Page 56 of When love and Hate Collide

“Where’s my kiss?”

She grins back at him and kisses him firmly on the mouth. Ah, hell no. I pinch Dean’s thigh hard, and he hisses and pulls away to glare at me.

“If either of you want to make it to Mexico alive and with your limbs intact, I would strongly suggest you get the hell off me,” I warn perilously. Rachel eyes Dean while we glower stormily at one another.

“Well shit, isn’t she just a big ball of sunshine,” Rachel scoffs and when I turn my glare to her, she gets off his lap.

“First of all,shehas a name and if you’ve got something you want to say, I’m all ears. Don’t talk about me like I’m not here or I might just be inclined to make my presence known to you personally and I assure you it will be a lot less pleasant than this conversation.” I voice meekly and she gapes at me with her honey brown eyes all wide before she looks at Dean, likely waiting for him to step in and defend her.

She’ll be waiting a fucking while.

“You can go now,” I wave her off and turn to look out of the window. I don’t like being catty, but I don’t know what it is with these bimbos that Dean attracts who walk around all self-assured trying to impress him like he’s some God’s gift to women. Yes, he’s nice to look at, but bloody hell he’s just flesh, blood and bones like the rest of us. It honestly makes me sick and added to the fact I’m a nervous flyer is making me even tetchier.

I can see Dean staring at me through the reflection of the window, but I resist the urge to look at him. The second we are in the air I am swapping seats with someone. I just need to keep my mouth shut until then.

The plane takes its place on the runway and the main lights go out in the cabin, ready for take-off. I hate this part. When the plane starts speeding down the runway my heart starts to race. I squeeze my eyes shut, inwardly muttering every prayer I know as soon as the wheels leave the ground.

The aircraft shakes on the incline and I gasp, close my eyes tighter and reach to grab the armrest between Dean and I. Of course, in that moment, as cliché as it sounds, I don’t realise Dean’s hand is there and I’m gripping onto it tight.

You’d think having a pilot sitting next to me would provide some form of comfort, but it doesn’t—at least not until his fingers lace with mine. My eyes flutter open, and I glance down at our hands intertwined and momentarily forget all about the turbulence.

“Just breathe JJ, everything is fine. It’s just a little clear air turbulence, we’ll fly through it in a couple of minutes,” he assures me soothingly. I slowly lift my eyes to look at him.

Well, he would know, the man does fly planes for a living.

I’m frankly surprised to find his gaze empathetic. Sure enough, the plane stops shaking and levels out. I exhale slowly to slow the erratic pounding of my heart. I pull my hand out of his hold and look out of the window. I can’t see anything but the lights down below until they eventually vanish.

Forty minutes into the flight I look over at Dean who is immersed in watching the movie on his screen. I nudge him with my elbow, he looks at me questioningly and takes the earphone out.

“I need to use the bathroom.”

Dean pauses the movie, removes both earphones and stands up to let me out. As I stand up I see Ashlyn leaning over, throwing up into a sick bag. I almost gag just looking at her. Every time we fly, even as a kid Ashlyn would get air sick. This is why I can’t sit next to her while we travel because I will heave the whole time just being next to anyone that throws up. “Aww boo, you okay?” I ask her as I pass by her and she nods, sitting back in her seat with a sigh. Jess is already fast asleep in her seat.

Thankfully there isn’t a queue to the bathroom because my bladder is so full I would have wet myself. I’m peeing more and more frequently than usual. Lately, whatever I drink just passes through me within seconds it seems.

After I empty my bladder, I stroll over to where Oz is sitting on the seats next to Dean and me. “Fancy sitting with your brother?” I ask Oz with a sugary smile, and he chuckles.

“Not particularly no.”

“Oskie, come on, swap seats with me.” I pout and he shakes his head and slyly gestures to the pretty blonde sitting next to him and wags his brows at me suggestively. I roll my eyes and sigh. Of course, why am I surprised. What is up with these Reyes boys and constantly thinking with their knobs?

“Even if I did, sweet cheeks, Dean would refuse to sit with me.” I look back at Dean who also looks up at the same time and shakes his head grimly.

“Don’t even bother asking me, the answer is no.”

I groan. “Dean,come on,” I beseech, “You don’t want to be stuck sitting with me any more than I want to sit next to you.”

Dean’s brow rises and he smirks, “You do have a point, even though I would rather gouge my eyes out with a hot blunt knife than sit next to you, I would hate to sit next to Oscar who snores louder than a freight train even more. So, the answer is hell no.”

“See,” Oz expresses with an apologetic smile. “Also, I’m comfortable here, and these seats are not exactly wide enough to accommodate two muscular guys.”

I should have swapped with my sister before she fell into her coma for the night. Sitting next to Ashlyn while she barfs into a bag seems much more appealing than sitting next to Dean for the next nine and a half hours. I look over at my best friend, now also falling asleep, her head resting on a pillow and the blanket pulled up to her chin.

I throw Oz a beseeching look as I go back to my seat and he shrugs, smiling apologetically. I wait for Dean to get up so I can get back to my seat, but he just stares up at me.

“Are you going to get up or…?” I trail off, gesturing to my seat and he shakes his head back at me indifferently and I want nothing more than to slap that smug look off his perfectly sculpted face.

“If you think I’m going to keep getting up and sitting back down every five minutes so you can take a leak, you can think again.” I scowl at him, “You chose the window seat, I’ll remind you before you screw me out with that astringent look.”

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