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Shine couldn't believe his luck in finding Rowan. She was the one person he'd never gotten over. Maybe whatever he felt for her wouldn't amount to anything. Did he really want to be involved in a relationship with someone? He'd spent years avoiding attachment, and yet he'd given Rowan his number willingly after less than an hour after meeting her again. She wasn't some bunny he would ignore after a few dates, nor was she the type of person he would relegate to a one-night stand. He wanted Rowan in his life.

Because of their history, Rowan meant more to him than most people did. She was the first person he could say with confidence had saved his life. Maybe a relationship wouldn’t work out between them, but if there ever was anyone he wanted to spend time with, it was Rowan.

After the ambulances had whisked them off to different hospitals, he hadn’t seen her or talked to her again. The time they’d known each other had been brief. Maybe his memory was playing tricks on him. They’d both been young, and the crash had been emotional. The moments they’d shared, fighting their way to the shore, huddled together after helping other people get onto land, the fear, the doubts about surviving, had been intense.

Seeing her after so many years had brought the emotions to the surface, making him wonder about so many things. If he’d seen her after the crash, would they have stayed together or at least stayed in touch? He’d been dumb about relationships in his early twenties. No question, he would have screwed up if they’d been together back then. Time had given him maturity.

Worry hit. What if he felt nothing for her? When he'd hugged her, he'd felt more than he had for anyone else he'd been with. If he felt nothing, that would be okay, and he could walk away and just be friends with Rowan. He had a suspicion he would feel something based on how his heart was reacting.

They weren’t making promises. This was just them reconnecting, nothing more. Heck, she’d been married. Going to dinner could just be them eating food together. He was making too much out of this. She might not want more than just a friendship. That would be cool. Most likely, nothing would come of seeing her again. But for his sanity, he had to give it a chance because deep inside, he’d always wondered if they would be good together.

Besides, if he walked away from this opportunity to get to know Rowan, he would regret it for the rest of his life. They may not work out, but he wanted to see if there was a chance with her.

He’d taken off early from work, so after his appointment, he headed in the direction of his house but stopped by Thario’s place on the way. He hadn’t always been Thario’s biggest fan, but he really liked the guy now.

“Hey, Shine, what’s up? ”

“Just checking in. Making sure Frog remembers who I am.”

Thario rolled his eyes. Of course, the dude knew Shine worried about him, but it was one thing to stop in and check and a whole other thing to voice his concern. Some people might see his friendship with Thario as not genuine, but he wasn't playing at any angle. He really liked Thario now. Wrong impressions happened, but Thario had changed so much about his personality after the incident.

Thario checked the time on his phone. “What have you been up to? It seems early for you.”

“I had an appointment on this side of town.”

Thario narrowed his eyes, really studying him. “Hmm. An appointment. What’s really going on?”

Shine blew out a breath, and his lips twisted up to one side as thoughts rolled through him. How much did he want to tell Thario?

"Come on, man. Have a beer and tell me everything."

Shine closed his eyes and breathed out a heavy sigh. After a moment, he nodded. “Sure. Beer and talk. That would be great.”

Frog retrieved Thario a beer, but Shine knew the dog wouldn’t wait on him. He chuckled as Frog passed by him with the beer can in his mouth.

“Your dog is a hoot.”

Thario took the beer from Frog’s mouth and opened it, taking a long swig. “Frog is good. So tell me, what’s up?”

Shine opened his beer, then sat on the couch, scratching Frog’s head when he came over for a short moment before settling back beside Thario.

“Before I joined up, actually before I graduated high school, I met someone.”

Thario paused with his beer hung in midair. He raised his eyebrows, and Shine knew Thario wanted to say something, but he stayed quiet.

Shine rolled his eyes. “Go ahead, say what’s on your mind.”

“There isn’t a little Shine running around, right?”

Shine laughed. “I was a dork in high school. When I met this woman—girl. She was a girl then. But when I met her, I’d never kissed anyone. She was my first kiss.”

Thario’s eyebrows shot up high. “Oh, nice.”

He shrugged. "Not really. I'll never forget it, though. We'd gone to the same two-week camp. We found out we were flying back together, and we ended up sitting next to each other. We were in the row behind the emergency exit over the wing. Anyway, everything was fine, and we were both painfully awkward, but it was nice to have someone to sit next to who was my age and had just experienced exactly what I'd experienced at camp."

Thario wiggled his eyebrows. "So you kissed her and got into the mile-high club?"

Shine snorted, then took a sip of his beer. "Not quite. A few minutes after taking off, we hit birds. Enough to take out the engine. The pilot tried to recover, but he lost control when the second engine went out. We'd dropped too low, and there was a river. The pilot ditched—well, landed the plane in the river."

Thario’s eyes went wide. “Oh shit.”

“Yeah. As we were going down, we kissed. I told her I didn’t want to die without ever kissing someone.”

