Page 27

Chapter 26

Life is simple: eat, sleep, fly.

Mari cuddled into Colin, not wanting to move after spending the last few hours in bed with him—some sleeping because they definitely needed it. She kept trying to convince herself that this was all about sex but it was hard to lie to herself.

“So have you spent a lot of time with Bear since being back?” she murmured, enjoying the quiet. They could hear some outside noises of the city but the place was well insulated because it wasn’t much.

“I don’t want to talk about another man while we’re in bed naked.” His tone was dry, but there was an underlying edge that surprised her.

She pinched his side. “Bear isn’t a man. He’s your brother…and one of the nicest people I know.”

“Hey, I’m nice.”

She snorted.

“Not sure if I should be insulted,” he murmured as he pulled her closer so that she was splayed up against him. She loved all the skin-to-skin with him. “But yes, we get together for lunch at least twice a week. I’ve taken Valentine up a few times to view the city and now she’s talking about learning to fly. But Bear is still okay being on the ground.”

“I never understood how a big guy like him is so scared of flying.”

“He says it’s because he’s so big. He’s worried about crashing the plane.”

Mari barked out a laugh. “Apparently we need to explain center of gravity and balance to him.”

“I’ve tried. And I know he understands it, but…” He shrugged. “He says if Valentine gets her PPL he’ll go in the air with her. Not his brother , who’s been a pilot forever.”

She snickered as she stretched. “Sounds about right. My halmeoni goes up with me all the time. And my dad does sometimes too.”

“Your grandma and not your mom?”

“She always says she doesn’t have time, but…I think she’s secretly scared.”

“Maybe she and Bear can start a club. The big baby club.”

Surprised at his tone, she looked up at him. “Are you mad at Bear?”

“No. Not exactly. Look, I get fears, but I’m his brother, he should trust me.” Colin sounded indignant.

“Oh my god, right ?” Laughing, she laid her head back down on his chest. “Or we’re just assholes who aren’t very understanding. Flying is the best thing in the world. Being up in the air, everything else seems so trivial. Though to be fair, I wouldn’t be mad at Bear because he’s perfect— Hey, did you just pinch me?”

“It’s your butt, it doesn’t count. And Bear is not perfect. He snores. And he’s not great at parallel parking,” Colin growled.

“I don’t even know what you’re talking about at this point. Are those supposed to be good examples of…” She looked up at him again, pushing up against the sheets in surprise. “Wait, are you being jealous?”

“No. Maybe. I don’t like you saying Bear is perfect. How would you feel if I said Carmen was perfect? ”

“Uh, I’d agree with you because she married my dumbass brother. She’s a saint for putting up with him and we should build an altar to her or whatever people do for saints. Plus she cooks for me all the time so I think that ranks her at goddess status.”

“You’re ridiculous.” But his mouth was curving up in amusement.

“You like it,” she murmured.

“I do like it.” His gaze fell to her mouth, and just like that, heat curled in her belly.

And since her body was determined to betray her, her stomach growled again. Loudly.

Which made him throw his head back and full-on laugh. “Apparently I’m not feeding you enough. Come on. Berlin left us a ton to choose from.”

Though she was reluctant to leave the bed, she followed after him in search of food, not bothering with clothes. Hopefully they could head right back to the bedroom after they were done eating.

She knew this wasn’t going to last, that this whole thing between them was because of the situation they were in. But she was going to take advantage of it because Colin was literally the man of her fantasies.

So she would enjoy this until she had to return to her normal life. Because he might say he wanted more than sex, but he was best friends with her brother. And fine, she was just making excuses. She didn’t know how to do relationships.

To be fair, she’d never really tried, but what happened if she did try, if she gave this her everything and then still failed? She’d have lost the best man she’d ever known and wrecked a relationship between Evan and Colin. That was a lot of pressure, and ugh, she was spiraling.

Forcing her thoughts on better things, she focused on the present—and Colin’s perfect ass as he headed toward the kitchen.