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Ryker’s chest rumbles. “I don’t need that mental image. Hawk is my best friend.”

“I’m shocked you didn’t notice.” I pull my head back to look up into his eyes again. “Does it bother you?” I ask, hoping it doesn’t.

“No, of course not. I know Hawk is gay—I’ve known since we met—but I was too preoccupied with my own shit to realize he was seeing Joey. I need to apologize for that, too.”

“Maybe they want to keep things private. I don’t know much about their relationship, either—I probably shouldn’t have said anything.”

Ryker shakes his head. “Joey was telling me without actually telling me earlier. I was too dense to hear what he was saying.”

“Hawk won’t be upset that we both know?”

“Why would you think that?”

“I’m kind of surprised you didn’t know already is all.”

“Hawk’s always been private about his intimate relationships for a lot of reasons. I’m not surprised he didn’t tell me, but I should’ve noticed. I’ve been such an ass.”

I kiss his chest. “It happens.”

That makes the corners of his lips turn up. “I don’t deserve you.”

I lift my head so our faces are closer together. “Maybe you don’t, maybe you do. But can you hold me? I’m exhausted, and I’m sick of talking.”

His small smile expands wider. “Of course, baby.”

I snuggle into him and sigh against his warm chest while his body envelopes me. “I like when you call me that,” I mumble as sleep starts to pull me under.

“And I like calling you that.” He presses his lips to my hair. “Now, get some rest, and I’ll text Joey and the guys about the room change.”

“They won’t mind?”

“They won’t. I promise,” he assures me. “Now, get some rest.”

I mumble something unintelligible as I allow myself to fall into dreamland wrapped safely in my professor’s arms.

Chapter twenty-one

Ryker

The five of usare standing on the side of the road next to our parked vehicles, a massive wedge tornado ripping through the plains only a few miles from us. The beauty is nearly a mile wide and growing, its black vortex kicking up debris as it eats everything in its path.

“Holy shit,” I say under my breath as I watch its destruction, happy that this tornado didn’t touch down near a big city or a heavily populated area. If it did, there’s no telling the damage it could do.

“It’s perfect,” Finley yells over the wind and tornado sirens going off around us.

My head turns to her to find she’s grinning, chestnut hair whipping around her face and camera in her hands. She lifts it up and snaps several pictures that I know will be stunning, just like her.

“This is the one!” Joey hollers. “I feel it in my knees, y’all!”

“You said that last time!” I yell back, though my tone is playful.

“That was my arthritis acting up. This one is for real—I know it!”

Everyone chuckles at his antics, and I smile wide. In fact, I’m smiling wider than I ever have before, because Joey is right. This is the one. I don’t know how I know, I just do. I feel in my gut that everything is going to go smoothly. We’re going to shoot off the rocket and get our data. After years of hard work andsacrifice, we’re going to make history—and we’ll save many lives in the future with our findings. I’d bet all my money on it.

The wind picks up, and the howling sound of the tornado draws nearer.

“How far is it to the north/south?” I yell to Hawk, who’s standing a couple of feet from me, without taking my eyes off the wedge.