Active Duty - Hunter And Bailey -gay- - Checked -

Bailey didn’t blink. “Hunter.”

“Then mark it ‘CHECKED, GHOST’ and initial it,” Hunter grunted, twisting a wrench a quarter-turn. “I don’t need the Captain having a meltdown at oh-four-hundred.” Active Duty - Hunter And Bailey -Gay- - Checked

A second pair of boots appeared beside his head. Worn, dusty, the laces tied with a specific double-knot that Hunter could have recognized in the dark. Bailey crouched down, his face appearing upside-down in Hunter’s peripheral vision. He held a tablet with the digital manifest. Bailey didn’t blink

Hunter lay back down, sliding under the landing gear. His heart was pounding against his ribs like a rotor out of balance. He pressed his thumb to the fresh checkmark, smearing the ink just a little. Worn, dusty, the laces tied with a specific

One line remained, handwritten in the margin in Bailey’s neat, cramped script.

Hunter swallowed. He looked at the list.