Page 40 of Come Fly with Me

“So what happened and why are you not hooking up with him now?”

“We were eating ice cream, and things were?—”

Carrie cuts me off. “Wait, you were eating ice cream? Drawing attention to your mouth and you still went home alone? Did you show him a little skin to remind him of being naked?”

“Stop quoting Clueless and making fun of me all in the same breath. This is serious.”

“It’s not serious, Taylor,” Carrie says with finality and firmness. “You’re making it serious when it doesn’t have to be. I think you know he’s different, but you’re scared to admit it.”

“Different from what? And me scared to admit something? Please.”

“Oh, we all know you’re a badass, yes, but when it comes to your heart, that sucker is a well-guarded secret.”

She obviously doesn’t understand that for my own health and sanity, my heart stays locked in my chest now. It only needs to break once for it to hurt, and then when you treat it like shit, sleeping with anyone, you learn to turn off your feelings.

“He’s not Trent,” Carrie finally says, announcing what we’re both thinking.

That name makes me cringe. How could I have been so stupid as to marry him and believe what we had was real. Blowjobs in an airplane cockpit can’t sustain a relationship. Being cheated on kills any respect you have for yourself, and when I finally realized I was just a vehicle to support his journey, I knew it needed to end.

“I know that, but…” I trail off, not even certain what I can say because Jake isn’t Trent, and as much as my head and my heart are screaming his name, I’m still struggling.

“Let me just say one thing. If you keep stringing him along, he’s going to disappear. It’s okay to let someone else be part of your happiness. Trust me, it’s better when you have someone on your side.”

“Fine, fine. I hear you.”

“So you’re driving to his house now then?” she asks, the excitement in her voice is laughable, like she’s living vicariously through me.

“Don’t you have a willing participant at home so you don’t have to wonder about my sex life?”

“First of all, you called me, and second, he’s asleep on the couch. We don’t get out much.”

We’re both laughing, and it feels good, not only to be home but to have someone like Carrie in my life. She’s always been someone who gives it to me straight and reminds me that I don’t have to be the ice queen I’ve turned into. And as her words bounce around in my head, I start to wonder if maybe she’s right.

I arrive at the airport early, as always, but to my surprise, when I walk into the pilots’ lounge at LAX, I can hear Jake’s unique voice booming through the corridor as the sliding doors open.

Just hearing his voice has a smile tugging at my mouth, but I stall out just before entering when I hear my name.

“You’re flying with Taylor Patterson?” a man’s voice asks, and it’s one I don’t recognize. Jake must nod his head because the man continues talking. “Lucky bastard. You’re getting laid today.”

My cheeks begin to burn, fiery hot, and I almost turn and walk away, needing a second to remind myself that whatever this asshole says about me, it’s in the past.

But then I hear Jake’s tone change, a clipped preciseness to it. “Excuse me?”

“You know what they say about her,” the guy responds casually, as if talking shit about a coworker is commonplace and Jake just needs to join in.

“That she’s an amazing pilot? That she runs a flight school for underprivileged girls? That she hasn’t let herself go since taking a job here at Crescent Airways? Can’t say the same about you.”

I walk in just as Jake is giving the guy’s belly a pat, and it makes me chuckle a little. I love the way he so effortlessly responds to people, the way he’s aloof but still packs a punch. He’s so cool you couldn’t even set him on fire, and there’s something so fucking sexy about it.

The conversation dies there, and the pilot with the potbelly and shame written all over his reddened face says nothing more. He just walks past me, his head tipped down, his eyes scanning the room, and looking anywhere but at me.

“Hey,” Jake says, smiling at me as he hands me a cup of coffee. “Two creams, two sugars.” Winking, he motions for us to sit down, his coffee in one hand and our flight release in the other.

“You’re early,” I tell him, chewing on my bottom lip a little as I try to get past the conversation Jake was just having, wondering if he’s going to bring it up.

“I’m trying to impress this girl, and it turns out she likes guys who are on time. But when I say on time, I mean early.”

“I’m sure she’ll be impressed,” I tease back, and he smirks at me. His perfect white teeth gleaming, a small dimple appearing in his cheek, and my stomach flutters for a split second.

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