YOU GOT THE GOOD OL' FASHIONED TORNADO WRANGLER WELCOME.

"PLEASE, Javi, please," Eli begged, looking at the man that was technically her boss even if it didn't feel that way most days. "Let me go."

Javi sighed and looked at her pouting face. But before he could speak, Scott was doing it for her. "Have you finished your work?"

"Yes," she said, pushing the tablet to his chest, making him tighten that angular jaw she liked so much. Then she looked longingly at the Wranglers who looked like they were having so much fun. "Come on. We aren't doing anything."

"We're—"

"Just go before you give me a headache," Javi said with a smile on his face as he cut off Scott and whatever his reasoning was.

"Yes! Thank you!" Eli exclaimed, hugging Javi quickly. Then she was rushing off to the other side of the parking lot, Scott's eyes glued to her back.

The Tornado Wranglers were all milling about, doing their own thing as they waited for the weather to get worse. And Eli headed right for Tyler and Boone, who were leaning against the red truck she was so obsessed with.

"Hi, guys," she said, practically skipping up to them. And Boone perked up right away, which wasn't unnoticed by Tyler, making him smirk at the ground.

"Howdy, Elianna," Boone greeted, and she liked how her name sounded in his thick accent.

"Hi, again," Tyler nodded. Then he pat the side of the truck. "Ready to take a look at her?"

"Yeah, but first, can I get a T-shirt?" she asked while digging her wallet out of her back pocket. "A large."

"Of course. And hey, it's in the house," Tyler told her while reaching through the open window of the back seat and grabbing a spare shirt.

"No way," she frowned, grabbing a wad of cash out. Boone and Tyler's eyes went wide, wondering who just carried that much money around — there was a hundred on the outside of the stack. "Your profits go to tornado relief victims. This is for them."

Tyler whistled lowly as he they swapped the shirt for the money, flipping through the cash. "Well, we thank you," he told her. "I'll get this to Dani. We're gone do some real good with it."

"I hope," she beamed. Maybe it'd make up for all the shit she was helping Marshall Riggs do. Then she rubbed her hands together and looked at the truck. "Okay, I want a picture with this bad boy and Boone in it too."

"Not me?" Tyler asked with a frown, making her snicker.

"Me?" Boone asked, his eyes right. Usually girls just clamored to Tyler, as he was the handsome face of the brand.

"Yeah, come on," she beckoned him closer while also handing her phone to Tyler.

She was so giddy as she got a picture with Boone, who wrapped his arm around her waist as they posed. Eli took one just smiling before holding up a peace sign. Then she acted like she was going to kiss Boone's cheek, which made him blush as if she'd actually done it.

"These are gonna be so great," Eli gushed as she got her phone back. Then she looked at the top of the decked-out truck. "This thing is so cool. Our work trucks are so lame."

"Wanna take a look inside?" Tyler offered before checking the clouds once more. "We've got the time. Could take you down the road and back."

"You mean it?" she asked hopefully.

"'Course he does," Boone nodded. "Come on. You can get in the front and everything. I'll take the back."

"No freaking way," she breathed out before nodding.

Tyler chuckled and got up in the truck along with Boone as Eli rushed around to the other side of the truck. She couldn't wipe the grin off her face as she grabbed the handle.

Except Tyler, who was trying to be helpful in his defense, had leaned across the truck and pushed the door open for her. So, the door swung open and hit Elianna right in the face.

Her scream of pain echoed around the parking lot, grabbing everyone's attention as she fell to the ground. As she grabbed her throbbing nose that was gushing blood, everyone from both crews ran up to her.

"Oh, damn!" Boone exclaimed as he jumped out of the truck, Tyler following.

"Elianna!" Scott shouted, crouching next to her and helping her sit up. Already, blood was covering her hands and dripping down her wrists.

"Shit!" Tyler swore, coming to her other side. "Oh, my god, I am so sorry."

"Are you kidding?" Eli asked, wincing a bit as she peered at Tyler, who looked so guilty. "Tyler freaking Owens just broke my nose. This is amazing!"

After she chuckled, she leaned her head back while wiping some of the blood from her nose. Only for Scott to cup the back of her head and force it back down as she held the t-shirt she just bought to her nose, blood staining it.

