Page 39 of Forever Fascinating

“Got in at two…”

“Lucky you.”

“I’m here on time, so yeah, I guess that is lucky. I wasn’t so sure there for a few moments when the plane I was supposed to be boarding suddenly had a fuel leak.”

“Not cool.”

“No kidding.”

Vapor grabbed his bag of toiletries and headed for the showers to quickly get ready. Brushing his teeth under the water, he kept closing his eyes in exhaustion, and was craving some coffee to keep him going.

Four hours of sleep wasn’t going to cut it if he needed to be alert. He wasn’t sure if this was a mission debriefing or if they were flying.

“You okay?” Reaper said, stepping into the shower stall a few down from him and turning on the water. Matthew dunked his head under the stream again, trying to wake up, scrubbing his face brutally with soap.

“Yup… hanging in there.”

“So, how was the wedding? I don’t suppose you saw a very pregnant, beautiful, brown-haired woman there,” Reaper asked, his voice quiet. “How was she doing?”

This actually surprised him.

Matthew wasn’t much on chit-chat with several of the other men unless it was huddle or talking during the debriefing… and certainly not in the showers!

You just didn’t hold a conversation while you were naked or doing bodily functions… so this chat was happening only because the man couldn’t stand to wait any longer to find out.

It was like they were part of cliques, and Vapor was selectively excluded… but seeing how close the former pilots were in Texas? He could only imagine how ‘left out’ Reaper and some of the older guys were – and the man wanted to check on his wife.

Matthew understood.

“I did see her,” Matthew began, and saw Reaper’s face visibly sag with relief, causing him to fight back a smile. “She was very pregnant, glowing, and looked extremely happy to be at the wedding.”

“Good,” he said gruffly, glancing at him. “Thank you.”

“Certainly,” Matthew replied. “Caboose kept making her have a seat and made sure she was comfortable. I think the man took it upon himself as a favor to you once he knew who she was.”

The cold man actually cracked a slight smile catching Matthew by surprise – because it wasn’t something the team normally saw. He was almost methodical in his processes, very by-the-book, and brutally blunt when you screwed up.

“My wife is extremely gentle, but if Caboose crossed a line… heaven help him,” Reaper said in a lethally quiet voice, before looking at Matthew.

For a moment, Matthew thought it was a veiled threat against the other pilot… or that Reaper was asking for details if he’d seen something fishy.

Cheating spouses, divorce, and separation wasn’t uncommon when you were out on deployment, so he easily imagined that this man was concerned Caboose would try to pull a fast one with his wife… but his next words were telling.

“… Because Sophie will utterly annihilate the man and he’ll wish for death. She can be quite clever when it comes to handling a problem. She scalded me once when I was out of line – and that’s when I fell hard for my wife. She’s incredible.”

“Because she burnt you?” Matthew uttered in confusion, turning off the water and grabbing a towel.

“Because she wasn’t afraid to put me in my place and smile while doing it,” Reaper explained, smirking at him, as if they were almost friends. “There’s something exciting about a girl that challenges you.”

Matthew sighed, rubbing his hair to dry it, before looking up.

“I get that only too well…” he admitted aloud, almost as a confession.

That singular statement was what was in his mind the moment he saw Jana steal outside, knowing they weren’t supposed to be talking. The way she stood up to anyone trying to cut-in at the reception when they were dancing. She liked putting her foot down, confronting or speaking up for what she wanted in that moment… and he was fascinated ever since he’d laid eyes on her.

“I really do understand what you mean, Reaper.”

“C’mon,” the other man ordered, bluntly. “We can’t be late.”

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