Page 65 of Charming But Reckless

I felt like a celebrity, like I was special. At this rate, I would never be able to fly economy again.

"You get used to it," Orion said as he led me up the stairs.

I knew he was trying to be encouraging, but I couldn't believe it. I didn't think I would ever get used to this type of lifestyle.

As he took a seat, I slipped into the cockpit to confirm our location with the pilot. “I’m sorry to be a bother.”

"You aren't, sir," he said with a nod. "I'll get you there, safe and sound."

"I appreciate you. I know this is a bit last minute.”

"It's not a problem at all. Tank is the king of last-minute plans. He pays us well enough that it’s not an issue."

I had no doubt about that. The comfort with which he navigated setting up this trip and didn't even balk when I said we needed a few days off work told me that he was used to pivoting. Once again, I marveled at how I had wound up in this world, how I had become part of these people's lives.

We settled in and got through all the pre-flight posturing before takeoff. It was only a couple of hours by plane, so there wasn't much time to really dig into what was going on.

I kept the conversation light, discussing upcoming plans for Sol and what we would do about his future long-term.

“Do you think he'll ever want to go back to school?” I asked Orion.

He lifted one shoulder. “It's possible. He might feel comfortable the older he gets. I would like to work with him on some self-defense moves. I want him to be able to fight off an attacker should anyone try to come after him. Or a bully if he runs across one of those two.”

“That sounds like a good idea.”

“And if he does decide to go back to school, it will have him equipped for whatever comes.”

We discussed more things like how he would handle his birthday party in three months, and what type of decorating I wanted to do to our home. He didn't believe me when I said that I liked it as it was, and I had learned to stop arguing early on.

If he wanted me to pick out fancy pillows and blankets, then I would do it just to make him feel like I cared.

I did.

I cared a lot, actually.

It was just hard to picture a future like that. I had spent so long in fight or flight mode, settling down was much harder than I thought it would be.

When we finally arrived at our destination, Orion's jaw dropped. "What are we doing here?"

I looked from him out to the air strip we landed on. There was a sign welcoming us to the town, and since there wasn't much to it to begin with, it made it fairly obvious where we were.

“I told you there's something I want you to see.”

He didn't say anything back. Instead, he followed me as we went downstairs to the car that was waiting there. Yet another one of Tank's gifts to us. How the man coordinated this and something in a town this small baffled me.

The driver took us straight to the storage unit. Orion, who was still very confused, didn't say a word. I led him to the largest unit they had and pulled out a key from my pocket. After I unlocked the door, I paused to face him.

“I just want you to know that I didn't mention this before because I wasn't quite sure how to bring it up. It's not an easy topic, and honestly, I hadn't given it much thought until you said something. But I want you to have it and whatever you want to do with it, we'll do it together. You're not alone, Orion.”

His eyes were watering. I think he knew what was behind this door. He understood just how pivotal this singular moment was.

His hands reached up to cradle my face before I could move. He pressed a hard kiss to my lips, then whispered, "Thank you."

When I rolled the door open, it was as if all the memories assaulted me at once.

The smell, though faint, was familiar. And some of the larger pieces of furniture were throwbacks to a life I had left behind ages ago.

One of Orion's hands covered his mouth as he rushed forward and ran his other over the back of a familiar flower-patterned couch.

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