Page 28 of Edge of Desire

I squeezed my eyes shut. I hadn’t even thought about her making that connection. Damn it.

“Look, there are things you deserve to know, but this isn’t the time or place.”

“What kind of people are you? I mean ... fuck.” The plane suddenly bumped as we hit a crosswind, and she grabbed my arm.

“It’s okay. It was only turbulence.”

“Is there anywhere I can get a liquor drink?”

I snorted. “I wish, but not on a military flight.”

“Fuck.” Her hands were clamped together, and her knuckles were white.

“Look, as soon as we get inside, I’ll grab us something to eat and drink, okay?”

“Okay.” Then she looked at me and said, “I’m sorry I went all psycho on you back there. I don’t know what happened. I’ve never hit anyone before.” She dropped her head and quietly said, “Well, that’s not quite true. I hit Little Dickie when he attacked me, but it was only with my stuffed dachshund.”

“Someone attacked you?”

“Yeah. He kinda forgot what no meant. When he started to rough me up and hit me, my neighbor heard me screaming and saved me. She’s a sumo wrestler in training, so she took him right down.”

“Wait. Your neighbor, who is a woman, is a sumo wrestler in training?”

“Uh-huh. You oughta see that girl move too. She’s really something.”

“I didn’t even know women sumo wrestlers were a thing.”

“Oh yeah. She had me on a training program for a while, but I was pitiful. I could only bench-press four reps at thirty pounds.”

I was trying my best not to laugh, but it was challenging.

Her brow creased. “You think this is funny, don’t you?”

My teeth clamped down on my lower lip. “Muh-uh,” I mumbled, shaking my head.

“Yes, you do. You’re making fun of me.” She pursed her lips.

I vigorously shook my head back and forth.

“Muh-uh.”

“You can’t even answer me. Go ahead, answer me. Say no.”

I just looked at her, and when I let my lip loose, I busted out laughing.

“You know what? You’re an asshole.” She crossed her arms and stared straight ahead.

God bless the pilot, because right at that time, he came back to us and told us we could deplane.

I stood up and offered her my hand, but she batted it away. We exited out the back of the plane and went inside the terminal. I hunted for the information desk. There was an airman standing there, so I asked about our flight to Andrews. He informed me we only had fifteen minutes before it departed and there were only seats in the cargo area. Great. Exactly what I wanted to hear. He pointed me in the direction of the canteen, and I told Avery to hit the bathroom because we only had ten minutes until wheels were up.

The canteen’s offerings were minimal, so I grabbed a little bit of this and that and a variety of stuff to drink ... bottled water, Gatorade, and Coke Zero and stuffed them into my bag. Avery walked out of the bathroom, and I waved to her. She met up with me and we headed outside.

When we got on board, there were two seats in the very back and I pointed to them. She raised her brows at me, and I nodded.

She headed to one and I took the other.

“And how long is this flight?”

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