Page 25 of The Stunt
“Actually,” I say, ready to lay it all out for her. “Bella and I?—”
The phone is yanked from my hand before I can finish my sentence. “Hey, Twyla!” Bella says, fake excitement lacing her tone. “What’s up?”
“Oh, hi,” she replies. “I was going to tell you that I arranged for a separate plane to take you back to New York this afternoon. I figured you’d want to go home. You know, since you’re free to do whatever your little heart desires now.” Bella looks at me and I take her hand, giving her a soft smile in silent support. “Just go to the airport with Maverick, then you can go your separate ways.”
“Umm, okay,” Bella says before they finish the call. She sets the phone down, turning to me. “I don’t want to go back to New York,” she whines, her pouty bottom lip trembling.
I pull her into a hug. “Then don’t. Come stay with me in Boston until you decide how you want to spend your break. I have nothing but time for the next couple of months, so I’ll follow you like a little puppy, or I’ll wait at home for you to come back from your adventures. Whatever you want, I’ll give it to you. For now, I’ll go home to Boston and get this interview done. You go to New York, pack up what you need, and meet me at home later tonight.”Home.I love the sound of that.
She melts into my embrace. “I don’t know why I didn’t just let you tell her,” she sighs. “I’m not used to breaking the rules. I always do what I’m told. It’s my beige flag,” she says, scrunching her nose.
I laugh, “It’s fine, baby. We’ll tell her together. Anyway, this isherfault. She came up with this plan. She should’ve known you’d fall for my good looks and charm.” I wink. “And my huge dick.”
“Oh my God, Mav,” she gasps as she playfully slaps my chest. I can’t help myself, so I pin her down to the bed, tickling her until she can barely breathe before kissing her passionately.
“I love you, Songbird.”
“I love you, too.” She gets off the bed, attempting to pull me behind her, but I outweigh her by over a hundred pounds, so I pull her back on top of me for another kiss before I stand us both up.
“I guess we’d better hurry. We’ve got some planes to catch.”
FIFTEEN
BELLA
“Hasanyone heard from Dalton or Dia?” Tanner asks as we make our way through the airport’s private entrance.
“I texted with Dia earlier,” Mads replies as Blaze unabashedly kisses her neck like we aren’t here. Those two are sickeningly sweet. “She said she was tired and that she was going to catch a later flight. Dalton didn’t want her to have to fly alone, so he’s waiting with her.”
Blaze looks up. “I can’t believe she’s letting him anywhere near her. And she was almost being nice to him last night. It was weird.”
Maybe she didn’t sleep alone in the hallway, after all.
“Come here, Songbird,” Maverick says as he pulls me in for a hug. Sadness grips at my heart like a vice. I know we’ll only be apart until tonight, but now that we’ve told each other how we feel, even a day feels like an eternity. My plan is simple. Go back to my place, pack as much of my stuff as I can, and head straight to Boston. Mav will be done with his interview by the time I get there, and we can do whatever we want for the next couple of months. He drops his lips to mine, and I savor the way he tastes.
“I am painfully single right now,” Tanner mumbles from between the four of us. I actually find it hard to believe because he seems like such a great guy. And he’s hot as sin, too. It’s only a matter of time before he’s off the market, I’m sure.
We say our final goodbyes and Maverick leads me to the door where my plane awaits, kissing me one last time. “Fly safe, baby. I love you.”
“I love you, too,” I reply, still getting butterflies at the thought of finally saying it out loud. “I’ll see you tonight.”
I board the plane, emptiness hollowing my chest at the lack of proximity between us. All I can focus on is getting everything done as fast as I can and getting back to him. As I settle in my seat, the pilot approaches me. “Good morning, Miss Simon. My name is Annette and I’ll be your pilot today.”
“Nice to meet you, Annette,” I say. She’s an older woman, maybe in her late fifties with grey sprinkled in her dark brown hair. Our regular pilot, Richard, is taking some time off to enjoy his new granddaughter, so I thought it would be a good time to add a female pilot to our team. Thankfully, we found one with Air Force flight experience. I know I’m safe in her capable hands.
She briefs me on the flight, explaining that there is a possible ice storm passing through New York this afternoon, but she’s hoping to miss it. If we do, the flight will be about four and a half hours, which gives me plenty of time to get everything done and be on my way to Boston this evening.
I buckle up and prepare for takeoff, putting my phone in airplane mode, making sure I’m connected to the WiFi. I notice my battery is only about three-quarters of the way full. In my hurry to pack this morning, I accidentally left my charger in the hotel room. We won’t be in the air that long. It should be fine.
I pull my bag up onto the mahogany table in front of me and dig through for my AirPods, finding them buried under the mess that I never have time to clean. Putting them into my ears, I pullup the audiobook I’ve been listening to. It’s a rom com about a hockey player who accidentally gets his goalie’s younger sister pregnant. She just threw up in his shoe and I’m doing my best not to cackle out loud.
A little over four hours later, the flight attendant approaches me. The turbulence has been getting worse in the last thirty minutes and I’ve been doing my best to focus on my book instead of my possible impending doom. I wouldn’t say I’m a nervous flyer, but I still get anxious with the way these smaller planes can get jarred around in the air. Plus, I hate thunderstorms.
I pull out my AirPods so she knows she has my attention. “I’m sorry, Miss Simon,” she says. “New York City has grounded all flights due to inclement weather, so we are going to make an emergency landing in Scranton, Pennsylvania to wait out the storm. The wind and rain are getting too bad to safely continue.”
I nod my head, but I’m internally panicking. What if we crash? What if the runway is slippery?Oh my God, what if Maverick’s plane hits the bad weather?All these questions play over and over in my mind as I pick up my phone with shaking hands and pull up our text thread.
BELLA: We have to make an emergency landing in Scranton. I’ll call you as soon as I can.
