Chapter 2
2
TROPHY
New York City
Chug! Chug! Chug!
Lance choked on the keg stand and nearly inhaled a lungful of Coors Lite – which had to be the nastiest beer on the planet. He was on an adrenaline high and needed to burn off some energy after the evening’s events. One of his buddies in the squadron needed backup when his wife was nearly kidnapped earlier in the night. The team of friends, brothers, and aviators had all stepped up to open a can of…
Whoops!
He carefully swallowed to keep from snorting the rancid beer that was being funneled into him. Beer chasing liquor, you get sicker quicker, he thought idly and fought back a smile, clamping his lips around the funnel, realizing that at this rate – they were all gonna be sick, no matter what they drank tonight.
The big ‘daddy’ of the group, Orion, was sitting back, sipping a pint of Guinness that looked like motor oil. Tic-Tak hitting the hard stuff, laughing and slapping the table hard every time he took a shot of tequila. Moonbeam was drinking Kamikaze shots but looked like a pansy with the bluish-green liquid that was sure to stain something when he puked later in the alley.
“Keep going! You got this!” Ohio was screaming beside him, pumping his fist in the air as Pasteur held the funnel, laughing wildly from where he was standing on one of the barstools beside him – dumping in more beer. Yeah, it was getting pretty wild in here, and the evening was still early in his opinion.
Lance had been practicing to be a ‘well-behaved adult’ for a little while now… but things were going off the rails tonight!
He was here to party – hard .
Lance went from balancing on both hands atop the keg where he was perched holding himself steady, to lifting one hand to give the other sailor a thumbs-up… completely entertaining his audience.
They exploded in chatter, laughter, and applause around him. Yeah, months of working out was paying off this evening, and he just needed to keep it together for a few more moments while he downed this… and done!
He let his feet fall forward, nearly doing a somersault off the metal keg and threw his hands in the air for recognition. Shaking his sweaty head, he screamed at the ceiling, arching his back and flexing his muscles.
“WHOOOOOO YEAH! Take that! Your boy’s got mad skills!” and let out another wild shout. Orion and Memphis accused him of being an attention whore, but that only sounded obscene and completely untrue – well, sorta.
He was more of a ‘ lame liquid trendsetter,’ a ‘ leader among losers,’ the ‘ Pied Piper of problems ’… and paused as he saw the three women sitting at the end of the bar talking to Shellac.
Heaven help them, Lance grinned, looking at their faces. That man was ornerier than he was when Shellac got drunk – and Shellac was definitely tipping the liver scales of liquid libations. The other aviator was three sheets to the wind ten minutes ago before Lance started his keg stand… there was no telling now.
My bro needs a wingman, he mused and smoothed back his hair, tucking in his shirt – and hesitated. Crap! Where’s my dang jacket? Only to look over and see Orion patting a stack of jackets on the chairback beside him, smirking knowingly.
Lance held up both fists, giving him two thumbs-up, before kissing each thumb playfully, grinning drunkenly, and laughing wildly.
Orion simply shook his head and then pushed Moonbeam’s head back upright before he hit the table. The man was utterly loaded and going down soon. He’s not the only one, Lance mused, wobbling slightly, as he walked toward Shellac, already hearing the man run his mouth.
“So there I was, in my Horny… I mean, Hornet ,” Shellac winked, grinning sloppily at his new ‘friends.’ “I was flying over open water with no one around, no coms, my engine was failing, and the enemy was shooting at me… my canopy was frozen, and it was looking pretty dire, ladies.”
“Oh no!” the woman with brown, tightly curled hair asked dramatically, reaching out to lay a hand on his chest. “What happened?”
“I had to MacGyver my instruments and bank to the right just to…” Shellac’s voice continued .
Lance tried to keep from laughing. He listened to the slew of lies, exaggeration, and garbage falling from the other man’s mouth. They never went out alone, and if his engine had been failing – the entire ship would have known about it with a mass of activity as everyone prepped for a rough landing… but it worked in the movies and on television. Sliding into the group, he grinned at Shellac – who winked at him and bumped fists.
“Are you telling them about the last run?” Lance asked, pitching underhanded to his friend to make the whopping tall tale somewhat believable enabling the man to pick up a girl or two. Everyone had to have goals. He wasn’t sure what his own were yet, which was dangerous, leading him here… doing keg stands.
Like a loser, he thought silently, only to hear a clear, feminine voice that seemingly cut through the noise of the room and the chatter of his own mind. It was like a waterfall sluicing through the dull roar and felt peaceful, beckoning him forward.
“Your friend is a movie buff,” the woman nearby said softly, catching his attention. “Anyone who has seen Dunkirk knows he’s putting himself in that scene where Tom Hardy is trying to keep his plane in the air. Lucky for him, Natalie and Lila don’t like docudramas.”
“Don’t spoil it for him,” he whispered loudly, holding his finger to his lips as he looked over his shoulder at the woman with intelligent eyes – and paused.
Smart girls were his kryptonite and this one screamed ‘nerdy’ to him. Oh yeah, slap a pair of glasses on her, some thigh-high stockings pinching into a pair of soft thighs, and she’d be that dreamy hot librarian that he was always fantasizing about in his bunk .
“He’s trying so hard to look tough.”
“That he is,” she smirked and pretended to zip her lips.
Nice , he thought distractedly. She’s smart and a female wingman for her buddies. I like it.
“Can I buy you a drink?” he asked easily.
“Can I buy you a cup of coffee?” she retorted, pointing at Pasteur, who was doing a keg stand now. “You might need something to keep you going through the night if you guys are playing this hard so early in the evening.”
