Page 9 of No One Wants That (Blitzen Bay)

“There are mountains near L.A.?” He grabs our empty cake plates. “I had no idea. You doing some hiking?”

“Maybe, but more relaxing and clearing my head, you know?”

“Yeah, that sounds great actually,” he says.

“Do you have any time off, Mitch?” Chloe says. “Maybe you should go with her.”

He smiles as he starts to walk away. “Unfortunately, I don’t have time off, but if I did, I’d go anywhere with either one of you.”

“You know,” I say, pushing my seat into a full recline, “when you finally succumb to a real boyfriend, you’re not going to be able to flirt like that anymore.”

“I don’t know,” she says, lowering her seat back to match mine. “Maybe my boyfriend will like being the benefactor of my flirting, too. Does Elle still flirt around her new boyfriend?”

“Hell no. She’s so madly in love with Nash. I’m not sure she even knows other men exist right now. But even if she does, she’d never flirt in front of him. She knows that would bug him. Nash is sweet and laid back, but he’s really protective of her, too.”

“Protective or possessive?”

“Maybe a little bit of both,” I say, yawning. “But he’s not like a macho-man alpha beast. He knows she can handle herself. He respects that.”

“Hmm. My mom always tells me to find a man who only jumps into your business when you ask him to,” she says, pulling her blanket up to her chin, “but to make sure he’s the kind of guy who can shut the shit down when you ask him to get involved.”

“Yeah, that’s Nash for sure.”

“But not Mateo?”

“No, he’s pretty passive,” I say. “I mean, he has my back, but more in a theoretical sense, you know?”

“Does Mateo get mad when you flirt with other guys?”

“We already covered that, Chloe. I only flirt with guys who have a chance. Since I’m dating someone, no other guy has a chance.”

“You’re not dating him anymore, right? Maybe you should flirt with a guy on your trip to make sure you’re not out of practice.”

“I’m not out of practice,” I say, yawning again. “Maybe you should not flirt with every guy you see in preparation for having a real boyfriend.”

“Well, if I get a boyfriend who looks like Nash, I won’t want to flirt with anyone else. That picture you showed me of the four of you on the beach in Marbella.” She lets out a long whistle. “Don’t get me wrong, Mateo’s nice looking but Nash is stupid hot.”

“Stupid,” I say, pulling up the picture again. I expand it so it show’s only Nash’s bare chest. “Look at it.”

“Fuck,” she says, grabbing my phone and looking at it closer. “I’m such a whore for man muscles.”

“Are there women who aren’t?” I say, sighing. “God, look at him.”

“Put it away before I start thinking Mitch is a real option.” She shoves the phone back into my hands. “Are they good together? Or do they just look good together?”

“Who? Nash and Elle?” I adjust the pillow under my head as my eyes start getting heavy. “Yeah, they’re perfect. I think they’ll probably get engaged before too long.”

She laughs. “He might want to have a shotgun wedding considering her history.”

“She would never run out on him.” I sit up to click off our overhead lights “He’s the love of her life.”

“If she asked Nash to move to another country with her, do you think he would?”

“In a second,” I say, collapsing back down. “And vice versa. They’d do anything for each other.”

“I thought you said blind love didn’t exist.”

“Shut up, Chloe. I already told you not to use my words against me.” I close my eyes. “I need sleep. Don’t let me find you in the bathroom with Mitch when I wake up.”

“No promises. It’s a long flight.”

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