Page 2 of These Pucking Boys: Part Two

Shit. Why didn’t I think about doing the same? There was Wi-Fi on the plane, but panic overrode everything.

“All there is to do now is sit tight and wait,” he adds.

“And drink.” Lachy steps into the aisle.

“No more beer for you, jackass.”

“That was Lachy?” Banksy widens his eyes. “Jesus, does NATO know you’re a walking chemical weapon?”

He smirks. “Don’t worry, lads. I’m sticking to whiskey this time.”

CHAPTER 2

JUNE

Iend the kiss, but Ryan doesn’t let me go far. He traps my face between his hands and presses his forehead against mine. “Please, stay with me.”

“I’m not going anywhere…. but I need to speak with Melissa.”

On cue, my phone rings. Ryan releases me, and I quickly return to the living room where I left it.

“It’s her,”I say through the lump in my throat, then I answer it. “Melissa… Ryan just told me. Please tell me you have good news.”

“Nothing yet. We’ve notified the families, and some are coming to the training facility to wait together.”

My heart squeezes so tight I can barely breathe. “I-I’d like to come too.”

“Of course. How’s Ryan?”

I glance at him and find him pacing in the entry foyer, pulling his hair back at the strands with one hand. “He’s freaking out,”I whisper.

“I thought as much.Hedidn’t even let me finish talking.”

My eyes prickle. I’m feeling wretched, but I can’t begin to imaginehisagony. Jake and Lachy are his family.

“How are you?” I ask.

“I’m a mess, but I have faith they’re okay.”

“What exactly happened? How can a plane vanish?”

“The tower lost contact with them after the pilot said he needed to make an emergency landing.” Her voice trembles at the end of the sentence.

I cover my mouth. “Oh God.”

Ryan stops and whips his face to me. “What?”

I shake my head, fighting back my tears. I have to remain strong for him. “Melissa is just filling me in. It’s nothing you don’t already know.”

“We’re hoping they’re just in an area withoutphonecoverage,” Melissa continues.

“Where are they exactly?”

“They were flying over New Mexico.”

I hug my middle, hoping it’ll ease the ache in my stomach. Winston rubs his body against my leg and whines as if sensing my distress.

“There are a lot of remote areas in New Mexico. They must be out of range. That has to be it,” I say.

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