Close to You - Kristen Proby Page 0,52

here, but if Cami wants me here, I’ll stay.

I’ll do just about anything that Cami wants me to, and I’m not ashamed to admit it.

The waitress comes to take our orders and refresh our drinks.

“So, we hear you dropped the L-bomb,” Riley says, and sips her orange juice.

“Riley!” Cami hisses, then hides her face in her napkin.

“What? Is it a secret?”

“It’s not a secret,” I reply, and laugh, rubbing Cami’s leg under the table.

“We tell each other everything,” Addie says, almost apologetically. “To be fair, she didn’t text us until yesterday.”

“Yeah, it’s not like she texted us while you were in the heat of the moment,” Kat says. “That would just take it too far.”

“Ew,” Mia says. “You know, talking about sex before was all well and good until you started banging my brother.”

“And boy, do we bang,” Cami says with a smug smile. “A lot. Like, over and over again.”

The other girls all laugh their asses off while Mia makes gagging sounds.

“Did you just shudder?” Riley asks Mia.

“Hell yes. I don’t want to ever have a reason to think of my brother naked.”

“He’s impressive naked,” Cami says.

“I can see that,” Kat says as her eyes travel up and down my torso. “You should take your shirt off, just to give us a sneak peek.”

“I’m not sharing him,” Cami replies, rolling her eyes. “You’ll just have to take my word for it.”

“Thank the baby Jesus,” Mia mutters just as my phone rings. I glance down and recognize the number.

“I’ve gotta take this.” I kiss Cami’s cheek and excuse myself. “Hello.”

“Hey, Palazzo,” my old Navy buddy Ringo says. “Sorry, I know it’s Sunday, but my day is jammed tomorrow, so I thought I’d get a head start.”

“No worries. What’s up?”

“I spoke with Lucas last week, and he mentioned that you might be interested in a flight instructor position.”

I take a deep breath and shove my hand through my hair. “I can’t fly.” My voice is flat, and the rage and sense of loss boils up the way it always does when I think about the fact that I’ll never pilot another plane.

“Not in the air,” he clarifies. “I’d like you to teach in the classroom, and oversee the program up there for me. You’d be the boss, which you’re good at.”

I frown. “You want me to stand in a classroom and bore the fuck out of people? If anything, I should be in the air.”

“But you can’t be,” Ringo says softly. “You got a shitty deal, man. I’m just thankful that you’re okay. And I could seriously use you. I’m expanding the private flight school from San Diego up to Portland. You wouldn’t have to travel at all.”

“That’s awesome, Ringo, but classroom work?”

“Sleep on it. Think it over and call me back this week. I’m not in a huge hurry for an answer, but the only answer I’ll accept is yes. You’d be excellent at keeping everything in order, and you’re a good speaker. You’re not going to bore the shit out of anyone.” I hear him sigh. “How are you, man?”

“Better,” I admit. “Physically, pretty much all healed up. I’ve been working for my dad and keeping busy. I have a girlfriend.”

“So you’re settling down.”

I stare blindly as a kid picks his nose in his stroller, his mom hurrying down the sidewalk. Am I settling down?

I guess I am.

“I suppose you could put it like that.”

“Perfect. Call me this week.”

And with that, he’s gone. The thought of working in a classroom doesn’t get my blood flowing, but I like that I wouldn’t be a peon. I’d be running the show, and God knows I have plenty of experience running shows.

Come to think of it, teaching people who are excited about flying doesn’t sound like a bad gig.

I’ll think about it later, but the truth is, I just can’t see myself working in construction forever. I like it fine, but it doesn’t excite me.

Everything about flying excites me.

I make my way back through the restaurant and am almost to the table when I hear Kat say, “This period is killing me. Like, instead of it raining men, it’s raining red.”

“That’s so gross,” Cami says, but she’s laughing as she takes a bite of her bacon. She glances up and sees me. “Hey, babe. Your food’s here.”

“Good. I’m hungry.”

“I’m telling you,” Kat continues without missing a beat. “I’m gonna have to invest in an industrial-sized box of tampons or something.”

“Oh my God! Do you remember when we went to that party our