Page 47 of Classified (The Elite 3)

My hopes and dreams had taken a huge detour from the road I’d originally set for myself. But the more I thought about my options and this new road I now found myself traveling, it seemed like the exact right direction for me.

Here I was, completely and madly in love with a man I both cared for and respected more than I ever imagined possible. I was finally in a good place with my father, and as for my plans beyond graduation… Well, that was up to fate now. I knew what I wanted, and if my luck stayed strong and I somehow managed to get that last piece of the puzzle, I would be the happiest person on the planet. But it was best not to get ahead of myself just yet.

It had just turned six when I picked up my phone and opened up the app to text Solo. He better be bringing food if he was rocking up here this late in the day, but just as I was about to shoot off the request, there was a loud knock on my door.

I headed to the door and pulled it open to see Solo standing there with his newly buzzed hair spiked up at the front, a grin on his handsome face, and a pizza box in hand. I gave him a long, leisurely once-over before saying, “I’m not sure what looks better to me right now, you or that pizza box you’re holding.”

Solo chuckled and stepped forward. “Bet I can help you decide.” He leaned across the box for a kiss, and when his lips met mine, I had to grip the door a little tighter so I wouldn’t float off on cloud nine.

Damn he tasted good, better than anything that could be in that box, but before I got carried away, I made myself step back and let him inside. As Solo walked by, the delicious combination of his cologne and pepperoni pizza filled my nostrils, and I quickly shut the door, wanting to lock him inside with me here for one last night.

“So did you get everything packed up?” he asked.

“Yeah, about an hour after you left.”

Solo flashed that heartbreaker grin of his. “If I didn’t know better, I would think you were being a little bit…snarky with me, Lieutenant Hughes. What’s the matter, you miss me?”

I took hold of his waist, tugging him back against my front, so I could wrap my arms around him.

“The second you left my bed,” I admitted. Solo’s hands landed on mine, and when he leaned his head back on my shoulder, I nuzzled in against his neck. “As soon as you’re gone, I want you back. Sorry if that’s a problem for you.”

Solo turned his head. “It’s not. But today I had to leave for a good reason.”

“No reason is a good reason.”

“No? Not even if it was to get you a graduation gift?”

I loosened my hold on Solo and shook my head. “We said no gifts.”

“Yeah, I know,” Solo said, turning and looping his arms around my neck. “But I ignored you.”

I blinked and leaned back to get a better view of his devilish grin. “You ignored me. Nice to know.”

Solo nipped at my jaw. “What? You didn’t think I’d become all sweet and compliant now that I admitted I loved you, did you?”

That made me laugh. “Hell no. But now I feel shitty because I didn’t get you a gift.”

“Well, don’t. This one’s kind of for the both of us.”

“The both of us?” Okay, now I was intrigued.

“Yep.” Solo gave me a quick, hard kiss, let me go, then took a step back and reached for the button of his shorts.

“Your gift is in your shorts?” I laughed, and Solo raised an eyebrow.

“Are you saying what’s in my shorts is not a gift?”

“I mean, don’t get me wrong, what’s in there is definitely something special, and what you do with it a total fantasy. But—”

“But what?” Solo asked as he kicked out of his flip-flops, flicked open the button, and slowly drew down the zipper.

“But you don’t need anything extra to impress me.”

Solo licked his lips and slowly drew his shorts apart. “Oh, I already know that. My cock is a gift from God, Panther. This gift is from me to us.”

36 Solo

PANTHER’S BOOMING LAUGH made everything in my world make sense. Humor lit his perfect features and joy radiated off every inch of him.

Yesterday had been one of the best days of my life. Not only had Panther and I won our final hop together, we had—by some kind of miracle—ended up scoring the exact same on the leaderboard, securing us the top spot. Something that had never happened before in the history of the Elite, ever.

If that had happened to the Solo of twelve weeks ago I would’ve had a shit fit like no other, and no doubt demanded a rematch or some kind of face-off dogfight. But sharing this moment with Panther had only enhanced the victory. It had made it all the sweeter knowing that the guy at the top with me was not only one of the best pilots I’d ever seen in my life, but he was also one of the bravest men I knew.

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