Page 65 of Burn

“Yes, we are. Don’t worry, you and Goblin barely make one person between the two of you.”

I snorted but headed for Alphabet, who grinned as soon as I met his gaze. Goblin’s tail wagged swiftly, but he didn’t leave Alphabet or try to jump up on me.

“Hey there,” I greeted the puppy. I wanted to get down on my knees and give him a hug, but I wasn’t sure my back would tolerate it.

Oh.

Alphabet had done a flattening motion twice when I first approached. He was telling Goblin to stay down. They knew about the tracker. That made sense. Of course they knew, Bones or Voodoo probably briefed them.

They’d probably know all about the sex soon too. Did I really care about that? When I was working, yes. I did my best to never sleep with clients or photographers. Other models were pretty much a no go too.

Relationships made everything messy.

“Hi, Alphabet,” I said. “How are you and Goblin?”

“We’re doing good. How are you, Pixie-girl? I brought some of the better pain meds with us in case you were still hurting.”

I blinked at him.

“Bones said you lost some blood after the car went down the ravine, and you got banged up.” The whole time he spoke, he gave me a firm visual once over. “You look all right though.”

“I am,” I said, raising a hand. “Just… sore.”

“Get the lady in the plane, Asshat,” Lunchbox said as he strolled past us carrying my bag, Voodoo’s, and a third I hadn’t even known was in the back. It made sense, it was probably Bones’.

“We were talking,” Alphabet countered, but then he offered me an arm. “Come on, Goblin is going to sit with you. Flying doesn’t bother you does it?”

“Not usually,” I said, putting my hand on the crook of his arm and then moving with him as he took a slow walk toward the plane. I appreciated the pace, particularly after sitting still for so long. I was definitely stiff.

“Define usually,” Lunchbox said after he stored the bags in a little cargo hold then opened the side door on the plane. Holy shit, that thing was small.

“Well, usually the planes are a lot bigger.” That really made me sound like a diva. “And have room for guys as big as you four.”

“Size definitely matters, Gracie,” Lunchbox said with easy humor. “But in this case, we have skill to go with it. You’re going to be fine. Now, let me help you in…”

Trepidation firmly in place, I climbed inside and sat on a fold down seat in the back. As soon as I was in place, Lunchbox directed me to buckle in and then he passed me a headset. It was heavy, but it had a microphone on it.

A moment later, Goblin hopped in and he came directly back to me and curled up at my feet. His golden color seemed a bright spot in the day. The pressure was definitely welcome. Somehow, the four men all climbed into the plane and I was right—it shrank with all of them in here.

Bones took the seat nearest mine and Alphabet took the other. Voodoo had to sit up front with Lunchbox, who proved he was the pilot. One by one they had on headsets.

“I’ve requested permission to take off,” Lunchbox said over the comm. “We’ll be taxiing in a minute. I also filed a flight plan. How you doing back there, Gracie?”

I gave him a thumbs up and he grinned.

A moment later, the radio crackled to life and the words of the controller were clear on my headset too. We had permission.

My heart suddenly leapt into my throat as Lunchbox drove us to the runway, the ride was only a little bumpy. Then we were in place and Lunchbox informed the tower that we would be taking off.

I wasn’t even sure where the tower was. Maybe it was that shack I could see?

“Hang on,” Lunchbox said and then we were accelerating. A hand grasped mine, and I gripped it tightly. My eyes were closed because I just didn’t want to see if we decided to crash at the end of the runway.

Stupid idea, really. But once I imagined the worst that could happen it would replay in my head until we were past the possible worst of it.

Then we were airborne and I let out a shuddering breath. Finally, opening my eyes, I fully expected it to be Alphabet holding my hand, but it wasn’t.

Bones hadn’t let go either. I wasn’t sure what to do with that, so I just kept holding on.

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