“Should I be worried?” I joked. Okay, half joked.
Lucas snorted. “When you see them in the same room together, you’ll know why the mere thought of that is funny. But no.” He kissed the side of my head. “I asked that same question once upon a time. Then I met Ev, and…” He shook his head. “He’s something else. There isn’t a box in this world he would fit into. Shy and submissive one second, cocky and sadistic the next, playing with both men and women.” He paused. “Colt actually gave Ev his call sign. Now everyone knows him as Switchblade, but only we know that switch is…well, you know.”
I snickered.
“August will be pleased to see Ev’s return,” Lucas mused. “As will Ivy.”
“August is one of your friends, right?” I remember an August being mentioned.
He nodded. “You’ll get to know him better soon. He’s a bit of a recluse, but he’s very nice.” He pointed toward the sky again. “Looks like they’re getting ready to land.”
Oh, but not before Colt made me gasp. He’d told me he would try to do something cool for me, and that was exactly what he did. He flew over us at mad speed, breaking the sound barrier, then did countless spins while I squealed behind my hands.
“Mr. West and Mr. Damien?” someone asked. A man in uniform came over to us. “Please come with me. Colonel Carter asked me to bring you to the flight line.”
My mouth popped open, and I stared up at Lucas.
He knew something. It was there in his eyes! He grabbed my hand, and we followed the man past the barricades and out onto the taxiway.
It was really windy here, and fall had arrived with colder weather. I shuddered and hugged Daddy’s arm, and I vowed not to leave my beanie in the car next time.
We watched as the training squadron rolled in, each fighter parking under its own ceiling along the ramps.
I was about to see Colt’s F-16 real up close, wasn’t I? I couldn’t believe it.
Daddy was the last to roll in, and I caught him greeting us with an aloha gesture, or shaka sign, something I’d seen pilots do in movies.
“This is so flippin’ exciting.” I tugged at Lucas’s arm and shook it. “Should I mess with him for funsies, Daddy?”
Lucas laughed. “As long as it’s the bratting he enjoys, I say go for it.”
The man in uniform left us with a nod as soon as Daddy had stopped the plane and the engine was turned off. A maintenance crew was there quickly, and the hatch opened.
Daddy removed his head gear, and I waved excitedly.
It was a beauty, this plane. Curses. If only photography wasn’t prohibited out here. A small fighter in comparison, yet big and worthy of worship when you found yourself walking under the wing. Thirty-two-foot wingspan, nearly fifty feet long. It was like falling in love all over again.
“Give us a minute, will ya?” I heard Colt say as he climbed out of the jet.
The maintenance crew backed off.
“You were amazing up there!” I exclaimed.
He grinned and dipped down for a kiss. My fighter pilot Daddy. Gah!
“What do you think of my Viper?”
I beamed at the plane—and the perfect joke came to me. Oh, I had to. I couldn’t resist. It was the ultimate way to mess with him.
“It’s cool,” I said. “But have you ever landed on a carrier?”
“Ouch!” Daddy clutched his heart. “Let’s file that under, the one thing you don’t ask an Air Force pilot.”
I giggled madly and hugged him. “I’m kidding! You know I’m kidding, right?”
“Of course I know, baby,” he chuckled.
“Yeah, I don’t get the joke,” Lucas said.
“There are no aircraft carriers in the Air Force,” I replied, smirking. “That’s the Navy.”
The joke was still sort of lost on Lucas, and I couldn’t blame him. You kinda had to be a little nerdy—or involved in the armed forces—to appreciate this humor.
“Hey.” Colt lifted my chin. “I can’t exactly take you for a ride in a single-seater, but do you wanna climb in?”
I froze. And died.
I wasn’t gonna cry, I wasn’t gonna cry, I wasn’t gonna cry. I blew out an unsteady breath and nodded jerkily, unable to speak, and my heart started pounding. Colt helped me up the ladder and reminded me not to touch anything. As if I would dream of such a thing. Holy shit, I couldn’t believe this was happening.
A moment later, I sank into the tiny cockpit and sat rigidly in the seat. It was tilted back, the seat, and the cockpit was so small that moving around was nearly impossible. And to think, Daddy was practically twice my size.
I couldn’t blink. I stared at the keypad in front of me, at all the buttons, the side-stick controller to my right, the handle between my legs that, if pulled, would eject me from the plane.