Page 9 of Wish Me Home

He collapsed back in his chair laughing, eating the fry he’d been playing with. “No, it was just the first year that was really rough. She got really invested in watching those cooking shows and taught herself how to cook.”

Aunt Sadie sounded like a pretty amazing woman. She’d stepped up in a big way. “Well, I’m glad you get a better Christmas meal than this now, at least.” I held up my half finished burger. He did the same, and we tapped them together in some sort of strange toast before we ate the rest of our meal in silence.

“You know…” He started, and I felt my pulse jump. I knew the questions were coming. He’s told me so much. He told me about his parents and why his aunt was so special, but outside of my name and occupation, he knew next to nothing about me. “To echo you from earlier, I feel at a disadvantage here.”

Clearing my throat and wiping my suddenly sweaty hands against my pants legs, I studied him from across the table. I didn’t have some traumatic past. It wasn’t even sad. I always felt like my life should’ve been more exciting than it was.

“Well, honestly, I’m not originally from San Diego. I moved there after high school. It was this big dream of mine to live in southern California. All those beach bods and all that. LA was too fucking expensive, so I went a little further south. I’m actually from Oregon.”

Emmett tilted his head to the side. He bit his bottom lip and squinted at me as if trying to figure me out. “Is there a reason you wanted to leave home, other than those hot beach bods?”

“No,” I laughed. “I wish I had a better story for you. It wasn’t easy, though. When I moved, I didn’t have much. I had some savings that my parents had set aside for college, but that just wasn’t what I wanted to do.” I looked all around us and spread my arms wide. “I wanted to travel and see the world. So I used my savings to pay for a small apartment and applied for all the airlines I could.”

He nodded in understanding. Again, it wasn’t the most exciting story, but it was mine.

“And you don’t visit your family for Christmas?”

That was a sore subject. The first couple of years after I’d moved away my mom had guilted me really hard about not coming home.

“Christmas is such a busy time for flying, and there are often incentives for working through the holidays. I was young, and I knew my savings wouldn’t last forever. Eventually, Mom and Dad stopped asking if I was coming home because they already knew the answer.”

“But you took this year off?” His question was innocent enough. I had taken this year off, and maybe it was selfish not to visit my parents. He’d probably give anything to see his parents again, and I was actively avoiding mine. Part of it was because they hated my job so much. They wanted me to settle down, stay in one place, get married, start a family…

I forced a laugh, and I wasn’t sure if he could tell that my smile was that way as well. “There’s just… certain expectations. I wanted a year for myself.”

Emmett didn’t pry. He crumpled up the wrapper for his burger and tossed it into a nearby trash can, and he pumped his fist as it made it in. It was maybe childish, but it was a little endearing as well. I grabbed the rest of our trash on the tray and took it to the same trash can.

He stood to join me, and it was cute how this time it was him carrying our bags. After a few hours together, it was like we were some sort of domesticated couple. I didn’t hate that image with him. It wasn’t something I normally imagined. The idea was one of the main reasons I was spending this Christmas alone.

Chapter Seven

Emmett

CodyandIwalkedfor a while, but we were running out of things to do. Even though O’hare was such a large airport and major hub, it still closed down at night. As it creeped past eleven, things quieted down even further. The flights that were able to get out were gone and the passengers that had been stranded had either left to find a hotel or found a quiet corner to sleep in.

I was feeling tired myself. I didn’t normally stay up too late and the hour was pushing things for me, on top of being a stressful day. We walked toward the gate where we’d met and I plopped onto the ground next to a pillar, and Cody sat next to me. It was funny how we’d basically latched onto each other for this adventure.

“What time do you think this place will become a madhouse again?” I asked, pulling out my phone and debating if I needed to set some sort of alarm. I set one for three in the morning for good measure. I wouldn’t get much sleep, but it would give me some rest before traveling again.

Cody laughed when he saw my alarm. “That might be a little early, but I don’t think it ever completely calms down around here.”

I nodded, digging out my phone charger and plugging it into the outlet that was between us. I shoved my phone into my pocket and then rested my head on Cody’s shoulder. He looked down at me and gave me a soft smile, kissing the top of my head.

“Get some rest, Emmett. Aunt Sadie will be there to see you in the morning.”

My heart squeezed a little, because while we had just met I was already dreading when we’d have to part ways. I’d never made friends with someone this easily. There was the added benefit that he’d given me an amazing orgasm, but something about him felt different.

Cody grabbed my jacket from the top of my carry-on bag and slung it over the front of us. My eyelids grew heavy as he rested his head against mine and darkness soon surrounded me.

Ifeltthevibrationin my pocket before I heard the muffled tinkle of my alarm. I blinked in confusion, taking in my surroundings. It took a few moments for yesterday to come back to me and for me to notice the warm body that I was still resting against.

Cody must have been a hard sleeper because his breathing was even and he seemed undisturbed by the alarm blaring in my pocket. At some point during the night, he’d grabbed my hand and his fingers were weaved between mine. He held my hand in a loose grasp but it was still hard to get my hand free to fish my phone out.

I’d tried my best to not disturb him, but it jostled his head as I pulled my phone out. “Good God, what the hell is that noise?” he asked as he sat up and rubbed at his eyes. Everything about him seemed softened by sleep.

“Sorry, the alarm.” I held my phone up as I swiped the alert away to get the noise to silence.

Cody looked around, blinking away the last remnants of sleep before he turned to me, giving me a sleepy smile. When he leaned into me, I backed away at first, but he chased me and I didn’t back away the second time. He placed a soft kiss against my lips before he sat back against the pillar we’d slept against.

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