Page 17 of The Amazing Date

Rylee doesn’t hesitate. She’s stuffing the garbage bag of my stuff into the duffel, a quickly scribbled luggage tag looped across the handle. I reach down and zip up what remains of my backpack, Rylee already having placed her game face back on.

“We’ll see you on the flight.” Caitlin giggles and points down the corridor toward the arrival gates. “Better hurry.”

We have less than ten minutes to make it to the arrival terminal, exit, and reenter Departures in order to make this flight. It’s going to be tight. “It’s just a game,” I whisper, and we begin jogging.

Chapter 11

Rylee

We are the last ones to board. Our sprint back from the arrival gates put us in the back of the line with the last passengers. Thankfully, they didn’t give away our seats, and we are still closest to the exit.

I wipe the sweat from my brow and don’t say a word. Freaking Mr. Fluffernutter. It took all I had not to fling that stupid bear at him when I pulled it out of his bag. What exactly is his game plan?

That’s the same bear he gave me back in Puerto Rico so I wouldn’t feel homesick. My parents had ignored me once again, somehow forgetting when the school year ended, and instead planned to be on a cruise. Not the first time they forgot they had a kid.

Gabby then kidnapped me, bringing me with her on her annual summer visit to the island. I had no idea. I immediately became surrounded by a close-up look at what a real family looks like. Gabby, her incredibly hot brother, her wonderful abuela, who opened her house and heart to me, and a string of cousins, uncles, and aunts streamed through the house for the entire two weeks I was there.

Roberto gifted me that bear, aware of the struggles I had with my parents. I still recall him pulling it out of his backpack that bright morning as we practiced salsa in the fort.

“I love it.” I lift the bear high in the air and spin. We are in the fort yet again, stealing some private time, both of us learning to navigate what is going on between us. Our growing relationship is a secret from his sister for the moment. “What’s his name?”

His laugh echoes off the stone walls, traveling up to the twenty-foot-high spire and back again. He takes a step back, his brow pinched in concentration as if he hadn’t considered a name. I step toward him, lowering us to the bench, and straddle him, our favorite position. I throw my head back and run a finger through my wild hair, guiding it around my ears and away from my face.

Roberto leans forward, placing a delicate kiss on my forehead. “Mr. Fluffernutter,” he states with the false confidence of a kid not paying attention in class and being asked a question by the professor.

“So, he’s just like you.” The confusion on his face is the most adorable thing in the world. “He’s just a little nuts.”

No one other than Gabby has ever cared enough about my relationship with my parents to do anything other than shrug their shoulders. Roberto cares. He’s kind. He’s sweet. He’s special. He’s all the things I’ve never had in a boyfriend.

“I don’t know all that is happening with you and your parents, but it doesn’t sound good. No one should feel the way you do. I hope whenever you miss them or miss home, you can grab Mr. Fluffernutter and squeeze those thoughts away.” His words cause heat to flood my cheeks, and I know I’m moments away from shedding tears. He must sense it and decides to lighten the mood, pointing to the words on the T-shirt that the bear is wearing. “Because, you know, he barely cares.”

I reward this thoughtful gesture with one of my own, pressing my lips to his. This kiss is slow, soft, and different from the previous ones, with a tenderness that our previous lust-filled ones lacked. “You are a special man, Roberto.”

Why does he have the bear all these years later? I left it in Puerto Rico, not wanting a reminder of what I had done to him, my deceitful explanation to Gabby being I wanted the bear to stay in PR and greet me on my next visit, knowing even then I would never return. The island, the house, the bear were all reminders of the life I carelessly destroyed in a fit of impulsive selfishness.

The lies built with my avoidance of the island. Insistence that Gabby travel with me to Aruba the following summer. Some made-up excuse when Gabby invited me to the island post-graduation before she started her new job. I needed to avoid the pain, I needed to avoid the heartbreak, but most of all, I needed to avoid Roberto.

Roberto’s warm fingers tap my knee in a rapid staccato beat, and the warning bells return as he calls out my name. “Rylee!” The urgency and volume snap me to attention.

I turn to see fear in his eyes. A fear I’ve not seen since that fateful day four years ago. My breath catches, and my pulse races as I follow his gaze toward the airplane’s entranceway. Three large TSA agents in full attack gear, carrying automatic weapons, speak into their headsets as they work their way up the aisle. The lead agent raises his rifle and points it in our direction.

“Holy…” I turn to face the rear of the plane, hoping against hope they are here for someone else. Standing in the aisle directly behind us is a casually dressed middle-aged white man holding a gun pointed at Roberto. The cold glint of an official-looking silver badge dangles around his neck. My heart drops when my eyes make note of the words “Homeland Security.”

“Seats twelve A and B, don’t move,” he instructs. “Place your hands on the top of the seat in front of you.”

I follow his instructions, unable to breathe. A frightened couple in the seats in front of us scoots down, fear in their eyes as if we’re members of ISIS. This can’t be happening.

“I’m Sky Marshal Wilkins. These men will escort you off the flight. Slowly unbuckle your seat belts, point out your carry-on bags, but do not, I repeat, do not touch them. And don’t make any sudden movements.”

“What’s this about, Officer?” I ask and begin to unbuckle my seat belt.

“Quiet, Rylee. Just do as he says.” Roberto’s bite leaves little room to argue. He’s right as I make note that every gun is pointing at him. I need to tamp down my questions.

We rise. Every set of eyes on the plane is filled with accusatory looks, a mix of fear and curiosity.

Two pairs of eyes only hold humor. Caitlin and Kelly, sitting three rows back, are laughing at us. Kelly blows a freaking kiss in Roberto’s direction. The damn nerve.

The sky marshal opens the overhead compartment, and I point to our two bags. The burly lead agent finally lowers his rifle and grabs both bags.

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