23. Jason
23
JASON
“ E verything in here is made of cotton,” I explained as I showed Melissa what Bridget had helped me pack for her.
I could have done it myself, but I didn’t want to get the sizes wrong. Safety was the name of the game, but Bee insisted that fit was important when it came to sports bras. I reluctantly accepted the help.
“You don’t wanna wear synthetics when you’re in the aircraft. If there’s a crash and you miraculously don’t die on impact, you’ll probably catch on fire. Synthetics melt and burn onto the skin. Natural fabrics burn off the body. But don’t worry—you’ll have a Nomex suit on. That’s flame-resistant.”
Mel looked up at me with wide eyes. “Why the fuck would you talk about airplane crashes now ?” she hissed.
We were alone in a little locker room. She had been quiet since Garcia and I told her what the plan for the day was.
She was going to get to fly in a practice flight with my buddy before the Cherry Point Air Show. I wouldn’t trust just anyone to take my girl up and hit Mach 1.8. But if there was anyone I trusted other than myself, it was Bugs.
The two of us had gone through the Naval Academy together. Gotten our wings together. Even stayed together for a few duty stations and deployments over the years. He was an amazing aviator, and I was proud as fuck that he’d made it to the Angels.
“Maybe talking about certain-death scenarios before I get into a metal tube that will make me hit 9 Gs isn’t the best idea,” Mel said as she took the stack of clothes from me.
I cracked a smile. “C’mon, Goose, don’t chicken out on me now. What happened to being an adrenaline junkie?”
“I’m not chickening out,” Mel snapped. “I just need a minute to wrap my head around what I’m about to do.” She stepped into a stall and shut the door behind her. “Catch!” She had stripped out of her shorts and tank top and tossed it out over the top of the metal door.
Her bra and panties were next. I shoved the bra and the rest of her clothes back in the bag and pocketed the panties for later. A little souvenir for myself.
“So,” I said, raising my voice so she could hear me while she was changing. “We’ll get you in your underclothes now and then get you fitted in the flight suit and harness after Bugs and I go through breathing and anti-G with you. He’ll talk you through the maneuvers he’s gonna do up there, and then we’ll do final checks.”
Part of me wished I was the one who was going to take Mel up. But if I had stayed in the service, I would’ve missed out on a shot with her altogether. I’d gladly let Bugs have the cockpit if it meant I got the girl.
The metal stall door opened, and Mel stepped out. Even with Bee’s help, the socks were the only things that fit. The cotton shorts nearly came down to her knees, the t-shirt was definitely too baggy, and she was probably pissed as fuck at me about the granny panties. Still, she looked cute as hell.
“I look ridiculous.”
I snickered and zipped up the bag. “You won’t be able to tell when you’ve got the flight suit on.”
She frowned. “You didn’t say I didn’t look ridiculous.”
I dropped a kiss on top of her head as she stood in front of the mirror. I trailed my fingers up and down her waist while she pulled her hair back.She twisted it into a low bun with the practiced efficiency of someone who had been around military types for most of her life.
“You will always be the most beautiful woman to me.”
Mel turned and looked up at me. “That was such a line, flyboy.”
I bent down and stole a chaste kiss. “But it’s the truth.”
A knock on the door startled our private moment. It opened, and a sailor about Mel’s age stepped in. “Lieutenant Commander McGrath, Miss Jacobsen, my name is LSC Tara Duncan.” She looked at Mel. “Lieutenant Commander Garcia is ready for you.”
Mel gave me a smile, but she was doing her nervous tic of wiggling her fingers against her sides. I put my hand on her back and followed Duncan through the building.
Being on base with Mel was a strange mix of deja vu. Maybe it was because I hadn’t been on a military installation in a few months and I was missing it. Or perhaps it was because growing up, I imagined this is what Mel’s life was like when she moved around all the time.
We met up with Bugs in a staging room. All the gear that Mel would put on was laid out on a long table. Her flight suit—the smallest one I’d ever seen—boots, her ejection seat torso harness, and her flight helmet.
“Alright, Mel,” Bugs said as he took a seat in a folding chair. She sat down in the empty one across from him, and I leaned against the equipment table. “We’re going to do some breathing exercises so that when we’re pulling Gs, you know how to combat g-LOC.”
