The Heartbreakers

“Well fuck Patrick is dead and I’m the Angels captain now, I—”

“You didn’t just say that!” Mom snaps. “Go home, Darrius. You’re done training for today.”

His eyes widen, he knows he fucked up. Big time. “Gina, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean—”

“I said, go home!” Her tone brooks no argument. “I invited you guys over for family dinner tonight. Your dad was supposed to tell you and your sister. Go home and calm down, Darrius. Unless you do that, I don’t want to see you at dinner.”

He insists. “Gina, I—”

“Go!” she demands, and this time Darrius complies, leaving the room with head bowed and his tail between his legs.

“Mom, are you ok?” I ask her as soon as her office door closes behind Darrius.

She releases a deep breath. “I’m fine, sweetie. Let’s go get this meeting over and done with. I was going to tell you that family dinner is at eight tonight. We have something important to talk about.”

My eyes skim over to her desk and land on the card that came with her flowers.

I love you more than ever—K.

I wonder if that’s what she wants to tell us. They want us all there to tell us that they’re dating. That the two decade friendship between her and Kyle turned into something more.

“Do you need any help with the cooking?” I offer.

“No, sweetheart. There’s somewhere I have to be beforehand, so I’m getting it catered.”

She looks nervous and it hits me that maybe they’re more than just dating? Maybe Kyle proposed to her? After all, she had told me that she’d tell me about her new man if things became serious.

If that’s the case, I’m happy for her; Mom deserves some happiness after how hard it was to lose Papà.

***

Jameson

FUCK, HAVING A LOTof money and rich sponsors makes all the difference, I swear.

Not that I complain about the training facilities we have, Kenneth has invested his personal fortune into the team; but let’s be honest, our headquarters are a far cry from what the Cove Angels have at their disposal.

We have a short runaway that isn’t even CAT III (categories that allow you to land in poor visibility conditions. III is the one that allows you to land in very poor visibility), one aircraft and a gym. Here they have three aircraft, a CAT III runway, a gym, a pool and their own wind tunnel that happens to be the tallest in the fucking world. They have a full spa with a full-time masseuse and physical therapist and that’s where I’m heading now after a quick shower in the bathroom near the locker room.

“Are you already done, dude?” Peyton asks, ignoring the way Niko and Trent have been scowling at us the entire time. The tunnel is over thirty-two feet wide, so there’s room for all of us to fly in there.

Obviously the Angels think that we have cooties or something, at least if I have to judge by the way their captain stormed off after he tried to kick us out of here.

“Yeah, my shoulder has been bothering me since last weekend’s party. I must’ve pulled something the last time I jumped into the pool.”

Channing grins. “I bet! That’ll teach you to take advantage of the situation and grope Lenley under the guise of ‘helping her.’”

I flip him off but he knows I’m not really mad. “Maybe. But I want to be one hundred percent for the first qualifier of the season, so I’m taking advantage of the physical therapist while we’re here.”

Peyton nods. “Good idea. Chan and I will fly a little more. Ms. DeLaurent was a lifesaver by inviting us to train here today. This shit weather has made it impossible to fly all week, which before an official event isn’t ideal.”

I agree. “True. Do you think Lenley has something to do with how nice her mother has been to our team, lately?”

My best friend and team captain shrugs. “I don’t know. The invitations to the party and to the museum opening happened before we met Len.”

He’s right. “True.”

Channing chimes in. “I was waiting for a drink at the party the other night, and I heard the mayor talking about how having two teams put Star Cove on the map for skydiving. I mean, it already was when Patrick DeLaurent decided to base his team here, but having two competitive teams has really boosted tourism. The mayor was saying how good it would be if the two teams were on board to help the town expand. It could mean better aviation facilities, which in turn would help both teams to stay competitive at an international level.”

I consider it. “It makes total sense. Probably that’s why Ken has been so insistent that we clean up our image.”

Peyton takes a sip of his energy drink—there are coolers with complementary Wild Horse drinks, the Angels’ new sponsor. “It makes sense. That’s probably what Dad wants to talk about tonight. He mentioned a team meeting over dinner.”

I groan. “Aww, really? I was hoping to ask Lenley to go grab something to eat with me tonight.”

Channing chuckles. “You better show up, dude. I haven’t forgotten how you ‘punished me’ for blowing off work the other night.”

I bark out a laugh. “You’re dying to get some payback, huh? But there’s no way I’d make it that easy, bro. Where’s the meeting?” I ask Peyton.

“He said he’ll text us to confirm the location. I think he’s probably pissed about the fucking diving challenge at the party.”

Channing sighs. “Yeah, he mentioned something about quitting getting into fights every time we cross paths with Penn.”

“Well fuck, then maybe he should talk to Penn, rather than us. He kept provoking me the other night, and you’ve seen how pissed he was when he saw us here; and his teammates don’t look very friendly either.”

Niko and Trent are in the tunnel right now, but they made no mystery of their annoyance at having to share their training facilities with us today.

I clap Peyton on the shoulder. “Right. Try not to get into any fights, dude. Especially if Penn comes back in here. I’ll see you guys at home. Maybe if dinner is over quickly, I can still text Lenley later.”

And talking about the devil ... I spot Lenley as I walk down the hallway that connects the room with the wind tunnel to the gym and the locker room.

“Princess.” I grab her hand and drag her into the empty locker room.