Is Tom Cruise Really Flying In Top Gun: Maverick?

He was supposed to be my fake boyfriend for one night. Not the man who’d ruin me for all others. I’ve had a thing for Colton Stone since I was a teenager. He’s brooding, built like sin, and—unfortunately—my older brother’s best friend. When my stalker ex crashes my brother’s wedding, I do the only logical thing: grab Colton and kiss him like my life depends on it. He plays along, all hard muscle and smoldering heat, and suddenly our fake relationship feels very real. One night turns into stolen days and breathless nights in Colton’s bed, where he worships every inch of me like I’m his to keep. But everything shatters when my ex abducts me—and I discover I’m pregnant. Now I’m trapped, terrified, and caught in a twisted game where my ex claims the baby is his. Will Colton risk everything to find me... or abandon me when I need him most?

Omegas aren't allowed in the league. Lucian Virek breaks the rule. With his scent suppressed and identity hidden, he steps onto the ice disguised as a Beta , fighting for a place in a world that would destroy him if it knew the truth. He plays clean. He plays smart. He stays invisible. Until Orion Kael starts watching. Captain. Untouchable.Billionaire Heir. The kind of Alpha who doesn't miss anything. Orion doesn't just notice Lucian. He studies him. Corners him. Gets close enough to know , and then closer still. When the truth comes out, he doesn't report it. He keeps it. And he keeps Lucian with it. Now they're rising together as the Twin Aces, the league's most dangerous pair on the ice and its most explosive secret off it. Every game pulls them closer. Every moment of proximity makes Lucian's control harder to hold. And the more Orion refuses to let go, the more dangerous it becomes to want him. The only man powerful enough to protect him is the one who could claim him completely. "You're mine to handle now." Not a command. Not a threat. A decision that changes everything. When the truth finally breaks, and it will, Lucian will have to choose: keep running, or trust the Alpha who refused to walk away.

In the seventh year of our secret relationship, Alex Timbers became the hero pilot the whole country was talking about. His flight had run into extreme weather. Somehow, on nerve and skill alone, he'd brought the plane down safely. I watched the livestream the whole time, crying so hard I could barely stand. Then, ten minutes later, during an on-site interview at the airport, a three-year-old boy ducked under the barricade and threw himself into Alex's arms, sobbing and calling him Dad. Right behind him came my best friend, Natalie Wilde, her eyes red. In front of the entire country, Alex pulled them both into his arms. Before I could even process it, two more familiar faces appeared on screen. My mother, Susan Healey, hugged Natalie, her voice breaking. "It's over now, Natalie. Alex made it back alive. You and the boy finally have someone to lean on." My father, Dale Healey, clapped Alex on the shoulder, beaming. "Your family of three is whole again. Nothing beats that." In that instant, every drop of blood in my body ran cold. Over the past seven years, I'd had three miscarriages because of Alex. Each time, he'd held me and sworn, eyes red, "Mary, for your reputation, I can't let you have a child out of wedlock. Once I make captain, we'll get married." I laughed until the laughter turned into tears, blurring my vision. It wasn't just Alex. My parents had been standing with them the whole time. I'd been the only one left waiting, seven years, in a place no one could see. I typed out in the livestream's comment section: [Congratulations.]

The day I found out that my pilot husband, George, had given our wedding band to his widowed childhood sweetheart as a talisman, I changed his contact name to Captain Tanner. When I was suffering from a severe stomach bleed, George got a call from Tammy, saying that her son had woken up from his sleep, missing his late father. Without another word, George walked out on me. He promised to be there for my follow-up appointment, but he was quick to change his flight for Tammy because she was afraid of the thunderstorm while at the airport. I snapped a photo of my medical evaluation and texted, “Have a safe flight, Captain Tanner.” It was the same old reply. “Quit acting up. Tammy and her son have had it tough enough.” Later, he booked our favorite restaurant to slip the ring back onto my finger in celebration of our seventh wedding anniversary. Before we could get inside the establishment, the call from Tammy came in. “George, I’m scared. Can you pick me up? Liam said that you’re the only father he’s got…” George took one look at me and opened his mouth to explain. I handed the ring box to the server. “Please dispose of this for me.” I then turned to him. “Captain Tanner, your passengers are waiting.”

I went on a graduation trip with my boyfriend, Marcus Hale, only to have my shameless roommate, Vanessa Quinn, tag along. On the way to Rybia, our plane was caught in violent turbulence and plunged toward the Egete Ocean. Because of a malfunction, only half the oxygen masks dropped. The spiteful Vanessa snatched the oxygen mask meant for a Rybian socialite, Layla Al-Farouq. Unable to stand by, I shared mine with the woman, saving her life. After the emergency landing, her powerful oil tycoon husband, Khalid Al-Farouq, adopted me as his goddaughter out of gratitude, while throwing the vicious Vanessa into the Kibera Slums. Later, I married Marcus, but on the day we went skydiving, he suddenly unbuckled my parachute and shoved me from ten thousand meters above, leaving me to crash into nothing but broken flesh. "If you hadn’t meddled and saved that old woman, my darling Vivi would still be alive!" Only then did I realize the two of them had been betraying me all along. When I opened my eyes again, I was back at the exact moment the plane first took off.

When my wife called the control tower for emergency assistance, I took off my headset, put on my earbuds and started listening to music. In my previous life, when her aircraft suffered a critical malfunction, I did everything I could to save her. I walked her through the emergency procedures, coordinated the landing, and brought more than one hundred passengers safely back to the ground. But when I ran to meet her with tears in my eyes, she pointed at me and screamed, "Why did you deliberately give me the wrong instructions? You almost killed everyone on the plane!" As the crowd turned on me, my best friend, the first officer, pretended to defend me. "Everyone, calm down. Don't go too far." I saved every life on that flight only to be trampled to death by the very people I had rescued. When I opened my eyes again, I was back on the morning their flight took off.