Page 11 of Passions & Peonies

“The silence. Duh.”

“Oh.” I talk around a mouthful of food. “I did. You know me, I hate silence. I’d start a conversation with a tree.”

She stirs her drink with a pink straw and smirks.

“Finally, I couldn’t take it anymore. When I got a good look at him, my heart stopped. You can understand why.”

“Ehh, he’s hot but so not my type. Definitely yours, though. You know I like the artsy ones with ink.”

“I’m glad you know my type because sometimes I don’t even know what that is. It’s been so long since I’ve been with anyone I was excited about. This is a whole new level of attraction for me.”

I look at Sky and burst out laughing.

She sits up and looks around. “What happened? What’s so funny?”

“Are you going to eat that?”

“Eat what?” She inspects the hummus. “Is there something in it?”

I point to her chest and chuckle again. “Don’t you feel the piece of strawberry that’s sitting so nicely in your cleavage?”

She looks down and scoops it out like it’s a bug. “Damn boobs. This is something that usually happens to you, not me.”

“What? I don’t have big boobs for things to fall on and get comfortable there!”

She cleans off her chest with a napkin. “You know what I mean.”

“Yeah, I do, because my story gets better. He got a sample of the stupid shit that happens to me—I spilled a bloody mary on my sweatshirt.” I proceed to tell her about that and getting my backpack stuck on a seat and then banging into the bathroom door.

She covers her mouth to prevent herself from laughing.

“It was so embarrassing. I know he was watching me, because that zing followed me all the way to the bathroom.”

“He was checking out your ass.” She wiggles her eyebrows.

“He didn’t see much because my sweatshirt covered everything. Anyway, you should’ve seen me in the cramped bathroom while the plane was bouncing around and attendants were banging on the door, demanding I go back to my seat. Mints were rolling all over the floor.”

“Mints? What the hell were you doing eating mints in the bathroom?”

“I didn’t want to go back to him with tomato-juice breath. Gross. What’s even worse, I lost my balance and fell onto the toilet when I tried to get my legs through my shorts.” I scan my legs and arms for bruises.

“Eww! That’s just disgusting.”

“The lid was down, so it wasn’t so bad. Once I was finished, I doused myself with antibacterial hand gel. I smelled like a hospital when I got back to my seat.” I shake my head and laugh. “Man, my life is like a TV show. I wish it were taped. You’d all be laughing at my expense.”

She takes off her sunglasses and wipes her finger under her eyes. “Your stories always make me laugh until I cry. Okay, enough of the bathroom. I want to go take a shower with scalding hot water. What happened next?”

“Turbulence played a handagain—this time in my favor. When I returned to my seat, I lost my balance and fell on top of him.” I twist in my chair to show her the position I was in.

“No, you didn’t!” She buries her face in her hands. “You’re such a fucking mess.”

I turn back around. “He didn’t seem to mind because he wrapped his arms around my waist instead of tossing me on my seat like a hot potato.”

She perks up in her chair. “Ooh. Did he have big hands? I love big hands.”

“Just listen.” My anger against the Will lookalike is decreasing while I replay everything. It’s changing into the warmth I felt when I was next to Will on the plane.

“So then, I said I was cold, and he took off his sweatshirt and gave it to me. Then he took my hands in his big mitts to warm them.”

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