“G-force induced loss of consciousness,” Mel said.
“Gold star for you.” Garcia chuckled. “You’ve done your homework.”
“She’s a nurse,” I said. “A damn good one.”
“And a military brat.” Mel shrugged. “You pick up on conversations and learn all kinds of things.”
“Well,” Garcia said, “I’m gonna give you the lowest common denominator spiel just to cover my bases. One G is what you feel right now. It’s the baseline of gravity against your body weight. When you’re on a roller coaster, you’ll feel maybe 2 or 3 Gs. NASCAR drivers pull up to 3 Gs. When we’re in the air, we’ll start low and see what you think you can handle, but likely, we’ll max out at 8 or 9 Gs. You have a great body.”
Mel’s cheeks pinked up.
I cleared my throat and bit back a growl. “ For combating G-force ,” I clarified with gritted teeth. “What he means is, you’re in great shape, and you’re short. Taller pilots have a harder time because blood has to travel farther away from their hearts to circulate. Women generally make better fighter pilots because they have smaller frames, so there’s less distance for the blood to travel. They can handle harder maneuvers.” I cracked a grin and nudged her shoulder with my hip. “You’re gonna do great.”
Garcia popped up from his seat and motioned for me to swap with him. “Why don’t you go over anti-G straining with her?”
I sure as hell didn’t want a good-looking motherfucker like Bugs feeling up my girl’s thighs. So, I sat my ass down like I was trying to win a game of musical fucking chairs .
I put my hands on Mel’s knees and gently parted them. She bit her lip and looked up at me through her lashes.
Damn—if she didn’t cut that out, I was gonna have to do some box breathing to get my dick to calm down.
“First thing we're gonna do is anti-G straining,” I said. “When Bugs has you up in the air, he’ll tell you when he’s going to do a maneuver that will put G-force on your body. Anti-G straining is the first thing you’re gonna do. Squeeze every muscle in your lower body. You want to force your blood to circulate in the upper half of your body. The flight suit will help with that, too. It’s real tight around the lower half of your body.” I scooted my ass to the edge of the chair and put my hands on her thighs. “I’m gonna count down from three. When I get to one, I want you to squeeze.”
Mel took a deep breath and waited, her eyes locked on mine.
“Three, two, one, squeeze.”
She tensed. Every muscle in her legs tightened. I bent down and squeezed her calf to check. “Good,” I said. I moved my hand up and felt the back of her thigh. “Good.”
Sliding my hand to her inner thighs and squeezing there, I caught a flicker of a smile at the corner of her mouth. I reached around and pushed on her hip and the side of her ass.
“Squeeze harder. Engage your glutes.”
She let out the tiniest snort of amusement, but quickly steeled her expression and clenched her butt cheeks.
“Crack a walnut with your ass,” Garcia said.
I snickered. “What Bugs Bunny means is, pretend there’s a walnut between your, uh, butt cheeks and act like you’re trying to crack it. That’s how hard you should be squeezing.”
Mel tensed a little more.
“Good,” I said, patting the side of her leg. “You can release.”
“Alright, Miss Nurse,” Garcia said. “Anatomy lesson: what is the glottis? ”
“The part of the larynx that contains the opening of the vocal cords and the vocal cords themselves,” Mel said without skipping a beat.
“Another gold star for you, Goose,” Garcia chuckled. “Casper’s gonna show you what we call the Hook Maneuver. You may never think his ugly mug is sexy again.”
Mel giggled at our ribbing each other. “Okay, I’m ready to fall out of lo—” she stopped with her lips parted and her eyebrows raised. “I, uh… I’m ready.”
“Prepare to swoon, Goosey,” I grinned. “You’re going to breathe in. While you’re inhaling, start to say the word hook . You’ll feel the glottis in the back of your throat begin to open. It’ll sound raspy. Before you get to the “K” in hook, hold your breath for two seconds. Exhale hard with the “K” sound. Inhale and repeat.”
Garcia nodded. “The exhale shouldn’t be longer than a second. Just enough time to get the air out. It lets blood flow to your heart without leaving the brain. If you do hook breathing with the straining technique, you won’t black out.”
