Page 49 of Need for Speed (The Elite 2)

I took my time getting dressed, making sure my uniform was perfectly pressed and my shoes were polished to a gleaming shine. Every event in the military meant looking your best, but tonight there would be even more scrutiny. Being part of the Elite program was no small honor, and that meant every eye in the place would be on us.

Guess I’d have to forget walking out there doing the robot.

Another message pinged on my phone just as Panther pounded twice on the wall that separated our rooms.

Panther: Miss you already.

As a series of obnoxious honks rang out from the parking lot, I heard Houdini yell out, and then Panther’s door slammed shut.

Fuck, I thought, dropping my phone. I guess we’re really doing this.

35 Panther

“YO, PANTHER! GET your ass out here,” Houdini hollered. “We got two other bodies to pick up besides yours, you know!”

I glanced at my phone one last time to see if Solo had responded to my last message. But when all I saw was my Miss you already, I let out a sigh and slipped it into my back pocket.

There was no more putting this thing off no matter how much I wanted to, and as if I needed a further reminder, another round of honking horns started up. Jesus, seemed like someone was in a hurry to get his dance on, but then again, Houdini got to dance with the person he wanted tonight, didn’t he?

With one last look at myself in the mirror, I made sure all of my medals were straight, my buttons were fastened, and my shoes were so shiny that I could see my reflection in them. This wasn’t my first ball, but it was the first time I’d be in attendance with my father as part of the receiving line.

Happy I passed muster, I picked up my hat and headed for the door, wondering what the man on the other side of the adjoining wall was thinking. Did he wish he was walking outside to meet me? Did he wish we could stay in tonight, and say to hell with all the pomp and circumstance?

All I knew was that if he was feeling anything like I was, his stomach would be tied up in knots. Because while I wanted nothing more than to see Solo decked out in his full dress whites, I wasn’t quite sure how I would control myself when I did.

Steeling myself against thoughts of that nature, I took in a deep breath and headed for the door, and when I pulled it open I saw Houdini hanging out the limo’s back window with a goofy smile on his mug.

“Well, it’s about damn time you showed yourself. You think we got all night to wait on your pretty ass?”

Ignoring him, I pulled the door shut behind me, and as I stepped out onto the sidewalk, Houdini let a loud wolf whistle.

“Come on, give as a turn. Show us what the golden boy of the Elite looks like all polished and spit-shined.”

I flipped Houdini off, and was about to tell him to shove it up his ass, when Whiplash—who was no doubt going to live up to her name tonight—joined him at the window and called out, “Aww don’t be a spoilsport, he made me do it too. Give us a twirl, Panther.”

Shaking my head at Houdini’s bark of laughter, I tucked my hat under my arm and then slowly pivoted.

“Lookin’ goood, my man.”

“He’s not wrong,” Whiplash said, an appreciative look in her eye when I rounded back. “You look smokin’ hot.”

“Uh, hello. I’m sittin’ right here, you know.”

Whiplash looked at Houdini and nodded. “Oh, I know, but you have to admit, the Panther scrubs up mighty fine.”

Serves him right, I thought, as I walked to the limo. As I pulled open the door and slid inside, I took a moment to look at my two traveling companions.

Dressed much like myself, Houdini didn’t scrub up half bad. His blond hair was styled to the side and he was sporting a slight stubble tonight, making him look every inch the Robert Redford doppelganger we always called him.

As for Whiplash, I hadn’t been wrong. With her long hair professionally styled and her makeup flawlessly applied, it didn’t matter that she wasn’t in some elegant ball gown: she was one of the most beautiful women I’d ever seen. Houdini would be tripping over himself all night, and that was enough to make me feel a little better about what I was going to have to endure over the next however many hours.

I pulled the door shut, and as Whiplash settled into her side, Houdini glanced my way and said, “Solo leave already?”

The question was innocent enough, but I heard the underlying meaning and shook my head. “Pretty sure Gucci is gonna come and drag him out.”

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