Page 41 of Need for Speed (The Elite 2)

“The way you swooped in for that last shot? Damn. It was killer.” Gucci’s eyes were wide, unable to hide the surprise he clearly felt.

Solo slung his arm around my shoulders, a casual move that I wouldn’t have noticed from anyone else, but from Solo it was like an electric jolt went through my body, even with all the gear on.

His eyes were shining as he tapped on my chest and said, “From now on, no one’s gonna question who the legend in the family is. Badass Grant ‘Panther’ Hughes, motherfuckers.”

That made me laugh, and I couldn’t deny that their combined excitement had me high on life, but it was the pride in Solo’s voice that nearly knocked me off my feet. It was like he’d known all along that I could do it, that he’d believed in me more than I’d believed in myself.

“This calls for a celebration,” he said.

I shook my head. “No. No parties—”

“Come on, we need something to celebrate other than Levy knocking Houdini out in ten seconds flat,” Gucci said.

Houdini glared. “It was more than ten seconds, dickweed. Maybe if you’d paid attention to your own hop, you coulda knocked out your guy instead of focusin’ on mine.”

“Or maybe you can eat my—”

“Guys, guys,” Solo said, putting his hand up. “No one wants to hear about your suckage on such a momentous occasion. How about you go back to bowing down to the two of us instead?”

I raised a brow. “I take it you beat Heinz?”

Solo grinned. “Annihilated.”

“Bullshit.” Gucci rolled his eyes, a sour look on his face. “He won by the skin of his teeth.”

“A win’s a win, Gooch. Don’t be a sore loser just because your ass hurts.”

“Ladies,” Houdini interrupted. “We celebratin’ later or what?”

They all looked at me expectantly, and I shook my head. Even though it felt amazing to win, the last thing I was in the mood for was a big crowd pumping up my ego all night. A little one-on-one with Solo sounded more up my alley. “Maybe another time.”

“Lame. We’ll catch ya this weekend.” Houdini and Gucci both fist-bumped me again, and as they headed back toward the hangar, Solo dropped his arm and faced me.

“So? How does it feel, hotshot?”

“Um…” I bit my lip and tried to find the right word. “Surreal. Good, but surreal.”

“It should. You were unbelievable up there. Almost lost sight of Heinz twice because I was too busy watching you.”

Heat crept up my neck and I looked down at the helmet in my hand. “Thanks.”

“Uh ah. Look at me.”

When I lifted my head, Solo smiled.

“That’s better. You hold your head fuckin’ high, you hear me? Be proud of what you just did.”

“Yes, sir,” I said.

“Hmm, I like the sound of that. Maybe you can say it again to me…later?”

I was just about to tell him he was on when Solo glanced over my shoulder. “Looks like you’ve got company.”

I turned to see my father heading in our direction.

“We’re gonna celebrate tonight. Just you and me,” Solo said, walking backward and shooting me one last grin.

I was in such a great mood that I couldn’t help but tease him a little. “Yes, sir.”

He was gone before my father approached, and as I steeled myself for whatever he was going to say, I reminded myself, I won this fair and square. Remember that. No matter what he says.

“Lieutenant Hughes.”

At the formal address I almost grimaced, and found myself wishing that I had a regular, run-of-the-mill father who wasn’t some fighter pilot icon, who maybe worked a nine-to-five job in an office and would be slapping me on the back right now and saying—

“I’m proud of you, son.”

As his words filtered through my wayward thoughts, my eyes widened and a hint of a smile played on his lips.

“Um…uh…thanks.”

A bark of laughter escaped him, a sound I couldn’t remember ever hearing, and as he slapped me on the back and tugged me into his side, he chuckled. He reminded me of…well, me and the other trainees. Reeling from the total high from being up there in the sky—even if he hadn’t won.

“What?” he said, as I stared at him like he’d grown a second head. “You got nothing to say for yourself? You just whipped my ass up there.”

Okay, that made me smile.

“Uh huh. Want to know when that last happened?” As we walked back toward the hangar, he leaned in and said, “Never.”

My legs almost faltered under me, but somehow I managed to keep upright. I’d known he was the best in the program—hell, in the Navy—but I hadn’t known he was undefeated.

“Seems fitting to me that the one to do it was you.” He dropped his arm from around my shoulders and came to a stop, and when I turned to face him he pulled his shoulders up tall, puffed his chest out, and inclined his head. “You flew a hell of a hop today, Lieutenant Hughes. As a fellow pilot, and more importantly, your father, I have never been prouder to call you my son.”

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