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Tearing through the house like someone possessed and chased by a swarm of bees, seventeen-year-old Jake Seresin stormed out, cursing the world as he did. He didn’t want to go back to that fucking boarding school. Why the hell didn’t his dad get that?
One more year, they’d tell him. Yeah, well, that was a fucking eternity in his mind.
“Whoa!” laughed a familiar voice. “Who pissed in your Wheaties, Blond Hulk?”
Stopping dead in his tracks, Jake’s head whipped up, green eyes darting forward to the voice.
There standing in front of him was his older brother who leaned casually up against a support column for the porch. With an amused smirk, he watched Jake with crossed arms showing off his massive biceps bulging beneath his service khakis.
“Howdy, mama’s boy.”
“Oh, fuck off already,” scoffed Jake, unable to put any heat behind his words, though. This deployment was only four months long, but he still missed the asshole. The second his idiot big brother yanked him in for a tight hug not long after, Jake ducked his head and bit back a quiet sigh in relief.
“Justin?” called their mom from somewhere inside the house. She likely heard her eldest’s voice.
His brother chuckled above him before tsking softly when the screen door opened behind Jake. “Ma, please, Ensign Seresin, remember? I’m in uniform.”
“Oh, apologies, Ensign Seresin,” replied their mother with a quiet, airy laugh.
Jake reluctantly pulled himself back to make room for her, shaking his head when Justin tucked him into his side while holding a free arm out to their mom who quickly hugged her eldest fiercely.
“Missed you, too, Mom,” murmured Justin, pressing a quick kiss to her head.
The door opened once more a second later.
“Sir.”
Jake did his best not to stiffen in realization that his dad had now joined them.
His brother squeezed him firmer for a second, refusing to let Jake slink away.
Their dad huffed and shook his head slowly. “Tell me you weren’t that dumb to wear your khakis through the damn airport.”
“No, sir. Changed at the end of the driveway actually,” Justin explained coolly. “Gave poor Mrs. McLeary quite the show so Ma’ll likely hear about that next time she runs into her at the store.”
Jake watched his dad instantly lose the strict hard ass admiral mask he always wore these days, adopting the loving father one he only wore when Justin was home.
“Good to see you, son.”
“Thanks, old man.”
“Just who exactly are you callin’ old there, Ensign?”
Justin chuckled, though, not bothered by their father’s quick faux coldness. “Well, if the shoe fits, ain’t that right, Jakey boy?”
Jake rolled his eyes, hating it whenever the idiot brought him into this.
“How long’s your leave for this time?” asked their dad when Jake didn’t respond.
“You don’t know?”
Jake felt his mother stiffen beside him as she glanced upward in dread.
“Four months or so,” Justin stated a moment later, the smile clearly heard in his voice. “Could be longer if they can’t find me a new spot. All depends on the needs of the fleet.”
“Hmm.” Their dad nodded slowly in careful thought. “You see your girl yet?”
“No, sir. Plannin’ on pickin’ Jessa up when she’s finished her shift. Thought I’d swing by here first and see if Jakey boy managed to do the impossible and get good at pool yet.”
“Oh, fuck off, dickwad,” bristled the teenager. “I’m fucking amazing at pool.”
Justin scoffed. “Yeah right. You can’t hold a cue to save your ass there, blondie.”
“Boys!” chided their mother, shaking her head with a soft, loving smile.
Their dad then stood taller, giving Justin a quick once over. “Got time for a late lunch?”
“Yes, sir,” Justin answered with a curt nod. “But only if it has steak included.”
“As if it’d have anything else, you little shit,” laughed their dad, holding the door open for them.
“God bless Texas!”
After devouring the steaks like they weren’t porterhouses, the two brothers broke off, Justin offering to do the dishes and volunteering Jake as well. Reluctantly, the teenager followed without a complaint. After all, it got him away from being at the dinner table with his dad. So that was a gift in on itself really.
“I wash, you dry?”
Jake nodded silently, setting the dirtied plates they collected into the filling soapy water.
“So, tell me all about Missy Turner,” Justin loudly teased after a bit. “You grow a pair and ask her out yet?”
“You are such an asshole.”
