Page 123 of GAF Factor

“Not tonight. I just want to hold you.”

“Just so you know, that’s exactly the type of thing every girl wants to hear.”

“Yeah?”

I bit my lip, nodding as I smiled. “I mean, in real life. In books, we want to hear about the man telling her he’s going to rip her clothes off and make her come with just his tongue.”

“Why is there a difference?”

“Because books aren’t real.”

He grunted, sliding his arm behind my head to pull me close. “And why is it okay in real life to have a man hold you?”

“Because in real life, a woman doesn’t want sex every night.”

He choked out a gasp. “That is something no man ever wants to hear.”

“I think you need to tell your friends. They should really know.”

“That might kill them all.”

I swiveled my head and looked up at him. “Well, you said you didn’t want that many friends.”

30

SCOTTIE

“You’ve got this,Scottie. It’s just a walk in the park,” I murmured, gearing up for another flight. “There’s nothing to this. You get on that plane, take off, and once you’re in the skies, you’re home-free.”

My stomach churned as I thought of my boots leaving the ground again. Fuck, I really hated flying. I could do it. I knew I could. I just didn’t fucking want to. Ever since that fucking job with the power station…

I couldn’t think about that now. I had to get us home in one piece, and that meant no fucking deviations from the flight plan. I blew out a deep breath and popped a Tums. I was nearly through the whole fucking bottle. Putting on a brave face, I walked out of the bathroom and grabbed my gear, heading for the plane.

“Yo, Scottie Dog! Are you flying us out today or are we catching another flight?” IRIS shouted.

I flipped him off and climbed the stairs to the plane. FNG was already on board, tossing around a baseball.

“Are you fucking crazy?” I asked, snatching the ball as he tossed it in the air. “Are you trying to get everyone killed?”

“Not yet,” he grinned. “But the day’s still young.”

“Relax,” Max said from the cockpit. “He’s not gonna kill us with a baseball.”

“Says you,” I grumbled. “How much have you had to drink today?” I asked, walking up front. I grabbed his jaw and forced him to look at me. His eyes looked mostly normal, but then again, Max’s normal state was drunk.

“Only two drinks. Relax. I fly better when I have a few in me.” He shoved my hand away and got to work checking everything. Where I used the flight checklist, he did everything by memory. Not that I couldn’t, but I liked to know that I hadn’t missed a single thing and could prove it.

I stowed my barf bags and made sure everything was in order, then marched to the back and checked that everything was stowed properly. Something about this flight just wasn’t sitting right with me. Whether it was the unlucky words spoken on the last flight with IRIS or the day we were flying, I wasn’t sure. But if I said anything to Lock, I was bound to be grounded until tomorrow, and that just couldn’t happen. I had to get home to Quinn. She was leaving tomorrow for another USGS site, and I’d be damned if I would miss her.

The guys ambled onto the plane one by one, joking with each other and acting like this was all some game. The only one who was taking things seriously was IKE, and that was because he was a hardass and he had Isla with him.

“Everybody, get your ass in a seat and strap in. I’m not waiting for you!” I shouted over the chaos.

“Ooh, lover boy needs to get home,” Thumper teased.

Slider smacked him. “Hey, he has a fire to build.”

I rolled my eyes at their teasing. “The fire has been built and it’s roaring. Forest fires can’t burn hotter than what we have.”

---