"Jesus, don't tilt your head back, Eli," Javi told her, shaking his head.

She frowned down at her lap in confusion. "But that's what they do in the movies."

"Let's just get you to the hospital," Scott sighed.

"But you'll miss the storms," she said with a frown. She wasn't used to people caring about. "That data's real important. I - I can get an Uber or something."

"How about I take the in the other truck?" Boone offered. "We got plenty of cameras in the truck and on our drone. That way none of us missed out on any storms of the day."

"You don't have to do that, Boone," Eli said, not wanting to be a bother.

"And I'm not letting you take her alone," Scott said stiffly. Then he nodded to Javi. "Get one of the other guys in the truck with you today."

Scott and Boone both clamored to be the one to help Elianna stand, both leading her to the tan and brown truck that Dani had driven. And Boone caught the keys when she threw them, getting behind the wheel as Scott ushered Eli into the truck, her sliding in the middle of the bench seating as Scott was next to her.

"So," Boone said with a grimace on his face as he pulled out of the truck stop. "I guess you got the good ol' fashioned Tornado Wrangler welcome."

Eli snorted in laughter only to groan when it made her nose hurt more. "I really, really wish you'd have caught that on camera."

She tried to look up at Boone, but Scott just forced her head back down, making her sigh.

Scott had been in a bad mood all morning, and this inconvenience making him miss out on chasing for the day was going to put him in an even worse one, she figured. But Eli didn't know why he bothered to come if he'd rather be working. She would've been fine enough with Boone.

"Sorry about the blood on your shirt," Boone said as they got closer to the nearest hospital one town over. "We can set you up with a new one."

Eli just waved a hand. "It's fine. I can get the stain out."

Okay, her maid, Allison, would get the stain out. Eli didn't know the first thing about laundry other than throwing the pod in and then the clothes. She didn't even sort her clothes when she washed them.

"We really are sorry about that," Boone said, feeling horrible.

"Boone, it's fine," she laughed. "This is gonna be a great story to tell, honestly. And you're making up for it by taking me to the doctor. I forgive you — well, Tyler. You didn't do anything."

"You shouldn't forgive them," Scott muttered. "You're seriously injured and losing a lot of blood. For all we know, he's fucked your nose so much you'll have to have surgery."

Eli's eyes went wide, not considering that. "You don't think I'll have to get a nose job, do you? I mean, people tell me all the time my nose is too big, but I like it!"

Scott sighed and shook his head. "I'm sure they won't change your nose," he told her.

"And your nose ain't too big," Boone told her, bumping his shoulder into hers. "Really makes your cute little face."

"Awe, you think I'm cute?" she cooed, though the moment was ruined given that she was clutching her bleeding nose.

"Yeah," he chuckled. "I winked at you and everything when I said it, but you can't see seeing how you're bending over."

Scott sighed in annoyance and moved close to check on Eli's nose. "It shouldn't still be bleeding this much," he muttered, a little worried.

"I've had worse, Scott," she assured him. "One time—"

"Is this gonna be a long, chaotic story that's going to make me regret speaking to you?"

Eli just shrugged. "I mean, those are the only stories I have."

☁︎

Eliana's nose was fine. Mostly fine, anyway. It wasn't fully shattered or anything but it'd hurt for several days and she'd be sporting a nasty bruise of a while.

Boone and Scott had been very helpful at the hospital emergency room, but they didn't get alone. Boone tried to get to know Scott. He asked him about his engineering stuff and MIT, but Scott would answer with one-word, stiff replies. More than once, Eli answered a question for him and didn't catch how Scott looked at her curiously, surprised she remembered those things about her.

Now, everyone had gone their separate ways as they got back to the motel everyone was staying at. Scott went to find Javi to learn about how the day went while Boone found his crew to fill them in on Eli's condition — Tyler had been worried all day over her. And Eli went to her room to change out of her bloody StormPAR shirt and supposedly rest.

"So," Javi said to Scott as they sat in a booth in the bar across the street. "How's her honker?"