I showed Mel how to do the Hook Maneuver, which really boiled down to some awkward sneezing sounds. I let her have a good laugh before I made her do it herself. She picked up on it like a champ. I was so fucking proud of her. The more Bugs and I prepared her for the flight, the more excited she got.
While LSC Duncan helped Mel into her dull green flight suit, Garcia used a small model plane to show her the full profile of maneuvers he was going to do in the air. Bugs was going to put her through the damn wringer, and she was going to love every minute of it.
Mel stood with her hands braced against the table while LSC Duncan and I tightened the pull strings on the lower half of the flight suit. It was snug and uncomfortable as hell, but it aided in circulation. Duncan did the final checks on the torso harness and then made sure that nothing was out of place.
“One last thing,” Garcia said, walking over with two patches. “Since you’re flying with the Angels this morning, you get to wear an honorary patch.” He looked at me. “But since you’re with this son of a bitch, I thought it was fitting to let you wear his old squadron’s patch, too.”
A lump in my throat grew as I watched Mel get my Fleet Rhino patch pinned on her flight suit. Sure, it was temporary and completely honorary, but part of me felt like a quarterback watching his girl put on his letterman jacket for the first time.
“You look good, Goose,” I said as I pulled out my phone and snapped no less than a thousand pictures.
“I’m so excited,” she said as Duncan handed her the flight helmet. Her eyes danced with nerves and delight.
The walk out to the runway was a long one. Mel was so damn giddy but managed to hold it together. Garcia was out there with the crew doing final checks before the flight. A ladder was pushed up against the Hornet so that he and Mel could climb in.
“You miss it?” Garcia asked as I walked with him and Mel to the aircraft.
I shoved my hands in my pockets. “Yeah.”
“Flying is the best drug there is,” he said.
“Damn straight.”
He paused before climbing into the cockpit. “I’d miss it too.” He looked over his shoulder to where Mel was touring around the outside of the plane. “But if I had a girl like that waiting for me on the ground, I’d give up my wings in a heartbeat. It’s the real deal, man. The way she looks at you—don’t let that one get away.” He laughed and added, “If you lose her, just remember how fast this plane goes. You blink, and I’ll be back to steal her out from under you. ”
Hanging off the rung of the ladder, I laughed and bumped his fist as he strapped in. “You’d better bring her back to me, Bugs. I’m trusting you, man.”
“I’ll keep her safe,” he said with absolute sobriety in his voice. Safety wasn’t something we joked about. He knew I was dead fucking serious, and I knew he was too. “Go kiss your girl.”
The sun was barely beginning to peek over the horizon, painting the sky in brilliant shades of orange. Bugs was going to wake up the entire Crystal Coast when he started breaking the sound barrier.
I hopped off the ladder and went to the one attached to Mel’s seat. She was already strapped in and was adjusting the microphone in front of her mouth.
“Talk to me, Goose,” I said, smiling as I reached in and checked her harness. Snug as a bug. “How you feeling?”
“Like I’m gonna puke,” she giggled. “I mean, I’m not. I’m just so fucking excited.” In a panic, she clamped her hands over her mouth. “Shit— shoot! I shouldn’t swear, should I?”
Bugs laughed over the radio. “Swear away, Goose. Ain’t nothing I haven’t heard before.”
I pointed to the little camera mounted in front of her. “You’ll get to watch it back, so just enjoy the ride. Remember to breathe and listen to Bugs.”
“And crack a walnut with my ass,” she giggled.
“That’s my girl.” I leaned in and kissed her. “Live it up. I’ll be on the ground waiting for you.”
With one last quick kiss, I climbed down the ladder and backed away from the plane. Mel gave me a thumbs-up as the clear cockpit canopy closed. I stood in line with the rest of the crew as they saluted and waved Bugs and Mel off.
Garcia taxied away from the hangar and lined up on the runway. I stood near the ground radio with the crew and listened, heart pounding and blood rushing in my ears, as he prepared for takeoff. My hands were shaking as I held my phone out and started to record.
My heart rose into my throat as I watched the F/A-18 roll down the runway.
I had flown for more hours than I could count. Thousands of safe takeoffs and landings. It wasn’t dumb luck or a higher power. It was years of training and honed skill.
But watching my girl get ready for the ride of her life? It was the first time I’d prayed for a safe flight.