Wow. I realized I hadn’t been as stealthy as I’d intended in hiding my feelings. But clearly he didn’t seem too worried about it. In fact, his soft expression made me think he might even…like it.
“I do care,” I said, before I even knew I was going to—and just being able to finally voice that, to say it out loud, felt amazing.
Solo turned his head to look at me and slowly smiled. I cradled his cheek and brushed my lips over his. “I didn’t mean to, but somewhere along the way—”
“It just happened?” The emotions I’d been looking for minutes ago were now swirling in his beautiful eyes. “I know. For me too.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah. Shit. It wasn’t supposed to be like this.” Solo placed his hand over the one I still had on his cheek, and then drew it down to his chest. “I was just gonna have some fun with you while I kicked your ass.”
A wide smile split my lips at thatverytypical Solo comment. “But?”
“But somewhere along the way I started thinking how nice it was to talk to you every night after class. Eat dinner with you. Lie down beside you and go to sleep.” Solo shook his head and shrugged. “Somewhere along the way I stopped wanting to kick your ass, and wanted to kiss it instead. I’ve never been one to want to settle down, but knowing this is your home base, I’ve gotta admit, Grant, Mesamir has been looking really good.”
Oh thank fuck.So it wasn’t just me feeling this way.
“Happy now?”
“Huh?”
“I mean, I’m assuming that’s what got you all freaked out a second ago right?”
When I didn’t say anything, Solo started to laugh.
“You’re so easy to read, you know that?”
“Says he who has the worst poker face in history.”
Solo rolled to his side and scooted in until his naked body was flush up against mine, and he began to play with my dog tags. “I care. So much more than I ever thought I would. But that still doesn’t change the fact that after this we’re gonna end up wherever they send us.”
Right, and what a depressing thought that was. “It might not change anything, but right now it makes me happy.”
“How happy?” Solo trailed his fingers down the center of my chest to the sheet, and this time when he lifted it, I let him. “Oooh,superfucking happy.”
“You’re ridiculous.”
“Hmm…” Solo nodded as though he wasn’t paying attention now that he had something much more interesting in his sights. But then he raised his eyes back to mine and grinned. “But you care about me anyway…might even like me like…a whole lot, judging by this.”
Deciding I’d tortured him long enough by having to talk about his feelings, I kicked the sheet down and tugged him up over the top of me, determined to show him exactly how much I cared.
28Solo
AS COMMANDER LEVY went over the brief for the hop, I sketched the outline of an F-22 Raptor in my notebook, listening just enough to what was being said to file away the pertinent information. It wasn’t that I didn’t care, just that it was all so redundant. And maybe I listened better if my hands were busy, so sue me.
Beside me, Panther—ever the good student—was actually paying attention, but the real shocker was that he wasn’t sitting several rows down, like he normally preferred. He’d grabbed the seat beside mine before Houdini could get there, and I had to admit I liked that. A lot.
Panther glanced at me and then down at my drawing, the smallest of smiles crossing his face. He shook his head.
“What?” I whispered. “I’m paying attention.”
Panther waited until Levy turned around to grab something off his desk, and then he tapped the drawing with his pen. “Your vertical stabilizers should be farther back.”
I looked down and frowned. “They look good to me.”
“They’re wrong.”
“They are not.” When Panther shrugged, I held the notebook up in front of me for a different angle. “They’re fucking perfect.”