Scott rolled his eyes and held back a snicker. "Just bruised. She's probably gonna tell people she was in a fight."

"Wouldn't put it past her," he chuckled. Then he paused to sip on his beer. "Kinda proud of you, man."

"What for?" Scott asked, clearly confused.

"For helping take care of her," he told him with a smirk. "You stepped up. So, I figure you must really like her."

Scott stiffened. "I don't like her," he said, lying through his straight teeth. Because god, all he'd thought about all day was that kiss. And then he'd been impossibly frustrated and jealous any time she flirted with that Boone and he seemingly flirted right back.

Who did she think she was? Flirting with someone after he'd kissed her?

His internal complaining was cut off by the Tornado Wranglers themselves coming into the bar.

"StormPAR!" Tyler greeted with a wide, cocky smile as he and his crew came over. "Good to see you again. How's Eli?"

"Fine, no thanks to you," Javi scoffed, thinking very little of the man between what happened and what he did for a living.

"Come on, now," Dani said, shaking her head. "It was an accident. No real harm done."

"Yeah, Elianna laughed it right off," Boone added. Then his eyes skimmed the bar. "She coming tonight?"

"Well, I'd say no given that Owens disfigured her."

"Oh, my god, Javi, you can't just call me disfigured behind my back," Eli spoke up, having entered the bar without any of them noticing.

All of them looked at her, surprised to see that they couldn't see a nasty bruise on her nose. She'd covered it up with makeup and changed into a short black dress. If you looked close enough, her nose was a bit swollen, but you'd never be able to tell.

Javi and Scott had to give it to her. She didn't really care what she looked like while at work, but at the bar, she wanted to look as cute as possible.

And a nearly-broken nose wasn't cute.

"Hey, guys," Eli said, nodding to the Wranglers before sliding next to Scott in the booth.

"How's the nose?" Tyler asked, wincing a bit.

"Hurts like a mother fucking bitch," she admitted with a frown. But then she shrugged. "It'll be fine in a few days though. Don't worry about it. Seriously."

"Well, let me know if there's a way I can make it up to you," Tyler told her earnestly. Then he nodded to his crew. "We're gone get a table, but have a good night."

Eli propped her chin on her hand, watching as they went to the other side of the bar. When Boone looked back over his shoulder at her, she just smiled and wiggled her fingers in a wave. Then she sighed and looked back at Javi.

"That Tyler is growing on me," she said, smiling.

"He broke your nose," Javi said flatly.

"Not broken technically," she pointed out.

"Please. You probably only say that because you think he's good looking," Scott said, rolling his arms.

"Nuh-uh!" she denied. "I'm just fond of him. You know? He comes to me as a long-lost friend with whom I once picked apples with in Papa's orchard."

Javi had to curl his lips around his teeth to keep from laughing as he nodded. "Uh-huh. And is Boone in the orchard?"

"Oh, no, there are no sexual urges on Papa's orchard," she explained while looking across the bar at Boone, who was laughing heartily at something Lily said. Eli smiled longingly at his pretty face, loving how his dimples appeared. "King Arthur couldn't pull that boy out of me."

Javi had chosen the wrong moment to take a sip of his beer as he spit it all over Scott and Elianna, who closed their eyes. Scott let out a frustrated sigh and wiped his face off with a bar napkin.

"Thank you, Javi," he said. "And thank you, Elianna, for such vivid imagery."

"You're welcome," she said with a smile.

"I need another beer if the night's going this way," Jaiv muttered, getting out of the booth and heading to the bar, leaving Eli alone with Scott.

It was painfully silent for a moment as Scott stared at the table, not knowing what to say. Because last night felt like it happened a week ago with everything that had went on today. Finally though, never one to handle silence well, Eli broke it.

"So," she said, looking at Scott through the corner of her eye. "You wanna dance with me, or would that be a mistake like last night too?"

He sucked in a sharp breath and looked at her through darkened eyes. "I told you. I'm not dancing with you. Ever."

Elianna smirked before leaning in, her lips brushing Scott's straining jaw. And he couldn't help but shut his eyes as her mouth moved to his ear as she slid her hand up his jean-clad thigh.

"God, I can't wait to make you regret saying that."