“Like you aren’t.” His brother then playfully bumped against him. “Come on. I’ve been away for four months. Give me some normal teenage drama for once.”
Jake sighed before he shrugged lightly. “It’s not a thing. She said it was fun to fool around with, but I’m not the ‘respectable’ boy she deserves.”
“Oof. Rough. Sorry, dude.”
“Doesn’t matter.”
“Exactly. You’ll find them someday. It’ll happen when you least expect it, too. It’ll grab you by the dick, and you’ll be scrambling like a chicken with your head cutoff trying to get their attention. Mark my words.”
Jake paused for a moment before he said, “Was that what it was like with Jessa?”
“Hell yes. Thought my dick was going to snap clean off with how hard I was tugged towards her. When you find them, Jake . . . shit . . . there’s nothing like it.” Justin had that familiar dopey smile that he always got when he was talking about his girlfriend of two years. “It’s like the universe throws out these big bold, neon lights that says, ‘This one here is for you.’ You can’t ignore it. Because your soul recognizes they’re your other half, your missing piece instantly. You connect on a level you never have before, and it terrifies you. Because here’s this perfect person, this beautiful, amazing person right there that you know in your soul is meant to be with you forever. In every damn universe there ever is or was or will be. And you can’t even fucking think of a damn thing to say to start your epic romance . . . so you squawk instead. Or in my case, trip right there into her boobs.”
Jake snickered. “Still can’t believe she agreed to date your pathetic ass after that.”
“Oh, fuck, me neither, dude. Thought for sure she’d kick my ass out after our first time together. That I was just a notch in her proverbial belt for her. Her Navy boytoy.”
“Guess I shouldn’t tell you about her Army guy she’s been seeing while you’ve been away, huh?” Jake laughed when his brother wrapped an arm around his neck tightly and instantly rubbed his knuckles against Jake’s head.
“Little fucker,” Justin chuckled, releasing him.
“Jake!”
He nearly dropped the plate he had been drying when his dad called out sharply soon after.
“Get your bag. We’re leaving,” his dad stated brusquely.
“Leaving?” Justin questioned, glancing between them. “Where?”
“School starts at 0700 tomorrow.”
Jake caught his brother’s rapid blink before Justin put the dish he’d been scrubbing back into the sink. Oh no.
“I thought he wasn’t going back this year?”
“Well, that was before your idiot brother decided to run his mouth again the other night.”
Justin frowned, glancing at him. However, his eyes shifted back. “Dad, it’s his last year before USNA. Let him be a dumb kid for once and go to the school down the road. Let him be normal.”
“Normal?” their father repeated deathly quiet.
Oh here it came. Just once Jake would have loved to be invisible. At least where it concerned his father that was.
“He’s a Seresin. And Seresins aren’t normal. You know that.”
“Dad, just . . . please,” Justin said quietly. “Let him have this year,” he argued. “He can buckle down at USNA next year.”
“It’ll be too late by then. He’s going back today.”
“Dad—”
“No, Justin!” their father replied swiftly. “If Jake wants to be the best like he claims he does, then the boy has to finish it there. No temptations. No fuckups. No nothing. Just nose in his books.”
Jake resisted the urge to react to the declarations, shoving down every bratty tendency he had right then. Of course Admiral Dick would ruin this good day for him more.
“Fine. Then I’m taking him back there myself,” declared Justin.
“What?”
Jake had to agree with his father. What the hell was his brother up to now?
“I just got off a shitty four-month deployment. The last time I was home, he was away at that fucking school you dumped him in. So, I’m going to drive him over there so I can spend more than a fucking meal with my little brother. That good with you, Admiral?”
Jake glanced down, expecting to hear his father lose his shit right then and there.
As it was, his dad instead sighed heavily, deflating and losing his hardness again.
“Boys, listen. I’m not trying to keep you two apart, all right?” he quietly sighed. “The game’s just changed since you were accepted into USNA, Justin. It’s different now.”
“Well, yeah, Dad, it’s called progress,” he drawled, leaning back against the counter.
“Oh, ha-ha, smartass.” Their dad shook his head slowly before he pinched the bridge of his nose, hanging his head.
