Chapter 15
MITCHELL
The Sam thing was on my mind. I couldn’t shake the feeling I had let her down.
I had barely gotten a glimpse of her in the moments after the fight, but her expression was the one that was still lingering.
She had looked shocked but she also looked disappointed, which I didn’t really understand.
There was also a paleness about her that had me a little worried.
I was getting used to the idea of us avoiding each other.
We exchanged a few looks over the last few weeks, but we’d dodged one another most of the time.
I was so over it. She could avoid me, but I couldn’t have her looking at me the way she had earlier.
Something had been off. I wanted to make sure she was okay.
If she had overheard PitA and his cronies, I was going to be very tempted to beat his ass again and say fuck my career.
Sitting here worrying about her solved nothing.
We were coworkers. It wasn’t out of the ordinary for me to pop in and check on her.
If she heard what those assholes said, I wanted to reassure her it was handled.
She didn’t have to worry about anyone talking about her like that.
Now that Honcho knew, he would make sure to pay attention to what was being said.
I had no doubt in my mind he would bounce anyone right off the team if he heard that kind of disparaging bullshit.
I grabbed my phone and room key and made my way down the hall. I knew where her room was. I had casually noticed when we got into town the other night. If someone saw me at her door, I would say I was checking on her—nothing more. That was normal. No one would think twice.
I knocked on her door and waited. I heard her moving around and knew she was in there. I waited, wondering if she was going to ignore me altogether. I knocked again. She pulled open the door, looking a little rough around the edges.
“Hi,” I said.
She stared at me with shock all over her face. “What are you doing here?”
“Can we talk for a minute?” I asked.
“No. I mean, I’m sick. I was in bed.”
I looked down at the shoes she was still wearing. “With your shoes on?”
“I was getting ready for bed,” she clarified.
“Please,” I said.
“I don’t want to talk right now,” she said. “I’m tired.”
“It’s not even six o’clock,” I replied. “I’m not asking for anything more than a conversation.”
She sighed and looked down. “I just don’t think I can right now.”
“What’s going on?”
“Nothing,” she answered without looking at me.
“Sam, something is up,” I said softly. “I know you said you wanted to make sure nothing happened. I get that. I’ve kept my distance, but we do work together. I’m not stalking you or pushing anything on you, but you look like you’re having a rough day.”
She smirked. “I don’t think I’m the only one.”
“Yeah,” I said. “Let me take you to dinner. Nothing more than two friends eating a meal.”
“I don’t know,” she said.
“I go to dinner with Medusa and plenty of other people from the team all the time,” I assured her. “No one is going to say anything about the two of us eating. We all eat. There’s nothing against the rules about eating breakfast, lunch, or dinner together.”
She sagged her shoulders. “Fine.”
“Try not to sound too excited about it,” I teased.
“Sorry, it’s just been a really weird day.”
“Then it’s the perfect time for you to come out for dinner and have a drink or two,” I said.
She stiffened. “I don’t want to drink.”
“Okay, that’s cool.”
We got an Uber to a restaurant not far from the hotel.
It was a diner that was doing a pretty good dinner business.
I saw no one from the team. I knew that was what she was looking for as well.
She seemed to relax a little when no familiar faces were present.
I ordered a beer while she ordered a ginger ale.
“Weird day?” I asked.
She blew out a breath. “Yes. I really am a little under the weather. That wasn’t a lie.”
“You do look a little pale,” I said. “Are you sleeping? Staying hydrated? You know with all the traveling and flying, you have to drink extra.”
She smiled and sipped her drink. “Yes. I’ll have to do a better job monitoring that. I just get a little caught up in the job.”
“How are you liking it?” I asked. “It’s been a little over a month. Do you feel like you’ve settled in?”
She nodded. “I do. I love it. I love getting to be a part of the team. Everyone has been so nice and welcoming. I’ve even been learning some new things from the maintenance crew.
They’ve showed me a few of their secrets for being more efficient and they don’t break any rules.
I got to watch the paint crew touch up Number Three after a brush with Number One.
I don’t even want to think about how that happened.
It’s terrifying to think of an in-air collision. ”
I laughed. “The four in the diamond are pretty skilled. There have been some paint transfers on more than one occasion. The trick is everyone is going in the same direction at the same speed and they know how to handle a little bump without spinning out of control.”
“It’s terrifying,” she said. “A fender bender in a car is one thing. In the air in a fighter jet is way different.”
I shrugged. “It is and it isn’t. But I’m glad you’re enjoying yourself.”
“It’s a dream job,” she gushed. “I’ve seriously been crazy about doing this kind of work for as long as I can remember.
