Free Stand Close 3 (Stand Close New Adult Romance Series) by Sabrina Lacey

would need to be smaller to stay up. But still, it felt safer.”
    Affirmative noises all around.
    Jack continues, “And for the first time we enjoyed the public knowing who we were. There was so much enthusiasm for our surviving the crash, it was really moving. It got to both of us, huh Sean?” Sean nods, sucking on his lips. Jack acts out with his hands, “People hugged us and we were like, COME HERE! Hugging them back. Remember that lady?”
    Sean smiles. “Yeah. A sweet woman who looked like a librarian grabbed our faces one at a time and kissed us on the lips. Not weird, but in a motherly way. SMACK! I’m so glad you boys made it! We were praying for you!”
    I exhale, remembering the woman who held me at LAX.
    Jack takes another sip from his beer, his finger held out on his free hand to tell us to wait so he can continue. “AHHHHH! DAMN THAT’S GOOD BEER! So when the sub pulled up, they sent out naked ladies to service us.”
    Jenna and Rue both scream, “Shut UP!”
    He laughs, shoulders shaking. “No. They shot out a line that had a harness on the end. One at a time, they hauled us in. Steve was first because he was wounded. Poor guy.”
    Sean takes over, climbing onto the ground to sit next to Jack. “The pilot, you remember Terence?” Jenna and Rue nod. I don’t have to; they know I know Terence well. Great guy. Really glad he made it. Sean continues, “Well, he’d been in the military so he explained that a couple officers would be there with the rescue team, the strongest men in the crew. As we watched Steve get hauled into the cockpit, Terence told us there was a watertight retractable wall between the cockpit and the shaft to protect the hull of the sub.”
    Jack adds, “That way water can splash into the cockpit, but not into the main part of the sub. And when it gets into the cockpit, they can get it out, mostly.”
    Rapt, the girls both say, “Oh!”
    I glance over to Rue, but her focus is on her brothers. A pang twists in my chest and I shove it away, focusing on the story by asking, “So what happened then?”
    Sean picks it up. “Right, Terence said he wanted to go last, but Jack wouldn’t have it.” Jack looks down at the ground with a modesty uncommon for him as Sean plows forward, “Terence was really adamant about it, but Jack said, I don’t have a wife waiting for me. You go.” The girls stare at Jack with new eyes, and they’re not the only ones. Surprise tilts my head a little and my interest is back, full swing. “And of course, it was the same for me. He made me go before him. Fucking guy. When I was being pulled through that ice-cold water, I was crazy terrified a shark was going to grab me by the legs and tear me out of that thing. So close to being saved, you know your mind does funny things. So when I was safely pulled up over the sides of the cockpit by a couple of men larger than I’ve ever seen…”
    “You got a hard-on?” Jack jokes.
    I stifle a laugh as Sean grins and rolls his eyes. “Fucker. Well, I looked over and saw Jack all by himself on that little raft, the ocean surrounding him in every direction, and for the first time I could see what we’d been up against from a different vantage point, a different angle and it was intense. As they threw the line to Jack and it missed a couple times, it hit me hard how close we were to dying out there.” Emotions well up his eyes and he shakes them off, his tone shifting. “And Jack… you were really brave. He saved me and Steve.”
    “Sean…” Jack says, bringing up his hand again with his gaze on the ground.
    “No, let me tell them.” Sean pauses to swallow the lump in his throat. He takes a breath for strength and tells us all about the crash and the water coming into the plane, and how Jack came back for them. How they battled to get to the raft. How Jack found the co-pilot unconscious in the ocean.
    Jack finally stops him. “Look, it’s a party. Let’s not talk about it anymore.” Sean nods.