“Oh man,” he chuckled, grinning and slid onto the barstool beside her. “A movie buff, a wingman, exceedingly witty, and not afraid to let it show – can we be besties?” he teased playfully, holding out his hand to shake hers as she tossed back her head and laughed at him. “I’m Trophy – and you are?”
“Not anywhere close to a trophy?” she retorted, smiling and shaking his hand. He held onto her hand, admiring her soft hands and how long her fingers were, with clear polish on her nails. He liked a woman that was real without trying so hard. She was checking off every box in him – some he didn’t know he needed checked off either.
“Me neither, honestly… it was a twisted joke in flight school. That’s my call sign that they gave me when they said I acted like I was top of the class, and in truth, I was barely passing.”
“So, they give you guys nicknames to mock you?”
“Usually,” he grinned. “See that man over there throwing back shots of tequila by the guy that looks like Lurch from the Addam’s Family…” and her laughter rang with delight down his spine as he leaned closer to her. “That guy’s name is Tic-Tak.”
“And does he enjoy eating Tic-Tacs?”
“Nope. He’s got big ol’ white Chiclet teeth that look like Tic-Tacs,” he grinned as she laughed again, smiling at him. “I think I’d like that coffee if you’re game?”
“I am.”
“’Sup player,” one of the women said sliding over to him and brazenly putting her arm around his shoulders. Normally, he would have loved this aggressive move because it was a clear-cut signal of what would be happening later… but for some reason, this just grated on his nerves. Maybe it was the way his little librarian froze or the pained look in her chocolate eyes. Something struck him the wrong way, and he didn’t appreciate it in the slightest.
“Thanks, but no thanks,” he said simply, pulling the drunken woman off of him. “I’m talking to someone right now.” Only to see the disbelieving look on her face as she laughed wildly, pointing at the girl beside him.
“Her? You’re holding out for her ?”
“Lila, please…” the woman hissed, and her face was flushing brightly with embarrassment. “Please don’t.”
“Oh honey,” the woman named Lila continued laughing, now laying a hand on his arm and his new acquaintance’s shoulder. He really needed to get his little Librarian’s name – and get rid of this lush, realizing that Lila was drunker than he first thought, making a scene. “You don’t want that…”
“Lila, stop.”
“He doesn’t know?” she drawled, and one eyelid sagged while the other was wide open as she slurred.
“Know what?” Trophy asked, knowing he was falling into a trap.
“Don’t encourage her. Lila, please just sit down, and I’ll get you some coffee or water…”
“Honey,” Lila began, bodily diving between the two barstools and bracing her elbows against the bar, looking directly at him. The mysteriously little Librarian just turned away, putting a hand on her forehead in embarrassment, and he knew she was seconds from getting her purse and leaving— which could not happen!
“This girl,” Lila said loudly, moving her arm to wrap it around the mysterious woman’s shoulders, hugging her. “This girl is Fort Knox. You know it’s there, but you can’t get in there no matter what. She’s hanging on to her virginity…”
“Lila!”
“Like it’s speshhhuul or something. Insteada crackin’ that vault, howa-bout-ya take a crack at meeee?” Lila drawled enthusiastically, loosening her hold on the woman and reaching for him instead.
“Lila, please just shut up…”
Lance froze, feeling something dark unfurl within him. He realized his sweet little librarian whom he wanted to have coffee with and talk to, was being mocked by her promiscuous friend for having morals. The irony was not lost on him in the slightest because when he pulled into port, he certainly lost his; but this was different.
As Lila’s words hit him, he slowly turned to look at the other woman’s gaze, seeing the horror, fear, and shame in her eyes and felt something protective rear its ugly head. His Librarian started to stand, snatching up her purse in an effort to run away and hide – and he grabbed her wrist.
Her eyes met his, and he was lost.
“Lance,” he began hoarsely. “Lance Cavanaugh… and we’re having coffee, remember? Please don’t go.”
“But…”
“What’s your name?”
“Thasss my Steffi-the-virgin…” Lila dr awled, pulling at him and touching his face as he instantly jerked away, not letting go of his mysterious girl.
“Get off of me and go away,” Lance snarled, pushing Lila out from between the two of them and concentrating on his Librarian. Softening his tone, he saw the shock and disbelief in her gaze as she looked at Lila nearby before looking at him again.
Lance didn’t chance looking away.
“What’s your name, lovely?”
“S-Stephanie,” his Librarian stammered quietly and sat back down on her barstool. “Stephanie Wood – and I am sooo very sorry about…”
“Don’t apologize for her,” he interrupted and looked past her. “There’s a small table in the corner where we can sit and talk – if that’s okay with you?”
“You still want to… talk to me?”
“Very much so, Miss Stephanie Wood,” he smiled, laying on the charm as he rose to his feet and bringing her with him. He put her hand on his arm and guided her toward the small table – only to see someone start to sit down there, and he snapped loudly. “NOPE! That’s my spot – move it.” And heard Stephanie let out a nervous little laugh beside him.
He held out a chair for her and smiled, urging her to sit down. She was so pretty, so demure that it made him want to beat on his chest. Yeah, there wasn’t a wild need for attention but rather a fascination with the being before him.
“You stay here, don’t move, and I’ll get some coffee coming,” he promised, taking the other chair beside the tiny table and leaning it forward in a silent signal that this seat was taken.
Walking back through the maze of people, he waved at the bartender, glancing once more to make sure his little Stephanie was still at the table, waiting on him. Yeah, things were definitely looking up this evening, and two words kept ringing through his mind.
Fort Knox.
Oh mannnnn… I am going to Hell for this one, he mused silently.