Jake waited anxiously for the blow-up that was going to come. He made sure not to slump or cower, though. He’d take it like a man. Back straight, chin raised. Like how his dad taught him.
When Admiral Seresin’s stormy blues finally fell back on him, his dad looked as if he aged twenty years in a matter of minutes.
“Jacob, I’m doing this for your own good. Not to be a hard ass. You want to be the best there is? This is the way. By keeping your nose clean. By losing that damn sass of yours. I mean, shit. Your fucking idol you worship did it this way. Graduated from military school, then went to USNA, did a few tours, then headed over to TOPGUN where he won it, and look at him now. Youngest fucking rear admiral there’s ever been. All because he applied himself to his studies. Didn’t let himself get distracted. You could be better than him. Do it faster than him even. You’ve got what it takes, son.”
Jake swallowed, unsure of how to respond to the rare praise.
Justin slung an arm around his shoulder then. “Well, on that note, think we’re going to head out. Finish the dishes for us, old man?”
“Get outta here already,” he huffed with a light laugh, grabbing the washcloth from Justin.
When Jake walked past a moment later, his dad reached out and grabbed his arm gently. He glanced at him with narrowed eyes.
“Come here, Jake-in-the-box,” his dad sighed deeply, pulling him into his arms. It had been so long since his father hugged him that Jake honestly didn’t know what to do when he felt the embrace. “I know it’s tough on you, that you hate being stuck over there with those degenerates, but it’s for the best. You have one more year, and after that, your brother’s right. You’ll be at USNA. Just like all men in this family before you. You’ll wipe the damn floor with all those pretentious snobs who bought their way in because you’re a Seresin man. You’ll make us proud. I know you will. Love you, Jacob.”
Twenty minutes later, Jake was still silent as his brother drove them to the stupid military school. His duffel with everything he could bring was at his feet, even though Justin had told him to shove it into the back of the crew cab of the battleship gray Silverado that had a Navy anchor decal on the lift gate and another in the lower driver’s side of the back window of a figure that said ‘Go Navy’ while that figure pissed on the word ‘Army.’
Jake could still recall his mother’s exasperated look when she found it on his brother’s new truck. When they later learned Jessa had added it during one of Justin’s deployments, his mother seemed to lose her argument against it, saying instead how she always knew Jessa was a good one.
“Hey, egghead, you with me still?”
Jake sighed heavily before he glanced at his brother. “What?”
Justin smiled back warmly. “Want to know something Mom and Dad don’t even know yet?”
“Sure.” There was nothing else to do while they headed back to boarding school from hell.
“I’m asking Jessa to marry me tonight.”
Jake instantly sat up straighter as his jaw dropped. “What?”
“Yeah, I know. But it’s time I lock it down finally before she wises up and goes off with that Army guy you mentioned.”
Jake laughed, shaking his head.
“Plus, you know, need to make her an honest woman if we’re going to have kids.”
“Now there’s a horrifying thought.”
“Oh, ha-ha, very funny, Jake the Ripper,” his brother scoffed. “I mean it, though. We’ve been talking about kids for awhile now, and I think I’m going do it. Marry her first, then kids.”
“Well, there are going to be hearts breaking all over the world tonight then.”
“Including Army dude’s.”
“You’re an idiot.”
“Sorry to say, bro, but it’s hereditary so . . . it’s coming.”
Jake rolled his eyes. “Do you have the ring with you?”
“Nah. It’s back at the house.” He sighed deeply, tapping his thumb to the beat of the country song playing in the background. “If I can swing it, you think you’d be up to being my best man?”
“What?” His jaw dropped. Was Justin serious?
“Best man. I mean, course I could always ask some of my buddies and see if they can get leave, but thought maybe, you know, it’d be cool if you were instead.”
“I don’t know shit about weddings.”
“Don’t worry about that. I’ll ask one of the guys to help you out with the basics. All you got to do is give a fancy ass speech embarrassing the shit out of me. You got that down pat already.”
“So, I get to roast your ass?”
“Yep.”
“All right then. I accept.” This was going to be fun.
“Thought you would. I’m thinking about doing it when you’re on holiday break or something.”
“Won’t you be going back before then?”
His brother’s fingers curled around the steering wheel tighter briefly before they loosened.
