Page 10 of Flyboy

Omar laughed. “Dude. I can totally see that.”

Colton just shook his head. Then he turned to Ivy. “Your turn.”

“I think I’ll leave high school days behind. Let’s see. I win Uno every time.”

“You know we’re playing that every night now.” Omar groaned. “Not the way I imagined my nightlife.”

“I’m undefeated.”

“That’s impossible,” Colton challenged.

She shrugged. “Says you.”

“Okay, and?”

The intensity with which Colton watched her when he didn’t think she noticed made her want to make light of the game, but she humored him and gave him a carrot. “I have a secret wish to own a ranch and ride horses.”

Colton stopped walking. In the middle of the cave, his flashlight bobbed.

Ivy and Omar turned. Omar stepped closer. “You okay, dude?”

“Yeah, I’m fine.” His smile teased them with a half appearance. “Just . . . stumbled on something.” He looked straight ahead, but it was the kind of gaze that was obviously trying really hard to stay that way instead of looking anywhere else.

What on earth had she said? “And for my third, I don’t like chocolate.”

“What? Now that just ain’t right. Who doesn’t like chocolate?” Omar shook his head.

“I can’t help it. The only chocolate I like is the kind that is pretty much disguised by something else. Chocolate covered cinnamon bears, Snickers bars, that kind of thing.”

“Noted.” Colton’s eyes widened, and his gaze flicked to hers before looking away again. He cleared his throat. “My turn. I was the valedictorian of my . . .collegeclass.”

“Oh, he’s turning it up a notch. At Rutgers? That’s a big deal, man.” Omar held up a fist,

and they banged knuckles. Again.

“Thank you.Somepeople think I’m a screwup, class clown or something, but no. Turns out, I’m a smart guy after all.”

Ivy pressed her lips together. “Most people are judged by their behavior, not their resume.”

He dipped his head to her. “And that is a perfect lead-in to my next bit of juicy detail. I almost got kicked out of the Air Force for doing an illegal maneuver.”

“Oh yeah. They call it The Fly.” Omar high-fived him, and they did some kind of manly dance about it.

“Everyone knows that about you.” Ivy crossed her arms, suddenly more irritated than the moment warranted, but she couldn’t help it. Why did a perfectly great guy like Colton have to be so reckless?

“What you don’t know is that in the same time period I was almost kicked out of the Air Force, they also gave me a medal of honor.”

Ivy felt her mouth drop. She hadn’t heard that. She didn’t think anyone knew that. Everyone talked about The Fly—Flyboy’s signature move—all the time. She’d heard about him before she met him. But they didn’t know about the medal. “Why don’t you ever tell anyone?”

“What?” Colton studied her, his eyes intense in the dark of the cave.

“Why don’t you tell people? Everyone knows about the move . . .”

“I didn’t tell them about the move either. I’m kind of private guy, believe it or not.”

She nodded, slowly, taking in a new side of Colton she hadn’t considered before. He was a private guy? One of the most talked-about pilots was a private kind of guy? She wasn’t sure she believed him. But she logged that extra information away and kept walking.

“I think I see the end.” Omar picked up his pace.

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