Page 123 of Chasing You

“Well, this one wasn’t actually in Top Gun, but it’s the same model.”

“How did you get this here?” I ask.

He just smirks. “I can be resourceful when I want to be.”

I just shake my head. “I’ll say it again. You have way too much money.” He just shrugs in response.

“Should I be scared? I ask. “'Cause I’m scared.”

He runs a hand over my hair. “No need to be scared, princess. All you need to do is sit there and look pretty.”

“I can do that,” I say.

Miles just presses a firm kiss to my lips, grinning as he pulls away. “You ready?”

“Ready as I’ll ever be,” I say, shaking off my nerves. I don’t fly very often, never going too far that I can’t drive, let alone in a plane this small.

I follow Miles up the ladder into the cockpit, taking the back seat. He straps me in, checking the seatbelt before fitting the headset over my full hair. “Is that comfortable?” I just nod in response. My knee bobs up and down while he gets in the pilot’s seat, getting himself sorted as the nerves in my stomach double.

I hear the crackle of the headset turning on. “Can you hear me, princess?”

I move the little microphone in front of my mouth. “Loud and clear, Captain.”

I hear the faint sound of him chuckling as I see him shake his head in front of me. “You ready for takeoff?”

“Ready.” I nod, not that he can see me.

“Then let’s go, baby.” He pulls the glass canopy down above us, securing it in place.

I look around his head to see him flicking things and pushing buttons, before the plane rumbles to life. The propeller at the nose of the plane begins to spin faster and faster, a physical representation of the anxiety spinning inside me.

“I’m nervous, Miles,” I say.

“We can stop if you want to, baby. We don’t have to do this.”

I screw my eyes shut. “No, I want to do it, but just tell me we’re not going to die.”

His laugh sends comfort rushing through me. “We are not going to die, I promise.”

“And you’re a man who keeps his promises,” I mumble.

“That’s right, princess. Now open your eyes.”

I do as he says, unsure how he knew they were closed, and I see the runway out in front of us.

“This is Maverick, ready for takeoff,” Miles says and I can’t help the laugh that explodes out of me.

“Cleared for takeoff, Maverick,” someone says from the other end of the line and I squeal. This is the most perfect thing I could’ve ever imagined—even better than what I thought of when I asked him about this all of those years ago.

We start to move forward, the plane picking up pace as we get closer and closer to the end. “All good, baby?”

“All good!” I yell into the microphone. Even if I feel everything but all good. I feel nervous and scared and like my heart is in my ass, but also exhilarated at the same time.

The plane gets so loud as the propellers spin even faster, leading us right toward the end of the runway. It looks like we are going to fall straight off the end. “Oh shit,” I say. “Oh shit, oh shit, oh, fuck!” I squeal as the wheels lift off the ground.

“Oh my god! Miles!” My stomach drops as we rise into the sky, the ground getting further and further away from us with every second.

I watch out the glass canopy as we get closer to the clouds, my heart settling the tiniest bit as we level out, coasting through the sky.

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