I love getting to call my dad every night and tell him about my day.
He’s as much of a plane nerd as I am. Getting to work with fighter jets is like the cream of the crop of jobs.
Getting to travel and be a part of the Blue Angels squadron is next-level exciting. ”
I was glad she was enjoying herself. “It is a pretty sweet job.”
“Of course, there are always going to be a few bad apples in the group,” she said.
My head popped up. “What?”
“Some of the younger guys on the team are very high school,” she said with a shrug. “It’s like they’ve never seen boobs before. I imagine they sit around in their hotel rooms looking at dirty magazines giggling like idiots.”
I snorted. “I don’t think giggling is the only thing they’re doing with those dirty magazines.”
I was glad she was taking it all in stride. Hopefully, they had been smart enough not to say those nasty things anywhere near her.
“So, are we going to ignore the elephant in the room?” she asked.
“Which elephant would that be?” With us, it could be a number of things. The sex. The relationship we had now. Anything.
“The fight,” she said. “Want to tell me what that was about?”
“Not really,” I said.
“I find it surprising you did that,” she said. “What made you snap?”
I wasn’t about to tell her the real reason.
She didn’t need to hear that bullshit. There was no reason to hurt her feelings.
She was clearly having a rough day as it was.
I was not going to make it worse by letting her know what her coworkers were saying about her.
It wouldn’t help anything. I hoped it was handled and she would never have to know anything.
Honcho would make sure the guys stayed in line.
“It was just a culmination of things,” I said. “It was hot. I was tired. It hit a nerve and I reacted. I shouldn’t have. I know better.”
“Honcho seemed pretty pissed,” she commented.
“He was.”
“Are you off the team?” she asked quietly.
I laughed. “Not yet.”
“What are you doing?” she asked and looked me directly in the eyes. “You know better. Did he ground you?”
“Not this time, but I have a feeling any more incidents will cost me a lot more than a show,” I said.
“What is it about PitA that you don’t like?” she asked. “I mean, I know he can be obnoxious, but he’s your teammate. Don’t you guys kind of need to be buddies?”
“We do, and we are in the air, but he’s just not the kind of man I would ever consider a friend.
He’s not someone I would ever willingly associate with.
He’s a good pilot. In a few years, he might even be better than I am, but he’s not there yet.
He needs to get taken down a peg or two and understand being a good pilot isn’t the only virtue he should be concerned with. He needs to be a decent person.”
“And you don’t think he is?”
“Do you?” I countered.
“I think there are always going to be assholes in this world,” she said. “Some are bigger than others. Some manage to get themselves a little gang.”
“Have they given you any trouble?” I asked directly.
If she said yes, I wasn’t sure how I would handle that.
I might just kick the shit out of all of them.
It would be more than a couple of shoves.
There was no way I would sit back and let that bullshit happen.
I didn’t care if it cost me my spot on the team.
I only had another year left on my contract.
I would walk away and get a job in the private sector. Some things were just more important.
“No,” she said. “They tease. I give as good as I get. Again, it’s not like I haven’t had these bad boys for most of my life. Men are, well, simple.”
“I think I’m offended.” I laughed.
“I don’t mean it to be an insult. It’s just a fact. You’re preprogrammed that way. Some men have learned to manage their thoughts better than others. Some are like male puppies running around trying to hump the leg of every man, woman, and child.”
I choked on my beer. “That’s one way to look at it.”
“I don’t hate them, but I’m not going to pretend I’m sad they got their asses handed to them,” she said with a bright smile.
“I wouldn’t say they got their asses handed to them, but I hope they got the message,” I replied.
“Does it hurt?” she asked and pointed to her cheek. “Looks like he might have landed one or two.”
“How long were you standing there before it got broken up?”
“Not long,” she sighed. “I did shout at you to stop, but I guess you probably didn’t hear me.”
“I don’t think I heard anything,” I admitted. “I was a charging bull going after a red flag. It wasn’t my finest moment and I truly hope it never happens again.”
“We all have off days,” she said. “I would only suggest you try and go to the gym or for a run the next time you’re having one of those days.
I would really hate to see you lose everything you obviously have worked very hard to get.
The team wouldn’t be the same without you.
Some may never admit it, but you are definitely in the top ten of all time. ”
I was pretty sure my head was going to explode.
She hadn’t talked to me for a month, and now she was showering me with praise and acting like my best friend.
I certainly didn’t mind it, but it was hard to keep up with the shift.
This was the kind of relationship I wanted to have with her.
I wanted to be friends. Yes, I wanted the other stuff, but this was so much better than nothing at all.
I hated the nothing. I hated not being able to talk to her and take her out for a drink.