Logan must have a death wish to be flirting with Stone like that.
I snort a laugh because Stone looks so fucking uncomfortable right now.
“Not another word from you, Logan. Aboutanything.Am I clear?”
Before Logan can answer, I take a deep breath and jump in with both feet.
“I’d like to go up in the helicopter. He’s right. I’m here to learn, and watching you guys set off the charges seems like something I should finally see.”
“You’re sure?” Stone asks. “It’s not like you’ll fail if you don’t go up. You’re crushing the rest of the field stuff.”
My heart swells in my chest at his compliment.
“What do you mean,is he sure?” Logan asks, looking at Stone like he just grew another set of eyes. “It’s part of the curriculum. It’s not like he ever had a choice.”
“I’ve heard enough from you,” Stone says to Logan before turning back to me. “Hanlon, wait in my office, please.”
I nod and move past the men.
With the door shut and their voices lowered, I can’t hear what they’re saying, which is slightly unnerving.
A few minutes later, Stone enters his office and closes the door behind him.
“Fine. We’re supposed to blast the bowl today. Go up once to get Logan off our backs and then we can check that part off, okay?” he asks with surprising tenderness.
“I might like it,” I say defiantly.
Stone blows out a breath and sticks his tongue in his cheek. “Han, you wouldn’t even like flying first class with noise-canceling headphones and free liquor. I doubt very seriously this helicopter ride is going to be something you want to repeat.”
He might have a point, but I’ll die before I admit it.
I try to stay out of the way as the team grabs their gear. It’s just me, Stone, and Logan going up in the small chopper, but Jeremy, Russo, and Deacon are also filing in the door, getting things ready for their assignments today as well.
While Logan is deep in conversation with Deacon, Stone comes over to where I’m standing by the bathroom.
“You sure you’re okay with this?” he asks for the third time.
“Yeah,” I answer shortly, not meeting his eyes.
“Then why are you rubbing the skin off your thumb?” he asks, grabbing my hand and holding it up in front of my face so I can see my angry, pink skin.
I jerk my hand out of his hold and glance around at the others. “Do you mind?”
Stone looks like he has a lot more to say, but wisely only says, “Don’t forget you have to wear safety goggles over your glasses.”
Then, he slings a bag of dynamite over his shoulder. The six bombs are cut and secured into ten-pound charges, and it seems insane to purposely take explosives onto an aircraft.
“Logan, you ready?” Stone asks.
“Ready,” he confirms without a joke. For all his shit-stirring, Logan never cracks a joke when he’s in pilot mode.
My palms are clammy, and my balls are in my stomach as I make my way out to the chopper. It’s still pitch-ass-black outside, which ratchets my nerves up several levels.What if we crash into the side of the mountain? It isn’t like they have fucking lights out here.Not only that, but another snowstorm ismoving in today, which means we’re most likely going to have a bumpy ride.
I make it as far as the open door to the chopper before I start feeling faint. Alarm bells are going off in my head because I’m totally setting myself up for failure here. My lack of sleep, heightened stress response from being in Stone’s presence ten hours a day, and not eating breakfast have my sympathetic nervous system shorting out.
But it’s fine.I’mfine. Stone does this three days a week without issue.
My teeth are chattering from nerves as I climb aboard the helicopter.
