Chapter 13
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
For the first time in his life, Flash dreaded going home. Not because he’d wanted to stay in Jamaica, but because it would mean leaving Kelli. How he’d become so attached so quickly, he had no idea. But he had. And he didn’t regret it.
When he’d woken up that morning, he’d had a moment of confusion. He didn’t do one-night stands. Didn’t sleep with women— sleep sleep, that was. And yet, he’d woken up with his arms around a soft body, flowery scent in his nose, and a hard-on that was almost painful.
But the confusion dissipated almost immediately as memories returned. He was at the resort. With Kelli. They were safe, clean, and he’d had the best night’s sleep that he could remember in quite a while.
Moving slowly so as not to jostle the still-sleeping woman in his arms, Flash had stuffed a pillow under his head so he could see Kelli more clearly.
Her hair had been strewn across his T-shirt-covered chest, her hand next to her face.
One of her legs was thrown over his thigh, and as he’d shifted a little, she’d snuggled deeper into him, as if wanting to make sure he didn’t move away from her.
Flash remembered thinking… This. This is what my life is missing.
That feeling of being wanted. Of being needed.
How long he watched her sleep, Flash didn’t know. But he couldn’t keep the smile off his face when she woke. She’d smacked her lips and frowned a little. Her brow furrowed. She was fucking adorable.
Eventually she’d taken a long, slow breath—then her entire body tensed. As if she’d just realized she was cuddling up to an actual living, breathing person and not a pillow.
Not wanting her to be embarrassed, Flash had wished her good morning, then slipped out from under her to use the bathroom. When he’d returned, Kelli was sitting up in bed, giving him a shy smile.
He’d reheated leftovers from the previous night for breakfast, and by the time they were packed and ready to go, it was almost noon.
Kevlar had called while they were eating and informed Flash that Brant Williams was gone, along with what looked like most of his clothes.
He’d obviously heard about their little visit to Errol and fled.
A phone call to Tex confirmed he’d gotten on a plane the night before and left the island altogether. A disappointing outcome, as Flash would’ve liked to have had the chance to confront the man face-to-face.
But then Kevlar told him where Brant’s flight was headed—and Flash’s easy, non-stressful morning had changed in a heartbeat.
LA. The man who’d kidnapped him and Kelli, buried them in the jungle, tried to collect ransom money from the US government for him, had gone to Los Angeles.
It was way too close to Riverton for his peace of mind, especially since Williams had both his and Kelli’s IDs…with their addresses.
Tex was currently trying to track the man, happy that he was at least on what Tex considered home turf, where there were cameras on every corner and you couldn’t fart without some sort of electronic footprint.
It still wasn’t what Flash had wanted to hear, nor had he wanted to freak out Kelli when she was so relaxed and content earlier that morning. He’d decided to tell her after they’d arrived back in the States.
Which was any minute now. They were finally about to land in San Diego. They’d flown home on a commercial flight, as opposed to the military bird the team had arrived on. The trip was uneventful and Flash felt comfortable, surrounded by all his teammates.
Kelli was seated by the window, with Flash at her side.
To his surprise and delight, not long after they took off, Kelli had reached over and put her hand on his thigh.
It wasn’t a sexual move, not that he could tell.
He assumed she just wanted to keep a connection with him, the same way he felt a need to always be connected to her.
Flash had placed his hand over hers, and she’d napped a little, never breaking their hold.
But now they were home.
Back to reality.
And Flash had no idea how the hell he was going to say goodbye to the woman who’d turned his life inside out.
She’d literally changed his entire outlook on his future.
He wanted to take her home with him. Move her into his small apartment.
The thought of letting her just walk away was making him grouchy, and he scowled at his teammates as they talked about the schedule for the upcoming week as if nothing had changed.
He sighed. For them, nothing had changed. The trip to Jamaica had been a slight detour in their schedule, nothing more. But for Flash, the few days were life-altering.
He’d taken the time to talk to his sister and parents that morning, reassuring them that he was fine.
They’d heard about what happened, of course, since Chuck had arrived home from the trip the night before, earlier than expected, and told Nova that he was missing.
They were all freaked out, but Flash had been able to talk them out of flying to Riverton to see him.
He promised Nova he’d call her later and tell her everything that happened.
