Page 14 of Mayhem
“Pity,” Cruz responded.
Paetyn watched Erin turn to look at Cruz, leaning against the dresser.“And if that wasn’t bad enough, the person who ripped them kept them.”
“Did they?” Cruz inquired.
“Mhm. If I were one to hold grudges, I’d be upset about it. Maybe even demand they buy me another pair.”Erin turned back to what she was doing. “But Idon’t.”
Paetyn found himself smirking and shaking his head. It was the first time the incident between her and Cruz had been brought up, and she’d also done it in front of him, which Paetyn would take as some sign.
Walking up behind her, Paetyn left a small amount of space between them, gently placing his hand on her waist. “We’re going to go, but we’ll be here tomorrow to take you to lunch.”
Erin looked over her shoulder at him. “You don’t have to do that.”
“I know.”Was all Paetyn said before stepping back and heading towards the door.
“Come lock the door back,”Cruz stated behind him.
Once they were at the front door, they said their goodbyes and went to the rental car.
“I’ve decided I’m not going to wait weeks,”Cruz informed him. “You heard her in there. She isn’t running from our encounter.”
“No, she isn’t,”Paetyn responded. “Let me handle it. I know just what to do.”He pulled out of the parking spot and headed towards the hotel they’d be staying at.
4
Paetyn watched Erin as she yawned and stretched. He couldn’t say he blamed her. He wasn’t sure when she’d gone to bed the night before, but he and Cruz met her at her apartment at six that morning to start loading everything into the moving truck after changing the reservation she had from a cargo trailer. Once they’d finished, they’d gone through the apartment, ensuring nothing was out of place and things were clean.
A little after eight, they turned her key into the office and headed to the airport to load her things into the plane’s cargo. They were scheduled to take off at eleven, giving them ample time to load everything, drop off the U-Haul, and return to the plane.
Everything seemed to happen extremely quickly, and Paetyn could understand how she’d be tired as the pilot announced they could now take their seatbelts off.
“Why don’t you nap,” Paetyn suggested when Erin yawned again.
Erin shook her head. “I have a hard time falling asleep in chairs.”
“You can lie down in the bedroom,”Cruz told her.
“There’s a bedroom on the plane?”she asked, shaking her head with a small smile. “Of course there is,”she added.
“I’ll show it to you,”Paetyn volunteered. He wasn’t sure if he could trust Cruz to show her and be able to keep his hands to himself.
He led the way to the bedroom, opened the door, stepped aside, and allowed her to step in first. She paused and looked around the room. It was a standard bedroom, and in Paetyn’s opinion, the design was much better than Cruz had initially wanted, though Paetyn could be biased since he was the one who redesigned it.
The bed was large enough to fit two people. The room housed a small desk, closet, and dresser. Paetyn had to admit those things weren’t essential; however, they brought the room together and made it feel homier during long flights. A door on the opposite wall led to a private bathroom. It was big enough to fit a toilet, shower, and sink, which had taken a bit of creativity to make fit since it had to be big enough for Cruz.
They’d balanced the plane by having a bedroom with two college twins between the common area and cockpit in case the pilots wanted to sleep on rotation when flying long distances.
The room had been white, but Paetyn felt it looked too sterile, so he added splashes of wood.
He watched as Erin walked over and sat on the bed. She ran her hands over the bedding before looking at him.
“Do you want to lie down with me?”she questioned with a playful smirk.
Paetyn did, but he knew that he couldn’t. While he had excessive patience, he’d been using it over the last year, and it was beginning to be tested when he was in her presence.
“Maybe next time,”he decided to say. He did not want to tell Erin no and have her take it as a rejection. “Try to take a nap. The plan is to finish everything today so you can settle in and relax over the weekend.”
Erin smiled at him. “I’m not going to know how to repay you and Cruz for helping.”
