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“Wait. Wait.” I kneel on the floorboard between them, one hand on Colt’s knee, the other on Beau’s. It’s crazy. I know. But something’s off. I can’t shake the feeling. “Colt, you love Beau. You’d never hurt him. You’re not telling us something, so what is it? What happened with Reese?”
He mutters, “Just drop it. It doesn’t matter. He hates me now.”
I look at Beau.
Yes, he’s so angry and hurt that it looks like hate, but it’s not. It’s so much love breaking across his rugged face.
These two? They’re so deep in love and pain. They’re in that dangerous spot where they want to keep hurting each other instead of healing.
Colt won’t speak.
Beau looks away, too.
So, I won’t leave my spot with my hands on their knees. Like out of sheer will, I can hold them together.
I keep us connected until the limo clears the private airport’s gates. It parks alongside a gleaming white Gulfstream jet.
In minutes, we’re buckled into our ivory leather recliners. Beau sits diagonal from Colt, as far away as he can. So, I sit in front of Colt and across the tiny aisle from Beau.
The flight attendant serves us a round of Glenlivet, per Ruby’s instructions, I’m sure. This flight is for us, so that means we’re secure. Whoever can hear us has signed NDAs.
Good. Because I’m feeling NDA, too—No Dumbassery Allowed.
I can’t stand it when they fight, when they don’t talk.
Adolescents fight. Adults talk.
“Alright, now,” I warn as we taxi, “I’ll tell this pilot to fly us to hell and back. I don’t care. However long it takes for us to talk this out.”
Though, secretly, my pulse starts racing. My pits start sweating.
I hate flying.
“There’s nothing to say.” Beau stares at his tumbler, swirling it. “The only man I ever loved betrayed me. What more do I need to know?”
Colt huffs, shaking his head like Beau has no clue.
“You need to know what happened,” I answer their cynicism. “You need to let him tell us.”
“I don’t want to tell you,” Colt answers. “It ain’t gonna change anything.”
“Yes, it will,” I say, tears suddenly welling in my eyes. “If you two don’t talk, it’ll change everything between us.”
The G-force of the little jet taking off slams me back in my seat. Any minute, we’ll crash into a frozen mountainside, and Colt and Beau will have to eat my carcass to stay alive, so they need to get along.
Okay. Different decade. Different sport and team. Different continent.
But still, it’s a true story.
So, this bitch ain’t dying without knowing her men will be okay without her.
“I won’t lose us,” I insist, the nose of the plane aiming toward heaven. That’s our next stop. “I won’t lose our love. I won’t pick one of you over the other.” The plane jumps. Apparently, there are potholes to heaven. “And I sure as shit—before I die in this goddamn tin can in the sky—won’t let you two kill your love, too.” Nope, this isn’t heaven. It’s a non-stop flight to hell. “So, talk before we’re engulfed in a falling fireball.”
A hint of a smile lifts Colt’s lips. “You’ll be okay, Raven,” he says. “I got you. God’s fingertip, remember?”
“I’m about to give y’all my middle fingertip if you don’t talk.”
We hit a bump.
