Page 1 of Love at First Flight
Prologue
Raiden
When Raiden was younger, around the age of twelve, he knew without a doubt that girls were gross.
They just weren’t his girl, no matter how cute and he didn’t like any of them. He always felt that way. Genna was nice, sure. But she and Rickie were pretty much the only girls who didn’t drive him and Gunner nuts.
His mom would always let him know that girls were fine and perfectly nice if he got to know them. but that he didn’t need to stress about girls yet if he didn’t want to.
His mom, Rachel knew best and he loved that she always had good advice to give. Which he listened to with open ears. He wanted her advice.
His dad, Richard, was the man who taught him how to treat girls. That even if the girls weren’t his, he still had to treat them with kindness and that one day he would find the one girl meant for him.
He didn’t doubt it for a minute. Which was a big reason why he never pursued any girls. They never gave him the spark in his chest that his dad had described, so he let it go.
His best friend Gunner thought that too. And they used to have a clubhouse and would declare that girls were not for them yet and they wanted nothing to do with the opposite gender.
For some reason, it stuck. They grew older, but they still never found a girl that made them turn their heads and want everything.
Yes, they had friends who were more than happy to stick their dick in any wet hole, which they thought was disgusting and they wanted nothing to do with it. And then inevitably, yes, they would have to listen as those boys would complain about girls being too clingy, too needy.
As it was, they were happy and content just being alone.
They did hang out with Rickie and Genna. Though that was as close to the opposite sex they wanted to get.
Genna met Luke, when they were both seniors in high school and no matter what Gunner and he did to scare Luke away, Luke was having none of it.
And so they reluctantly welcomed Luke with open arms. It was a wise decision and they were grateful that he had stuck around, as he was the best man to be with Genna.
Rickie wanted to date, but was shy and quiet. People intimidated her and because she was small and curvy, boys would mock her for it.
He hated it and Rickie would often cry about it, until Genna heard about the teasing and would come in, anger flashing in her eyes, letting Rickie know that she was a beautiful goddess and that her curves were something to be envied, not to be ashamed of.
So Rickie clung to Genna’s advice, ignoring anyone who tried to tease her, and Raiden was grateful he didn’t have to kick anyone’s ass.
Rickie was happy to be alone, deciding that most guys weren’t worth her time and with her being not quite four years younger than him, he was glad for it, because he knew no one was good enough for her and he wasn’t around to protect her.
It hadn’t been a shock that even with Genna being Rickie’s age, Genna had gotten married right out of high school.
It had been right for them. Their love was something to be envied. Genna wanted to get pregnant right away, but it had taken a few months of trying, but they now had a beautiful daughter named Cassidy.
He, Gunner and Rickie had all been at the hospital when she had been born and that tiny girl had them wrapped around her finger.
Gunner may have been her true Uncle, but he and Rickie were just as involved in Cassidy’s life.
They loved that sweet sprite of a girl and he had been at her birthday party a few weeks ago when she had a real mermaid come and swim.
He had met Arielle and knew that she was so perfect for Gunner it wasn’t even funny but he wanted to hold it over Gunner’s head, so he hadn’t said a word about her.
Gunner had been pissed that he had missed the party, understandably so, as he was normally at every important function in her young life, but sweet Cassidy was forgiving, as was Genna.
And, once again, knowing that he had met the girl that he knew Gunner was going to love was something else.
Raiden had so badly wanted to tell his best friend that he had found the girl meant for him, but had kept his mouth shut about it.
It was harder than he realized though and by the time it was Halloween, Raiden had almost broken down and told him.
Especially when he spied that the lock screen and the homescreen on Gunner’s phone had a few pictures of Arielle.