Thario shook his head. “Holy shit. Really? You were in a plane crash?”

He sipped his beer, then nodded. “Yeah.”

Thario made a gesture with his hands that could only mean he wanted more. “And?”

“What do you want me to say? ”

"Were you injured? What happened after the crash? Don't leave me hanging on this story. You were in a plane crash before you joined the military, and you survived and then became a SEAL. That's a big deal, bro."

Shine blew out a long breath and sat back, staring up at the ceiling. "It sucked. I had plans to go into the Marines. I was set, or so I thought. I only had to sign my letter of intent once I turned eighteen. But it was all fucked up. I spent a year recovering and getting my strength back. I wasn't injured too badly, but it was enough to knock me down a few pegs. Then, I started taking courses at the local community college because I was bored shitless. I got an associate's degree in avionics because I'd seen an ad on social media about aircraft mechanics in the Army. While I was getting my certifications, I started working part-time at the local airport and met a Navy pilot. I told him I was thinking about enlisting in the Army, and he showed me photos of being on an aircraft carrier. I was intrigued. I wanted to travel, and that's why I joined the Navy instead of the Army."

“What about the Marines?”

Shine shrugged. "I couldn't go back. I had this idea, some stupid superstition, that if I joined the Marines, something else bad would happen."

“So you were okay after the crash?”

“Yeah. I mean, it took a few years to get back to where I thought I was okay.”

“And you passed the psych evaluation when you became a SEAL.”

Shine laughed. “Yeah. No problems there.”

Thario took a swig, his eyes never leaving Shine. “Wow. I had no idea.”

"Few people know. I was older than most people in training, and I pretty much kept to myself. I think being older paid off for me. I wasn't some eighteen-year-old punk who had no idea what life was about. I had a plan, and I worked on my plan."

“Did you know you wanted to be a SEAL?”

Shine shook his head. “Not at all. I wanted to be an aircraft mechanic on a carrier.”

Thario lifted an eyebrow. “Legit.”

“We were in the middle of the Indian Ocean, and a group of SEALs were dropped off. They were making plans near one of the planes I was repairing. It sounded interesting. Honestly, it reminded me of why I’d wanted to become a Marine. After their mission, once they were back on the ship, I approached one of the guys. At first, he thought I was blowing smoke up his ass and worshiping him because he was a SEAL. But I told him I really wanted to be a part of it. He gave me his email address and said he would send me some workouts and help me with what I needed to do to prepare. It took me another two years to get strong enough to pass.”

“You passed BUDs on your first time through, right?”

“Sure did,” Shine said then took a sip of his beer. “I did. Thanks to him. He’s retired now. I haven’t talked to him in a year, but he’s a good one. He moved to Hawaii. Says he loves it.”

"Fuck, man. I know you were a tough-as-nails badass, but you are the GOAT of badasses. A plane crash." Thario shook his head. "Is that why they call you Shine? Because you come out golden?"

Shine laughed. “Hell no.”

"You know why everyone calls me Thario. You know, I used to hate that name. I don't know."

Shine nodded. “Yeah, you were a different guy then.”

“I was.”

“I’m glad we’re friends now. ”

“Same. So tell me why they call you Shine.”

He chuckled, remembering the day. "While we were in BUDs, one of the helicopters broke down. It wasn't anything serious. I fixed it. It was something I'd done many times over the years. I just had to reset a few things and tighten a few connections. Nothing special, but fixing the chopper made an impression. The instructors started calling me Shine. It stuck."

"That's cool. Impressive, actually."

"Well, honestly, a person with only a few weeks in helicopter repair class should have been able to fix it. I just knew where to look and what was needed."

Thario finished his beer and moved to toss it in the recycle bin. Shine knew he needed to head home. Thario probably needed to either rest or work. Since the man had started helping people online to find family and friends, he was incredibly busy.

“I should get out of your hair.”

“Dude, you’re welcome to stick around.”

Shine shook Thario's hand. "I'll be by sometime next week. Maybe you could come by for dinner."

“I’ll tell you if I have an open day next week.”

"Sure. And Thario, don't work too hard. You need time to play, too."

Thario rolled his eyes. “I’m good. I’m happy. I have Frog and my work. I’m satisfied.”

Shine wasn't sure Thario was satisfied, but he wouldn't confront him. Thario had been through a lot. He'd come out better than he'd been before. At least they hadn't lost Thario to abuse or anger. He could have turned dark after what happened to him. Lots of guys and women couldn't get to good places after life-changing injuries. He got it. Learning your entire life would be different would affect even the strongest .

After leaving, Shine headed home. He thought about calling Rowan, but they’d just reconnected. It would be wrong to expect too much from her. They might not ever become more than friends, and that was okay. He was just glad she seemed to have had a good life. He couldn’t imagine how weird he would feel if he knew something bad had happened to her. He only wanted what was best for Rowan.