in there! I can hear you ignoring me!”
“I’m going to murder him,” I mutter, reluctantly extracting myself from Jonah’s embrace. My shoulder throbs in protest as I sit up, and memories of last night flash through my mind, bringing heat to my cheeks. “And then I’m going to put his body in the path of a tornado and call it an accident.”
Jonah chuckles. “That seems excessive.”
“Maybe pick better friends next time,” I reply, searching for my clothes.
“You’re the one who brought Weather Boy into our lives,” I grumble, finding my shirt twisted under the covers. I pull it on carefully, wincing as my shoulder protests. “This is your fault.”
Jonah slides out of bed, grabbing his pants from the floor. “I’m starting to regret every life choice that led to this friendship.”
We dress hurriedly, like teenagers caught by parents, which is ridiculous considering we’re both adults. I’m struggling with my sling when Jonah finally opens the door.
Lucas stands there with a grin so wide it threatens to split his face in half. Max sits obediently at his feet, tail wagging as soon as he sees us.
“Well, well, well!” Lucas exclaims, looking between us with eyebrows raised suggestively. “I was about to call the fire department! The heat coming from this room could’ve set off every sprinkler in the building!”
I cross my arms, unimpressed. “Really? That’s the best you could come up with?”
Jonah grimaces beside me. “Lucas...”
“What? I’m just saying what everyone’s thinking!” Lucas pushes past us into the room, Max trotting behind him. “The sexual tension between you two has been off the charts since day one. I’m surprised the storm systems aren’t forming around you instead of the other way around.”
“I’m reconsidering that murder plan,” I mutter to Jonah, who places a warning hand on my arm.
Lucas raises his hands in mock surrender. “Far be it from me to interrupt my best friend finally getting laid, but unless you two are planning to catch the next one...” he points dramatically toward the window, “we need to go. Like, twenty minutes ago.”
I blink, momentarily thrown by the shift from his teasing to actual urgency. “Wait, what?”
“The system you’ve been tracking?” Lucas taps his watch. “Dude, how good was the sex if even you forgot about chasing today.”
Jonah’s entire demeanor changes instantly. He moves to his laptop, opening it with newfound urgency. “Why didn’t you lead with that?”
“I tried calling!” Lucas protests. “Six times!”
Jonah pulls his phone from his pocket. Sure enough, there are multiple missed calls from Weather Boy.
“How far out is it?” I ask.
“About forty miles southwest,” Lucas says, watching as Jonah pulls up the radar. “But it’s moving fast and intensifying. The updraft velocity is off the charts.”
Jonah’s eyes widen as he studies the screen. “This is incredible. The mesocyclone is already well-defined, and look at this hook echo.”
I peer over his shoulder, already feeling the rush of adrenaline kick in. “Damn,” I whisper, leaning in closer. The rotation pattern is textbook, but building at twice the normalspeed. My pulse picks up with that mix of excitement and awe. “She’s beautiful.”
“She’s dangerous,” Jonah corrects, but I catch the undercurrent of awe in his voice that matches my own. His fingers fly across the keyboard, pulling up additional data layers. “Look at these wind shear values.”
Lucas bounces on his heels behind us. “So we’re going, right? Please tell me we’re going.”
