Page 62 of Forever Flirting

“Sounds like a date, handsome…”

“Oh gosh, Everly, I…” the phone went dead as Alex spoke, giving him a moment to realize that he was going to blurt out his emotions in that moment, almost telling her that he was in love with her.

As he stared at the receiver, he whispered a silent ‘thank you’ in prayer, because it wasn’t the time to say something like that. No, he wanted to be with her, see her beautiful eyes, and feel that moment, knowing it would be like no other.

… And in the meantime, he needed to find something special for Everly to send back with Ricochet when he went to visit his sister.

CHAPTER16

EVERLY

Everly was surprisedto see her brother arriving with a friend. As she waited at baggage claim, she saw Killian was talking to another person in uniform. He spotted her, waved, and then jogged over to hug her.

“Heyyy!” Killian said easily, picking her up off the ground and spinning her around. “Look at you! Love the haircut, Runt…”

Everly laughed at the nickname he so easily shared and nodded politely.

“Hello, I’m Killian’s sister, Everly,” she said politely, extending her hand, and saw him nod simply… not taking her hand.Weird, she thought, retracting her hand, wondering if he was a germaphobe or something.

“Paradox.”

“Everly, this is one of the other pilots stationed where I am… and we are going to stay at Flyboys.”

“You are? We moved Caleb into Mallory’s room for…”

“I think it would be better for both of us, you know?”

“Oh,” she said quietly, feeling slightly dismissed and a little confused. “I guess I won’t see you as much as I wanted to.”

“Sure, you will,” Killian smiled, throwing an arm around her shoulders, and hugging her as they walked towards the exit. Paradox was awfully quiet and walking a few feet away, almost as if he was afraid that she was contagious or something.

“I can’t wait to spend some time with you, hang out, but I also want to do a couple of things while I’m here.”

“Of course,” she smiled. “I tried to condense my appointments down to a few days and…”

“Everly,” Killian interrupted. “You don’t have to babysit me. I might want to go out with some of my old friends, have a beer, or go out if I meet someone… I plan on having a very nice visit at home – and I love you dearly, but no offense? You make it hard to pick up girls if I am hanging out with my baby sister.”

“Oooohkay,” she laughed, feeling her face heat up with embarrassment at the thought of her brother wanting to meet someone or kissing on someone. “Don’t get weird on me, and I don’t want to know about any of that.”

“You don’t tell me about Maestro – I don’t tell you about my relationships. Agreed?”

“A thousand percent,” she retorted quickly… hearing both men laugh easily at how vehement her response was.

* * *

Hours later,Everly swung by the house for a few moments before taking them to Flyboys. She was going to dinner with Killian, and then the two men were going out to get drinks with their friends this evening… which was the same people she’d met when she was with Alex.

“I’ll be right back,” she explained, running inside the house for just a moment to switch out her shoes, go to the restroom, and grab her wallet. She couldn’t believe she forgot it, and it was a good thing she didn’t get pulled over or need fuel.

Walking back out, she was surprised to see Killian and Paradox were both standing in the yard as Mallory pulled up behind her vehicle.

“Hang on, Mallory…” Everly interjected. “Don’t park behind me, please. We are getting ready to head out.”

Mallory nodded, backed out of the driveway, and parked on the street before getting Caleb out of the vehicle in the distance. Everly looked at Killian pointedly and he nodded, remembering her warning.

As Mallory walked up, she smiled openly at Everly and Killian… and it faded the moment she saw the other man standing there.

“Hey Killian, welcome back…” Mallory said easily, giving him a very slight hug that had literally no contact as she pulled back quickly – surprising everyone. Everly never expected her friend to be so standoffish, especially when she always talked about ‘how hot Killian was’…

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