Page 55 of Forever Fallen

“It’s nice,” she agreed, not sure what she was looking at, but realizing it was very cramped on the interior.

She and Ryan were shoulder to shoulder and his knee was almost touching hers. It reminded her of the three of them squished in Valkyrie’s truck.

“You think?” he asked in surprise. “My mom hated it and was scared to fly with me. She always preferred to watch from the ground.”

“It’s intimidating,” Sophie began openly, glancing at him to see him watching her. “Maybe sometime… we could go up and you could show me what this is like to fly? I mean, I’m sure it’s different than being on an airliner or jumbo jet, but I’m not nervous about flying with you.”

“Really?”

“No,” she nodded, smiling at him. “I haven’t upped my life insurance policy yet or added you on as a beneficiary - so I’m relatively safe right now,Reaper…” she drawled pointedly, teasing him about his call sign.

Ryan laughed easily, shaking his head, before looking at her sideways. His smile was enchanting, and she felt her heart quicken with joy at seeing the delight in his eyes.

To her surprise, he leaned towards her and hesitated, as if he was going to kiss her and stopped.

“You’re not crying, nor is it evening…” he uttered, almost as if he was taunting her or talking himself out of the display of affection, before starting to back away. “I just…”

“I think you should probably go ahead and kiss me before Thumper comes back, since we’ve had a third wheel with us for the last few hours,” Sophie said breathlessly, her eyes searching his, as she tackled this newfound theory of hers.

She saw the flare of awareness and something else in his dark eyes as he leaned forward again, slipping his hand behind her neck and pulling her closer to him.

The feelings of his fingers on her skin made her shiver in delight just as his lips touched hers. That soft, infinitely sweet kiss deepened between them… just as she heard someone clear their throat nearby.

The two separated immediately.

Thumper.

“I’m in your seat,” she began, protesting immediately and moving to get out of the plane – only to hear Ryan’s voice behind her.

“It’syourseat andourplane.”

As her foot touched the ground, she saw Thumper’s smile and Ryan’s firm frown as he looked at her. “This is your seat, and you never have to get out. He can sit here to fly it back.”

“Do you two want to take it back and I can drive the truck?” Thumper offered. “I just need to get into the storage locker and can take it from there.”

Sophie hesitated, surprised and stunned, because she assumed that Thumper and Ryan were flying it back – and that she was driving the truck to Yonder.

“Sophie?” Thumper asked.

“Really?”

“It’s up to you,” Ryan shrugged nonchalantly. “I’ll start the pre-check and you two can play rock/paper/scissors about it while you decide. I don’t care who flies it, so long as it makes it back in one piece.”

Ryan climbed out and began walking around the plane, touching each panel, and looking around as Thumper looked at her questioningly.

“Do you want to fly back with Reaper?”

“Yes…” she whispered nervously, feeling her heart skip a beat.

The other man smiled and nodded in approval, before patting her on the shoulder. He dug out his keys from his pocket and gave her a small wave, as Ryan joined them.

“Let’s make sure it starts up,” Thumper began. “Then go ahead and head out. I’ll get the storage unit.”

“We’ll help load the boxes.”

“There’s only two in there,” Ryan interjected quietly. “I didn’t have anywhere else to really put my things and was afraid if I left them in the plane, someone would take them or damage them.”

“Then it should be easy for me,” Thumper nodded. “Start her up and let’s see how she does.”

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