Page 49 of Part & Parcel

Kelly settled his bag under the seat in front of him and fumbled around for his seat belt. His knuckles brushed Nick’s hip and Nick glanced sideways at him, smirking.

“Sorry,” Kelly offered, trying to sound as insincere as he could. He pushed his shoulder into Nick, jostling them both. “We could join the Mile High Club on this flight, you know.”

“I’m a member in good standing,” Nick said flippantly as he turned the page of the book he was reading on his iPad. “And it’s against the rules.”

Kelly huffed and snapped his seat belt closed. “Did Eli know you were bi?”

Nick looked up quickly, one eyebrow raised. He glanced sideways at Kelly carefully. Kelly heard movement behind them, and almost in tandem, Owen and Digger both propped their elbows on the back of the seat and peered over to join the conversation. Kelly and Nick both craned their heads to look at them, and Nick rolled his eyes as he turned back around.

“In his letter to you, he said you were probably off flirting with the male nurse,” Kelly told Nick. “Did he know?”

“Yeah,” Nick said, looking devotedly at his book.

“Did you tell him?” Owen asked. He had both arms crossed over the seat back, his chin resting on his wrist. “How long did he know?”

Nick shook his head and turned his iPad off, stuffing it in the seat back. “He ran into me one night in Wilmington, when we were all still stationed at Lejeune. Saw me with a guy I was . . . kind of serious with.”

Kelly turned in his seat to see Nick’s face better. He was staring wistfully at the back of the seat in front of him.

“He came up to me in the club, said hello, introduced himself to the guy I was with. Never even fucking blinked. Like it was something he saw every day.” Nick shook his head, smiling. “I’ll never forget how fucking scared I was. And he just gave me a wink and told me I was fine. Kept on going like always.”

“Why didn’t you tell the rest of us?” Kelly asked, voice going softer.

Nick’s wry smile was barely there, and then it was gone again. He met Kelly’s eyes, then looked back at Owen and Digger. “I don’t even know anymore,” he said, voice full of regret.

Digger reached over the back of the seat and patted Nick on the head. Then he disappeared again, and Kelly heard the clicking sound of his seat belt. Owen remained, chin on his arm, looking down at Nick thoughtfully.

“All in good time, right?” Owen said gently.

Nick gave him a slight nod and a smile, and Owen winked before sitting back down. Kelly took Nick’s arm, squeezing him.

“You’re okay,” he whispered to him, and Nick leaned into him to steal a kiss.

A second later, someone knelt in the aisle beside Kelly and patted his knee, interrupting the kiss.

“Hey,” Kelly grunted to Ty, frowning in confusion as the man grinned up at him.

“Switch places with me,” Ty requested.

Kelly glanced a few rows back at the top of Zane’s head and Ty’s vacant seat beside him. “What? Why?”

“Just for takeoff. I need to talk to Irish.”

Kelly and Nick shared a glance, and Nick shrugged. Kelly rolled his eyes and unbuckled, moving past Ty in the tight space and letting him have his seat. He made his way to Zane’s row and sat, grumbling to himself as he buckled up.

“What’s he doing?” he asked Zane.

Zane sighed heavily, flipping through a magazine he appeared to have fished out of the front pocket. “I don’t know, he was fine and then he just hopped up and darted away.”

“Huh.”

“Like living with a nervous Chihuahua,” Zane mumbled. There was a soft mew from the cat carrier at his feet that seemed to agree.

Kelly nearly choked trying not to laugh. He leaned sideways so he could see up the few rows to where Nick and Ty sat, their heads bowed together. Ty laughed, and through the cracks of the seats, Kelly saw Nick cover his face with one hand.

A slow smile spread over Kelly’s face, and he made himself comfortable, resting his head on the seat behind him. “Just like old times.”

It only took Nick ten seconds to start complaining as they stood beneath the little stone gargoyle in the baggage claim of the Denver airport. “Who puts creepy-ass suitcase demons in an airport—do theywantme to be afraid of my luggage?” was Zane’s favorite complaint. They piled into the shuttle that would take them to the rental agencies, with Zane handling his and Ty’s suitcases so Ty could hold the kitten carrier and keep them calm.

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