Page 10 of Wish Me Home

“I’m honestly surprised I slept,” he said as he stretched his arms above his head. My eyes were drawn to the small strip of his belly that was exposed when he did it. One thing was for sure; I was hopelessly attracted to this man.

Shrugging my shoulders, I agreed with his sentiment. “Same. I’m not normally able to fall asleep sitting up like that.”

The truth was, despite my initial tension when we first met, I felt relaxed around him. Maybe it was strange to feel so attached to my flight attendant after only spending a few hours with him, but there was something about him. I’d never trusted anyone so quickly in my life.

Cody stood first, straightening out his clothes. He reached his hand out to me and I grabbed it. He helped me stand, and I fell into his chest as he pulled me to my feet. This time I didn’t try to push away from him, and he picked up on my reluctance to move by wrapping his arms around me, and resting his cheek against mine for a few moments.

“Is it weird to say that I might miss you when we part ways after we land?” Cody asked.

I chuckled, the breath of air it produced causing his hair to stir. “No, I don’t think it’s that strange if I’m feeling the same way.”

He pulled back, eyes locking with mine as if he was searching for something. “Emmett, I know this might seem…”

“Mommy! Mommy!” The same little girl in the red and green dress from last night ran past us, effectively cutting off whatever he had been about to say. She jumped into the woman’s arms and hugged her tight. The man stopped in front of us and awkwardly waved.

“Sorry about that,” he said, continuing on to his family.

Cody’s laugh was off as he dropped his arms from around me. I wanted him to continue what he’d been about to say, but it was looking like that wouldn’t happen. Part of me had hoped he was going to ask if we could meet up while we were both in San Diego.

“So, the flight should start boarding in an hour. Maybe we should figure out breakfast?” I asked. The tension was palpable. Cody scratched at the back of his neck but nodded in agreement. I wasn’t particularly hungry, but I could at least go for a cup of coffee.

Grabbing my jacket off of the floor, I slung it over my carry-on bag. I went to grab for Cody’s bag and was surprised when he got it before I could. I half expected us to continue our game from last night where we’d carried each other bags, but things had obviously shifted.

I felt my heart sink as he reached into the side pocket and pulled out my boarding pass and handed it across to me. What had he been about to say? Was I wrong in my assumption that he was going to ask about meeting up and it was actually his attempt at breaking things off before we even got off the ground? Our seats were right next to each other on the plane.

I snatched my boarding pass from him and I growled. I stuffed it inside the pocket of my hoodie before walking off down the concourse to find some coffee. What the hell did he think was going to happen?

A stupid part of me thought he might follow, but as I found the first coffee shop that was open and got in line, I found myself alone. I snorted out a laugh which made the person in front of me turn to look at me like I’d lost my mind.

I shook my head as I waited my turn in line. It had all been wishful thinking. The line slowly crawled forward and as I reached the counter I frowned at the smiling face of the barista. No one should be that happy this early in the morning, especially after the overcrowding from canceled flights.

“Good morning, sir. Can I interest you in one of our holiday selections today? We have a peppermint mocha and an eggnog…”

I cut her off before she could finish the statement about the eggnog as my mind immediately flashed to images of the bathroom last night.

“Can I just have a caramel macchiato, please?”

Her smile faltered for a moment, and I felt a little bad for snapping at her. “Uh, not a problem. What size would you like? And can I interest you in something to eat as well?”

I eyed the pastry case and contemplated the blueberry muffin. I nodded, placing my order. “Make it a sixteen-ounce and can I get two of those?” I said pointing to the baked treats in the case.

“Right away.” She pulled a cup from the stack next to her, writing my drink order on it, and then moved to the pastry case and pulled out two of the muffins. I didn’t know what possessed me to order two of them. I hardly ate breakfast as it was. Perhaps I was still clinging to the hope that I could repair things with Cody if I brought him food.

Once I got my muffins, I moved to the side to wait for my drink to allow the next person in line to order. It didn’t take long for the coffee to be called out and I grabbed the warm cup and dragged my bag behind me.

Checking one of the display monitors I verified which gate my new flight was taking off out of. I frowned when I realized it was the same gate I’d spent the night at with Cody. It was dumb to be upset about it because we were on the same flight and possibly still sitting next to each other if he hadn’t asked for a reassignment once I’d walked away.

As I approached the gate, my pace slowed. I could see him sitting in a seat with his arms draped over his knees and his head lowered. His bag occupied the seat next to him and I let out an exasperated sigh.

It was obvious he’d regretted his actions earlier, and I was glad I’d grabbed that second muffin. Approaching slowly so that I didn’t startle him, I echoed him from the night before. “Excuse me, sir.”

Chapter Eight

Cody

WhatthehellwasI doing? Watching Emmett walk off down the concourse made me ache, physically ache. Had that little girl not interrupted I was seriously going to ask him to spend time with me instead of his aunt. It was selfish and seeing the happy little family made me realize that. Emmett was going to see what little family he had and I couldn’t stand in the way of that, no matter how attached I’d become to him and how quickly.

I grabbed at my hair and pulled. I fought the urge to chase after him when he walked away. It was for the best. I needed to break things off here before we both became more attached. I looked at my boarding pass and laughed.

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