A small hum of laughter went through the group. Pax was right. The shit we’d gone through in Madagascar when Brooke hid the permits needed to be a one-time-only thing. Penna paled next to me, and I put my hand over hers on her lap.
“It was not your fault,” I whispered so no one else could hear.
She didn’t look up from where she picked at her nail polish.
“The inherent danger here is how we’ll be launching. This formation leaves no room for error, not with only a matter of feet between your wing and the person next to you. You have got to be careful and aware of the other Renegades around you. It’s not a long flight, but we’re packed in like sardines.”
“Three point six kilometers,” Penna said.
“Rebel?” Bobby prompted.
Penna looked up, but only so far as the pictures on the table. “Sigiriya is about two hundred meters tall. Given the typical rate of descent of eighteen to one, we’re looking at three point six kilometers of flight. You’ll have to pull the synchronized turns pretty damn fast and really damn accurately.”
“You’ll?” I asked.
“I’m not going,” she said.
Paxton’s eyes narrowed. “Another thing we’ll talk about later.”
“Hang gliding is something you can do with us. One of us will just take you tandem,” I said quietly as Pax moved on to the technical turns we’d be making.
She shook her head. “No. Pax should take Leah, and if you’re smart, you’ll take Rachel as a bribe. You know she loves this stuff, and it might get you a little face time where she acknowledges that you exist.”
“Penna, come on. This has always been the four of us.”
“Yeah? Well, Nick is paralyzed and I’m in a non-weight-bearing cast, so looks like it’s the two of you.” She abruptly pulled back from table and wheeled herself out through the sliding glass door to the balcony that crossed the back of the ship.
“I’ll take her place,” Zoe said, pulling her chair into the vacant spot Penna had left.
“Not necessary,” I said, hoping she hadn’t listened in.
She shrugged and slid closer while Pax rambled on about the importance of GoPro footage. “You seem really crabby, Landon. Want me to come visit tonight?”
I looked over to her, taking in her brown hair and welcoming smile. There was a reason I’d been “visiting” with her more than I should have the last few months. It was easy to pretend that she was Rachel. But now with Rachel a handful of rooms away, I knew that an imitation wasn’t going to do it for me anymore. “Thanks for the offer, Zoe, but I really think I’m good.”
“Oh,” she said, her eyebrows shooting up in surprise.
We hadn’t been an item—she knew better—but damn, it felt like I’d just said, “Thanks for everything, but we’re done.”
Maybe because I had.
I felt her side eyeing me a few times as we went over the plan again, the gear, who needed what where.
“One more thing…we’d like to do kind of a fun side trip on our last day,” Pax said. “There are some natural waterslides in the Nuwara Eliya region, so we’ve got a totally optional excursion up there to play around, if you guys are interested. It’s mostly my way of saying thank you for kicking ass at the Abu Dhabi exhibition.”
Everyone cheered, and I pushed back from the table. “Hey, Pax,” I said just loud enough to get his attention. “Can you make sure I’ve got a tandem rig on my hang glider?”
Zoe tensed beside me. Guess it had been loud enough to get hers, too.
“Yeah,” Pax said with a grin. “You going to try a little bribery?”
“Penna had the same idea,” I admitted.
“Smart girl, that Penna,” he said. “I’m all for it. Anything that actually gets you two talking would be great, considering what I went through to get her here.”
“Yeah, yeah,” I said, waving him off. If I went now, I should be able to track Rachel down in her suite before dinner. “You good here?”
“Go,” he ordered. “I need to figure out how to get through to Penna.”
“You have to give her time.”
“I don’t want to lose her,” he admitted quietly. “It feels like…like we’re falling apart.”
“We’re not going to lose her. She’s still here, Pax. She could have gone home, but she stayed. Penna’s stronger than this, she just needs—”
“Time.” He sighed.
“Time,” I agreed. “I’ll talk to her later, but right now I’m going to go find Rachel. Oh, and one more thing—tell Gremlin I want out. Time for new sponsors.”
“You sure you want to play that game with them?” Pax asked.
“Never more so.”
“Okay, I’ll have Nick deliver the message. Now go get your girl.” He motioned toward the balcony, and I headed out.
The warmth of the deck seeped through the thin material of my flip-flops as I stepped onto the veranda. Before I could close the door, Zoe came after me.
“So that’s it?” she asked.
Fuck.
“Zoe, you know we weren’t a thing.”
She put her hands on her hips and glared up at me. “Maybe, but I can’t even ride tandem with you?”
I sighed and squinted, the glare from the sun off the glass door hitting me square in the eyes. “You’re good enough to fly your own.”