Kelli had also called her mom, who didn’t seem quite as emotional as his own family had been about the entire situation.
She was relieved her daughter was all right, and wanted to hear all about what happened, but by the time Kelli had hung up, they were talking about things like her mom’s latest trip to the grocery store and what her plans were for the week.
All-in-all, he and Kelli had been lucky. Damn lucky. If he wasn’t who he was, if he didn’t have the resources that he had, namely a team of highly trained Navy SEALs who had his back, the outcome could’ve been very different.
As soon as they exited the plane, Flash took hold of Kelli’s hand as they walked toward baggage claim. He was already getting used to being around people again, but he could feel Kelli inch closer as they walked.
“It’s crazy how chaotic this feels to me now,” she said, glancing up at him as they walked .
“I feel like this a lot after missions. Our work is intense. Often times in the middle of nowhere and in complete silence. And when I come home, the noise and hustle and bustle always take me by surprise,” Flash said, wanting her to know what she was feeling was normal.
When she giggled, he looked down at her.
“What? Was that funny?” he asked, confused.
“No. Not really. I mean, it makes sense, and I’m sorry you have to go through this all the time, because honestly, it’s not very fun. I was laughing because you saying ‘hustle and bustle’ reminded me of Heckle and Jeckle.” She shrugged. “I don’t know, it struck me as humorous.”
Flash smiled at her. “So if I said shake and bake, it would be even funnier?”
To his delight, her smile widened and she giggled again. “Artsy-fartsy,” she said between giggles.
“Jeepers-creepers,” Flash countered.
“Frick and frack.”
“Gloom and doom.”
“Holy moly guacamole!” Kelli said, laughing so hard it was almost hard to understand her.
Flash shook his head. “I think you win with that one.” His face hurt from smiling so hard. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d been this genuinely amused.
“What’s so funny?” Safe asked, glancing at them over his shoulder.
Flash’s gaze met Kelli’s, and they both burst out laughing. Eventually he controlled himself enough to tell his friend, “It’s impossible to explain and you wouldn’t find it funny anyway.”
Safe rolled his eyes but let it drop.
Flash’s humor slowly died with each step closer to baggage claim.
Now, he felt kind of sick. This wasn’t a normal reaction, but he couldn’t help it.
It was probably because of what they’d been through together, although he’d never felt this way about one of his teammates after an especially gnarly mission.
He couldn’t explain it, and that made him uneasy.
The second they walked through the gate that separated the secure area of the airport from the public part, Flash blinked in surprise.
Instead of walking past the people waiting to pick up passengers, ignoring them as he was used to doing when he flew commercial…he stopped abruptly when he saw some very familiar faces.
Remi, Wren, Josie, Maggie, and Addison were all there. And instead of running to their boyfriends or husbands, they headed directly toward him and Kelli.
In seconds, they were surrounded.
Flash had to let go of Kelli’s hand as his friends’ women all hugged him and fussed, saying how relieved they were that he was all right. Glancing back at Kelli, he saw that her eyes were wide and she looked confused…and slightly freaked.
He met Kevlar’s gaze, and his team leader obviously read what Flash was trying to tell him nonverbally, because he stepped up and wrapped an arm around Remi, pulling her back a little. “How about we give them a little space, sweetheart.”
The others all claimed their own women, giving Flash and Kelli some room to breathe. Flash regained Kelli’s hand as the group moved their reunion out of the way of other travelers. Then Flash said, “Thank you all for coming. I didn’t expect it. ”
“Why not? You’re one of us. Part of our group,” Wren said.
“When we heard you were missing, we panicked,” Remi explained.
“Thank God the guys were sent to find you so quickly,” Josie added.
“Did they find the asshole who kidnapped you?” Maggie asked.
“I can’t believe he had the balls to call and demand a ransom from the Navy. What an idiot,” Addison murmured.
“Where are your kids?” Flash asked her. “You didn’t leave them home alone, did you?”
Addison rolled her eyes and smiled. “Of course not. Caroline came over.”
Flash nodded. Caroline was the wife of Wolf Steel, an infamous former SEAL who was a kind of mentor to Flash and the rest of his team. They’d become close to the man’s former team, and their families.
“Are you going to introduce us?” Remi demanded, smiling at Kelli.