“But they normally turn out well for you, right?”
“I fucking guess,” she grumbled. I took her hand between mine and turned it over so I could trace the lines of her palm.
“I’ll look out for you, okay? And I don’t just mean right now. I’ll always look out for you.”
“Jesus Christ.” She forced open the door, climbed out, and slammed it. I sat stunned for a second before following her on my side. “Now I know how Georgie feels,” she went on as she rounded the hood and pushed right into my arms. “Always dealing with that big-dicked bastard saying all sorts of swoony shit.”
I shook my head and squeezed her to me tightly. This was how Cassie Phillips reacted when you said something she liked. Unexpected.
Bending at the neck, I kissed the top of her head and breathed in the scent of her shampoo. Normally, I’d have been searching to place the scent of a woman, but not her. I knew she used the pink kind of Herbal Essences, could picture the fucking bottle in my shower, and the thought of it made me smile. It didn’t feel like the mystery was gone or some other clichéd nonsense men told themselves they wanted to avoid. It felt good. Like we were starting to become familiar in the best kind of way.
Like I knew things about her that other men only wished they did.
“Ready?” I asked into her hair.
“I’m guessing I don’t have a choice,” she muttered, pulling her head from beneath my chin and looking up at me through her freakishly long lashes.
I didn’t answer with words. Instead, I touched my mouth to hers and pulled away, clasping her hand in mine. A smile tipped the ends of her lips up.
We walked across the parking lot in silence, the echo of crunching gravel the only sound in the early dawn light. When we stepped inside the hangar, she had to shield her eyes because of the sudden intrusion of light.
Our companions were waiting across the space, already suited up. Cassie noticed them at the same time I did.
“Claire? Frankie?” She turned briefly to me and then back to them. “What are you guys doing here?”
She didn’t realize she was the truly unexpected guest.
Claire stepped forward first, returning Cassie’s enthusiastic hug, and Frankie followed not far behind.
Cassie turned back to me when she noticed their attire, and her eyebrows pulled together, but she didn’t put it together yet. “Do you guys know what we’re doing?”
Claire’s face was a mask of trying to figure me the fuck out, but Frankie’s slightly annoyed gaze just came straight to me. “She doesn’t know what we’re doing?”
“It’s a surprise,” Cassie said in my defense.
“Oh,” Frankie mouthed. “Well, then, yes. We know what we’re doing.” He hesitated, glancing to me for direction. “It’s a yearly activity. We always do this on this day.”
I appreciated his attempt to cover for me, but I hadn’t gone into this with any plans to keep secrets. I’d brought her here because I wanted her to know. I wanted her to know everything about me, and more than that, I wanted her to be part of it. Every day I spent with her made me want her to be part of everything I did.
“Margo was Frankie’s little sister and Claire’s best friend. And today was her birthday,” I told her freely. “Me, Frankie, Claire—and now you—do this every year to celebrate her life.”
Her face softened, and goddamn, I fell right into her trap. So hard, so brash for the rest of the world. But in that moment, she didn’t think about herself and how awkward it might have been. She thought about me.
“That’s amazing. Are you guys sure you’re okay with me being here?” she asked, stepping back to include all three of us in her line of sight and questioning.
“Yes,” I answered conclusively with absolutely no hesitation.
Cassie nodded. “Okay.”
She smiled at me and then glanced back at Frankie and Claire. Her eyes moved from their faces to their bodies, taking in the protective suit and the harness. “Wait…why are they wearing that?”
I took her hand, pulled her toward the office to grab our gear, and ruined her happy place all in one moment. “Because we’re going skydiving.”
“If I make it to the ground alive,” Cassie yelled over the roar of the twin-engine jump plane, “I’m going to straight up murder you.”
My arms wrapped tight around her chest even though I knew she couldn’t get away from me if she tried. She was strapped to me because I was her jump buddy, and we were forty seconds away from our jump point.
“I look forward to it, honey,” I yelled over the noise, sneaking in a kiss to her cheek and earning a world-class glare and two middle fingers.
Frankie and Claire looked on with smiles on their faces from across the plane.
“I can’t believe you’re a part of this madness, Claire!” Cassie screamed as loud as she could. Frankie laughed, and Claire gave two thumbs up.