Chapter 13 #2
“Right. Sorry. This is Kelli Colbert. Kelli, this is Remi, Josie, Maggie, Wren, and Addison,” Flash said, nodding to each woman as he introduced them.
“It’s nice to meet you,” Kelli said politely.
“It’s probably not,” Josie said wryly. “We debated if we should come. The last thing we wanted was to freak you out. But we all love Flash, and we wanted to make sure he knew how relieved we are that he’s all right.
And you too. We’ve all kind of been in your shoes…
you know, in shitty situations where someone feels as if they can make you do th ings you don’t want to…
so we thought you could use the support. ”
“Yes, and with that being said,” Remi added, “I hope you’ll come back to Safe and Wren’s place with us.”
“Wait—what?” Flash asked.
“Um…we kind of have a welcome-home, glad-you-got-away party going on,” Wren said, with a sheepish grin.
“We didn’t actually plan on it, but one thing led to another and before we knew it, all Caroline’s friends and your SEAL buds were wanting to come, because they needed to see for themselves that you were all right, and now everyone is waiting back at the house. ”
Flash stared at Wren for a beat, then moved his gaze to Safe. “Did you know about this?”
“Uh-uh. Don’t look at me like that. I had no part in this,” Safe said with a shake of his head.
“Come on, Flash. Please? You’ll come, right?
We don’t really need a reason to get together and hang out, but it would be weird if you weren’t there, since Addison made a huge cake that says ‘welcome home.’ And Alabama got a bunch of balloons, and Jessyka is in charge of the kids, who’re making signs to put up all over the house to welcome you back. ”
“And you have to come too, Kelli,” Remi pleaded. “We’re so glad you’re okay. I mean, we don’t know you, but if Flash likes you, we will too. We’re a rambunctious lot, but we mean well. I promise.”
Flash glanced at Kelli, who tilted her head up to look at him. He couldn’t tell what she was thinking.
“Can you give us a minute?” he asked his friends.
“Sure.”
“Of course. ”
“Take all the time you want.”
“But not too much, we have food waiting at home!”
The others began to walk toward baggage claim, but Flash stayed where he was. He turned to face Kelli.
“Talk to me. Are you freaking out? I swear I didn’t know they’d all be here, otherwise I would’ve warned you. Don’t feel obligated to do anything. What are you thinking?”
She squeezed the hand he was still holding and said, “I’m thinking you’re a very lucky man.”
That wasn’t what Flash expected to hear. “What?”
“You were gone, like, one extra day, and everyone came here to the airport to see you because they didn’t want to wait a moment longer than they had to.
Your six best friends dropped everything to come to Jamaica to find you, and not only that, they did it literally in hours .
And everyone’s so happy that you’re all right, an impromptu party formed because all your other friends wanted their chance to tell you how happy they are that you’re back. ”
She was right. Flash was very lucky. But just because he had good friends didn’t mean his life was perfect. It was missing something huge.
A partner.
“You’re right. I’m a lucky man. So…you’ll come with me? Meet my friends? Get to know them?”
“Well…I kind of feel as if I already know the women. You told me a lot about them.”
She was going to say yes. Flash could tell.
“Okay. Thank you, yes. I’d love to come with you.”
Relief and satisfaction swept through Flash.
“I’ll take you home when you’ve had enough.
All you need to do is let me know. It’ll be crazy,” he felt obligated to warn.
“If you think Remi and the others are enthusiastic, wait until you meet Caroline’s crew.
They’ll have you agreeing to sleepovers, girls’ night out at Aces Bar and Grill, and who knows what other crazy schemes before the night is done. ”
“If you’re trying to talk me out of this, you aren’t succeeding,” Kelli said with a smile. “I’ve never had girlfriends to do that stuff with before. I mean, not as an adult.”
“Come on. Let’s go find our suitcases and get out of here. I don’t know about you, but I’m hungry again. That usually happens after missions or times when I haven’t been able to eat properly. I’m ravenous for a few days until my body figures out that it’s going to be fed on a regular basis again.”
And just like that, Flash was happy. They didn’t have to say goodbye yet. He’d bought himself a few hours. And getting her enmeshed with the women was one of the best ways he could think of to ensure he’d see plenty of Kelli in the future. No one could resist Remi and her posse. He hoped.
