Page 37 of Whirlwind

The diner we’re inis packed with people and other storm chasers we know from our years of chasing. They’re all out today because of the weather across Oklahoma and Kansas, and generally, people tend to follow my team wherever we go.

The minute we drive off, I guarantee several other teams and solo chasers will follow. It used to annoy me when I was younger, but now it doesn’t. I’ve learned to take it for what it is: a compliment to my teams’ skills. The only thing thatdoesannoy me is that several chasers have tried to copy our rocket design over the years. But like us, nobody has had a successful launch.

“I think it was a faulty rocket, which we knew could happen,” Hawk says as he chews on a cold leftover fry. He’s been out in the truck with Joey, tinkering with the rocket that failed, while Ezra, Finley, and I ate and chatted with a few people that came up to our booth. I had hoped at some point Ezra would get up so I could talk to Finley alone, but no dice. Now she’s at the counter chatting with Joey while Ezra talks to another chaser in the diner.

“I think I launched too late,” I say.

Hawk swallows another fry before leaning forward in the booth. “Really?”

I fix the cap on my head and study my friend’s familiar face, wondering if I should tell him the truth: that when Finley’s fingers brushed mine, my brain short-circuited, and I paused asecond too long, losing the moment I needed. I fucked up again because of my feelings for her.

“I wanted to believe it was the rocket at first, but—” I exhale a tight breath and allow my eyes to find Finley at the counter. She’s laughing at something Joey said, and an envy fills me. I want to be the one making her laugh and smile.

Hawk groans. “What did you do?”

I drop my gaze to the table where half of my burger sits and say nothing, giving him an answer without words. He’s a smart guy; he’ll put it together.

“Look at me,” he says after a long pause.

I lift my head, bracing myself for the stare of disappointment or anger on Hawk’s face, but instead, I find a softness in his brown eyes. Which, honestly, is worse. I was hoping he’d take me by the shirt and punch me across the face. That seems easier and more palatable than whatever the hell this look is. “Do you want to talk about it?”

“Do you want to know?” I counter.

Hawk presses his lips into a hard line. “I think I can guess what happened.”

We stare at each other across the table, and Hawk dares a look at Finley before eyeing me again. “You’ve never let anyone, intimate relationship or otherwise, jeopardize your work before.”

I scratch my jaw and feel shame crawl up my neck like spiders. I know I’ve let him down, and I’ve let my team down, too, including Finley. Yes, we’ll have more opportunities to shoot off the rockets and collect data, and yes, that tornado dissipated faster than we would’ve liked, but that’s not the point. If my head was in the game, not only today but yesterday as well, things would be different now. Instead, everything is shit, and I feel like a guilty asshole.

“I know.” I push my plate to the middle of the table. “You warned me to keep my distance, and I didn’t listen.”

“When have you ever listened to me about women?” Hawk smirks.

My lip twitches. “I listen to you.”

“You’re such a liar.”

“In college, you told me not to date Nicole because she was a known cheater, and I didn’t.”

“You still slept with her.”

“Like I said, I didn’tdateher.”

He glares at me, an exasperated look I rarely see from him since we hardly ever disagree, fight, or get on each other’s nerves. We’ve always worked well together as friends and colleagues, and we have since the day we met. Hawk and I get each other, and we know when to say something and not to say something.

It’s why he warned me about Finley, because up until I met her and started talking about her a little too much, I’d never spoken or reacted to a woman quite like this before—and never a student.

Had she not been a student, he wouldn’t have cared and let me do my thing. Normally, I keep my sex life simply that: a sex life. I’ve been leaning toward a future of being perpetually single, chasing hookups since I’m mostly on the road, teaching, or pouring over data.

With Finley, he wasn’t only concerned for me and my job if anything were to happen between us but her heart, too. For better or worse, that’s the kind of guy Hawk is.

Finley’s laugh floats over from the counter, and I stare at her, my eyes following the length of her chestnut hair then down to the gentle curve of her ass. My hands itch to slip in the back pocket of her jeans and pull her against my chest, to feel her warm body close to mine again.

“Ryker.” Hawk interrupts my daydream. This time, when I focus back on him, hedoeslook ticked off. “What was that look about?”

I consider my next words before saying, “Let’s go outside and talk.”

Hawk agrees and grabs another cold fry. A few moments later, we step out of the diner, the warm late afternoon air hitting us as we walk to my truck in the parking lot. When I’m sure we’re alone, I lean against the back passenger door and stare up at the sky. Once upon a time, Hawk and I would share a cigarette, but we kicked that habit many years ago, so instead, we stand in silence until Hawk speaks.

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