“They placed me on medical leave. So, it’s up to when I clear the evals of when I’ll be back.”
“Why?”
Justin sighed loudly before he frowned. “Some shit went down on the ship, and I, uh, saw it happen.” He then turned towards Jake. “Look. It’s going to be different for you, though, because you’re going to be one of those cocky ass flyboys. You’ll get to leave the ship sometimes. Be up there in the skies.”
“Dad would shit kittens if I went for it,” Jake reminded. No. It was better for everyone involved if he stayed far away from the aviation side of the Navy. Seresins weren’t aviators. They were sailors. They were SEALS. Never naval aviators.
“Well, then Dad’s going to shit kittens, bro. You want to be the next blond bombshell like the Rear Admiral? Then we’ll make damn sure you do it. In fact—” His brother then turned the wheel sharply, sending them flying down a gravel road. A shitload of dust kicked up behind them as a result.
“What are you doing?”
Oh, he really hoped his brother wasn’t doing what Jake thought he was doing.
“Dad only said you had to be there before 0700. He didn’t say I had to get you there before 2300. Now, come on, Jakey boy. Where’s your sense of adventure?”
“I hate when you call me that.”
“You love when I call you that,” replied his brother before taking another hard right.
Jake blinked when he saw the gates to the small regional airport. “What are you doing?”
“You’ll see.”
They pulled up to the keypad a moment later, his brother punching in the code to unlock the gate.
It had been a year since Justin brought him out here. They used to be out here every day when his brother was home. It had been their thing. Justin teaching him everything he knew from his brief taste of flying for the Navy before his dreams had been squashed by their father who quickly put an end to it with the words that no son of his would fly for the Navy.
They stopped in front of the familiar hanger a few moments later where he knew his brother’s old plane that he won in a card game was.
“Dad’s going to kill you, Justin.” The lecture they received the last time they flew together was still clear as day in Jake’s head. We sail boats! We don’t land on them!
“Yeah, doubt that.” He shut off the engine, pulling the keys. “Come on, flyboy,” he called over his shoulder as he opened his door and stepped out.
Ten minutes later, Jake found himself in the cockpit sitting on his brother’s right side. He could smell the fuel already and couldn’t stop smiling. It had been too long since they flew together. Since he had been up in the skies. For both of them probably if he had to guess.
He laughed when Justin took off like they were being catapulted off the deck of a carrier. He loved that feeling he’d get at the quick take-offs. And it wasn’t long before they were up off the ground, quickly rising to the clouds.
As soon as his brother steadied them above the clouds, leveling out their wings, he sighed contently. He loved being up here. High above the ground. He felt so peaceful up here, so relaxed.
“All right. Let’s see how you do.”
“Huh?”
With a wide smile, his brother then killed the engine.
Jake’s eyes widened, seeing the propeller slow to a stop. “What the hell!”
“Come on, flyboy. Think! What’s your move?” replied Justin, leaning back in his seat casually as if he had no cares in the world as they were falling. “How are you going to handle this?”
Inhaling sharply, Jake surrendered to what was happening. His brother wasn’t suicidal or crazy. This was another one of his idiotic lessons. And they both knew Jake could do this in his sleep at one point as it was something Justin frequently quizzed him on after Jake declared he wanted to be a fighter pilot someday. Methodically, he went down the list one by one.
He took control of the plane and fought with it to level the wings.
Checked the gauges while he also searched for an area to land the plane if he couldn’t get the engine to restart.
A second later, he pointed towards an open field, which his brother nodded in acknowledgement.
Forcing the breath into his lungs and trying to maintain his calm, he worked through the troubleshooting just as his brother taught him to do.
The second he heard the thrum of the single engine and watched the propeller start to turn in front of them, he felt his good mood increase. The avionics slowly came back as the systems refired.
“There you go. Nice and steady.”
Jake rolled his eyes before he banked the plane hard right like a little shit.
“Oh, now we’re going to play?” Justin snorted. “All right then. Tally two, five o’clock. What are you going to do?”
“Hold course.”
His brother imitated a buzzer. “No. You’re going to make sure they’re the only ones there. You’re going to check your radar. You’re going to check your mirrors. You’re going to check out the window. You’re going to rely on your WSO.”
