“Not bad,” I said, relief flooding through me. I’d been prepared for the worst, but he’d flown clean and we’d kicked ass right out the gate.
“Not bad? Is that your idea of a compliment?”
“Your ego’s big enough. Let’s head back to base.”
When Solo didn’t respond, I took that as an agreement and made a hard right back to NAFTA. It wasn’t long, however, before I realized he wasn’t following.
“Solo? There a problem?” Glancing around, I found him heading straight up, leaving contrails in the sky. “What are you doing?”
“Just showing Gooch whose is bigger.”
Oh, for fuck’s sake. “Cut the shit and get back to base.”
“Can’t. Gotta make it long and thick.”
“Make what long and thick?”
“My sky dick.”
“Your sky…” I lost my voice as Solo began to descend, and sure enough, a penis began to form from the line of contrails he was leaving behind. I watched in horror as he began making figure eights at the base of the phallus.
“Yo, Panther, how are my ball’s lookin’? Are they big enough?”
I didn’t respond. There was no way in hell I was getting involved in this, because those contrails weren’t dissipating, and I’d be damned if I lost marks for this prank.
“Come on, man, I can’t have wonky balls. Just tell me if they’re the right size.”
Ignoring Solo, I began my descent as the runway came into view, and just as I touched down, I heard him say, “Man, that’s a beautiful penis. Look up and tell me how hot my dick is.”
It was impossible to miss the massive drawing in the sky, and it was also impossible to miss what exactly it was.
I’m going to fucking kill him.
8 Solo
THE DRESSING DOWN I received alongside Panther wasn’t one of the top ten moments of my life, but I couldn’t say it hadn’t been worth it. It’d been a big FU to my best friend, who thought it was funny as hell, unlike my instructors.
Hey, it wasn’t my fault the contrails had lasted longer than they should’ve. I figured the design would be up for a few minutes max, but it was still there, and now the office was getting complaints.
Whoopsie. Not.
As we walked out of Commander Levy’s office and headed to the locker room, I could feel the tension radiating off Panther, though he hadn’t said a word to me since we’d landed. So uptight, this guy.
“Well, Commander Levy wasn’t too impressed with my dick,” I said casually. “I gotta say, that’s a first.”
“Shut. Up,” Panther said through clenched teeth.
“Did you find it impressive? You can tell me the truth.” I glanced around at the empty halls. “No one’s around to hear you admit you liked it.”
It would’ve been funny the way Panther’s fists clenched if I hadn’t thought he’d actually use them on me. He probably would.
For some reason, even the thought of getting hit couldn’t stop my mouth. “So we got spanked on the ass. It’s not like we got disqualified—”
As we rounded the corner into the locker room, Panther shoved me up against the wall so hard the breath left my body. Eyes blazing, he stared me down, his face only inches from mine.
“What the fuck were you thinking?”
“I—”
“Thought it’d be a good idea to go rogue and disrespect not only me, but the Navy? It wasn’t enough to win the hop, you had to go fuck it up after? You think this shit’s funny?”
“I’m guessing you don’t.”
“You’re lucky you’re here. You’re lucky you’re still here. And because I’m the guy who got stuck with you, it’s up to me to make sure you don’t pull that shit again.”
Damn he was hot. Something about getting Panther all fired up pushed every single one of my buttons, and being up against the wall with his strong body practically vibrating against mine? There might be another sky penis in my future.
“They aren’t gonna put up with this kind of thing, Solo. You need to pull your head in.”
I glanced down between us at my obvious erection. “Too late.”
When Panther looked down, surprise lit his face, taking over the anger that had been there, and then he jerked away from me.
“I don’t get you,” I said, pushing off the wall. “You act like you’re so scared of cock, both up in the air and mine, when I know that’s not true.”
Panther’s eyes widened as he whipped his head around, looking for our peers. “Keep your fucking voice down.”
“Or what?” I took a step toward him. “You gonna hit me? I know you want to.”
Panther lunged, grasping my flight suit as he jerked me forward. “Let’s get something straight. You don’t know me. You don’t know anything about me, and I plan on keeping it that way.”
“Because I’m ‘trouble’?” I grinned, wrapping my hand around his wrist where he held me. “And trouble scares you?”