Kelli looked around in awe. Never in a million years would she have guessed this was where she’d be right now. In a small house, packed to the gills—with more people in the backyard—laughing with people she’d just met, feeling as if she’d known them her whole life.
All of Flash’s friends were open and welcoming, kind and compassionate. And they seemed genuinely happy she was there.
It was…weird but awesome. Kelli wasn’t the kind of wo man most people were drawn to. She was used to standing in the shadows, watching others at parties and get-togethers. If someone did talk to her, it was obvious they were usually doing so simply to be polite.
But she got none of those vibes from the people here.
She couldn’t remember everyone’s names, as she’d been introduced to a lot of men and women.
Fiona, Summer, Mozart, Benny, Julie, Matthew…
and it seemed as if the women called the men one name, and the men used nicknames.
It was all very confusing. But Kelli was still happier than she’d been in a very long time.
And Flash hadn’t been the only one who was starving.
The cake that Addison made melted in her mouth, and it was all Kelli could do not to spontaneously orgasm right there in the kitchen at the first bite.
But all the other food was just as good.
There was a lot of finger food, which made it easier to eat and talk.
Kids ran everywhere, shouting too loud, running into people, and dropping food on the floor, but none of the adults seemed overly concerned. They just warned them to be careful, demanded they apologize when they almost knocked Kelli over, and generally shaking their heads at their exuberance.
Looking at her phone, which she was extremely grateful she hadn’t brought on the tubing trip, Kelli saw that she and Flash had been at the impromptu party for three hours. It was hard to believe, as it felt as if they’d just gotten there.
Just as she had the thought about Flash, he appeared as if she’d conjured him up. He wrapped an arm around her waist, and she leaned into him as he bent down and spoke softly into her ear. “You okay? ”
She nodded.
“How many phone numbers have you gotten tonight?”
Kelli chuckled. “Um…all of them?”
“Good. Invites to hang out again?”
“Three or four.”
“Has Julie tried to steal you away to work in her secondhand clothing store yet?”
Her smile widened as she looked up at him. “How’d you know?”
“Because she’s not an idiot. You tired?”
Kelli shrugged. She was exhausted. It was silly, really. She hadn’t done much today. Slept in, eaten, then gotten on a plane, and now she was just standing around. But then again, traveling always made her feel as if she was dragging. Now her energy level was seriously flagging.
“I’m knackered,” Flash admitted.
She couldn’t help but smile at that. “Knackered?” she asked. “You have British blood in you that I don’t know about?”
“Nope. But I love that word. Was pleased I had a chance to use it.”
This man. He made her laugh, made her feel safe, and also scared the hell out of her.
Mostly because the thought of losing him made her want to puke.
And somehow she felt as if the second she said goodbye, that would be it.
He’d go back to his life, with all these amazing people, and forget about her.
The short, frumpy woman he’d somehow managed to get kidnapped with while on that one trip to Jamaica.
“You ready to go?”
She was and she wasn’t. But since Flash was tired, and he was her ride home, she didn’t want to hold him up. She nodded.
“All right. We’ll make the rounds and say bye to everyone then head out.”
Of course, saying goodbye took another full hour. As they moved around the house, then into the backyard to talk to the people out there, Flash never left her side. Either kept his arm around her waist or held her hand.
As they were finally walking out the front door, Flash said, “Whew! I thought we’d never get out of there.”
“You’re going to see your teammates tomorrow, right?” Kelli asked.
“Yup. Why?”
She shrugged. “Just wondering.”
“It’s a thing,” Flash said, as if he understood what she wanted to know without her having to say it out loud. “We never leave a get-together without saying goodbye or see you later to everyone. We’ve learned the hard way that life is too short.”
That made sense. And it explained a lot about how close these men and women were.
Flash led her toward a gray Honda Pilot SUV parked on the side of the road.
“Wait, is this your car?” she asked, as he opened the passenger front door.
“Nope. I’m stealing it,” Flash said in a deadpan tone.
“Whatever. But how’d it get here?”
“Wolf and Dude went to my house and picked it up for me, and brought it here.”
“How’d they get your keys?”
“Probably from Kevlar. ”
Kelli turned in the doorway before climbing in. “How’d he get them?”
Flash leaned in and put one hand on the door, the other on the roof of the vehicle, effectively caging her in. Oh, she could’ve ducked under his arm and gotten away from him, but why would she? She was right where she wanted to be. Surrounded by Flash.