“I’m not going to have one.”
Justin frowned. “What?”
“A WSO. I’m not going to fly with one.”
“You don’t always get a choice. Plus, they make flights less boring sometimes.”
“Iceman didn’t fly with anyone.”
“Uh, excuse you, blondie? The fuck he didn’t. You are insulting my CO right there.”
“Huh?”
“Captain Ron ‘Slider’ Kerner, my CO. He was Iceman’s longtime RIO.” Justin then laughed. “And you call yourself an Icey.”
“Oh, shut up.”
Jake sighed inwardly, though. How the hell could he forget that? He had read all about the famous MiG incident in all the articles written about it.
“Seriously, though, need you to listen to me for a second, okay?”
He nodded glancing back to his brother briefly.
“You have to keep your cool at all times. Lose your shit behind closed doors. But don’t ever bottle it up, Jake. Don’t ever fly emotional. You’ll make a stupid mistake then. A fatal one likely.”
“I won’t.”
His brother nodded curtly. “But—and this one is important, bro—if orders don’t sit right with you, and it comes down between you and the other guy, you shoot the other guy down first and come home. Hear me?”
“Yeah, I hear you.”
“You throw the throttle all the way and you bug the fuck out of there the second you realize you’re fucked. Don’t engage. Don’t do anything but bug out. There’s no shame in admitting defeat there. They’ll be happy with you for it because you didn’t lose a multi-million-dollar piece of equipment. You come home, Jake. You come the fuck home! Don’t try to be a glory hound or a showoff during the real things. Save that shit for training to impress COs. You fly by the book. You fly like you’re trying to be Admiral Tom fucking ‘Ice’ Kazansky himself. Got it?”
“Yeah.”
“And when you get to USNA next year, first thing you do is find yourself a friend. Open yourself up to someone. Don’t try to live your life alone. Live your life. I mean, fuck Dad and his bullshit of no distractions. You can’t live like that doing what you’re going to do. You’re going to be hopped up on adrenaline and need to release it from time to time. Be safe about that whenever you do release it.”
“Are you seriously giving me the sex talk right now?”
Justin shrugged. “You’ll appreciate that advice one day. Trust me.”
Jake’s frown deepened. His brother didn’t usually Yoda this much. “You sure you’re okay?”
“Yeah.” His brother nodded. “I’m good. You?”
“I’m too good to be true,” he drawled cockily, easing the plane into a graceful glide pattern.
“Well, you certainly have the cockiness down.”
“Learned from the best.”
“Yeah?”
Jake nodded, smiling widely back. “My asshole big brother taught me.”
His brother reached out and ruffled his hair affectionately. “Love you, Jakey boy.”
“Ugh!” he groaned loudly. He hated that nickname. He frowned when Justin punched him hard in the bicep then. “What?”
“I love you,” repeated his brother firmer than before, staring at him expectantly.
“Love you, too,” he grudgingly replied.
“Close enough.” Justin shook his head. “Don’t be afraid to say that, okay? Don’t be uptight like Dad is, all toxic masculinity and shit and not say it to those you love. It’s important. Everyone needs to hear they’re loved. To know they’re cared for. That they’re not alone.”
“God, you sound like Mom now.”
“Thank you.” His brother rolled his eyes then. “I mean it, though. Tell the ones you care for that you love them whenever you get the chance. Nothing in this life is guaranteed, especially for fighter pilots. Any moment . . . it could be over in a flash. Choose love. Let it guide you.”
Jake nodded again, chewing on his bottom lip in thought. He briefly wondered what it was that his brother saw that forced him onto medical leave. He knew better to ask, though. Justin would talk when he was ready. There was no sense pushing.
“Last thing.” Justin waited until Jake glanced back. “Do what you want to do, baby bro. Not what Dad wants. Not what Mom wants. Hell, not even what I want. Do whatever it is you want to do. If you don’t want to be in the Navy, then don’t. Live your life because it’s yours. And don’t let anyone ever make you feel less. Because you’re a damn dragon. Fierce and tough with a heart of gold. Show them how high you’ll soar. Higher than the stars even. But above all, you give them hell.”