Page 3 of My All American Girl

I rolled my eyes at her. “That’s not even how jets work. How the hell did you graduate?”

Maddie responded with a playful smirk. “I just want him in my cockpit.”

“Oh, no, please don’t call your vagina that! Have some self-respect, Maddie.”

She howled with laughter and I shook my head at her. Deep down, I couldn’t help but feel a twinge of envy. She always had a carefree attitude when it came to guys, while I tended to overthink every little detail. And Dean Ryker wasn’t just any guy. He was everything a guy should aspire to be.

“I saw him first,” I retorted.

“But you can’t have him.” She shrugged and grinned. “Your cockpit will remain empty.”

“I hate you.”

“Look at him,” she whispered. “How tall do you think he is?”

“I don’t know.” I shrugged. “My dad is six feet, so maybe six-two, six-three?”

A few of our classmates approached.

“Is that Dean Ryker?” one whispered.

I nodded. “It is.”

“My dad flew with him and said he’s a madman,” one person claimed.

“I heard he only flies in shows now,” another chimed in.

“No, he’s a test pilot. He’s pioneering maneuvers for dogfighting and combat.”

“I’d give my left nut to learn from him,” one of our guy friends joked.

“No one wants your left nut,” I said. “Or your right one.”

“Very funny.” He laughed and tried to give me bedroom eyes. “You know you want this. We’ve graduated now. You can’t use the excuse you have to study.”

“I don’t need an excuse to shoot you down, flyboy.” I smiled coyly. “I’ll just tell you straight—no thank you. Give your chlamydia to someone else.”

He threw his head back and laughed, his arms wrapping around his barrel chest. “That’s what I like about you, Sarah.” He slapped me on the back, his eyes twinkling. “You always know how to put a guy in his place.”

“Ryker only trains with the best,” one of my classmates said. “I heard he’s going overseas.”

“He’s getting deployed?” I asked with surprise.

“I don’t know.” She shrugged. “I just heard he wasn’t going to be around anymore.”

I watched my father talking to him and wondered if that was what they were discussing.

“I bet he’s leaving because his wife just left him,” someone whispered.

I turned around. “Really?

“It was messy,” the young woman said.

Maddie scoffed. “If he’s leaving the country, I would say so.”

I had no idea what was real or what wasn’t. It didn’t really matter. His personal life was his business. All I knew was I wanted my career to be like his. Training with him would be an honor, but I knew that was just a far-off dream.

“Imagine learning from Dean Ryker himself? That would be something,” I murmured, more to myself than anyone else.

“You have a crush,” Maddie said, laughing. “I have a feeling if he was your teacher, that crush would vanish. He’s hardcore. I’ve heard he makes men cry.”

I shrugged. “Men. Sure. But me? He couldn’t make me cry.”

“Sarah, you’re strong but Ryker’s a different breed,” Maddie replied, her tone serious. “He doesn’t care about people’s feelings. He cares about getting the job done.”

“But that’s what it takes to be the best,” I countered. “And that’s what I want to be.”

Maddie sighed and shook her head. “You’ll just have to watch his training videos like the rest of us.”

“Maddie, Sarah!” one of our friends called out. “Come on, we’re taking pictures.”

Prying my eyes away from Ryker was difficult, but I didn’t want to make a complete fool of myself. If he really was being shipped overseas, the likelihood of seeing him again was slim to none. I wanted to make sure I committed his image to my memory. The cut of his shoulders and his jaw, the intensity of his gaze, the power in his stance.

As I stood for pictures with friends, my attention continued to shift Dean Ryker’s way. He was on an angle, so I admired his profile while my friends draped their arms over my shoulders and laughed for the camera. I managed a smile but couldn’t take my eyes off Dean.

He must have felt the heat of my stare because as the camera flashed for the fifth time, his attention flicked to me. We locked eyes. My breath hitched. The camera flashed again, and Dean blinked, shook his head, and turned his back to me.

He was just as gorgeous from that angle.