Page 24 of The Thanksgiving Hookup

“Yeah. She was going to the train station with that one first officer guy. The short one.”

“Chad,” I said.

She nodded, her eyes reopening. “Yeah.”

“That means there’re two rooms available if they checked out.”

“They didn’t check out, but I’m already ahead of you, sister.” She flashed a key card at me.

I assumed she’d taken Carmella’s room instead of Chad’s, but only because it was what I would have done and not really any other reason.

“What if they come back? If the trains can’t run?”

“Then, I’ll stay with you,” she said simply, like I was an idiot for even asking.

“Of course,” I agreed as I pushed the selfish thoughts of not being able to spend more time alone with River out of my head.

There was a loud knock, and my heart started pounding like a drum. I knew who was behind that knock, but Stacy didn’t.

“Who could that be?” she asked as she hopped up from the bed and ran to the front door, pulling it open like she expected Santa Claus himself to be behind it. “That’s weird. There’s no one here.”

Another knock filled the air before the door in the center of the room pushed open and River stepped through it, holding food in a bag and a grin on his perfect face.

God, he was stunning.

“I brought you breakfast in.” The words died on his tongue when he caught sight of Stacy standing there, staring at him like he had twelve heads.

“River? Why are you bringing Sky food? Why do you two have adjoining rooms? What the hell is going on?” Her head swiveled back and forth between us, her eyes narrowing as she tried to put the pieces together.

All at once, something must have clicked because she looked so hurt. So betrayed. And I couldn’t even blame her. I hadn’t had a chance to tell her about yesterday or what I’d done behind her back yet. She’d only been in my room for about five minutes.

“Did you two…” She pointed a finger before gasping. “Sky, you didn’t. You wouldn’t. Youhatehim.” She emphasized the word.

“I know,” I said. “I do,” I agreed, and River made a hurt sound of his own. My eyes crashed into his, and I saw the sadness there. “I mean, I did. I don’t”—I paused—“hate him anymore.”

This was not going well, and I definitely wasn’t making it any better with all my hesitation and stumbling.

“You don’t hate him anymore?” She repeated my words, throwing them like knives back in my direction. “And why’s that, Sky? There’s only one way you’d stop hating him,” she said, and I dreaded what was coming next. “And that’s if you fucked him.”

The fact that I stood there with my mouth open, not saying a word, didn’t help my cause. I was too stunned to speak. Too caught off guard to form a sentence that wouldn’t sound like a toddler babbling and make me seem even guiltier than I already was.

“You’ve got to be kidding me.” She sounded so repulsed as she shook her head slowly, her anger coming off of her in waves. I couldfeelit. “Enjoy your Thanksgiving together. I hope you choke on your turkey,” she said before storming out of my room and slamming the door so hard that I thought the pictures might fall off the walls.

I looked at River, my shock still palpable as he put the paper bag that he was holding on top of the dresser next to the TV. He stepped in front of my body and reached for my shoulders with both hands, forcing me to make eye contact with him. Then, he pressed a kiss to my lips. I wasn’t even sure I moved or puckered my lips to kiss him back.

“I got this, babe. I’ll be right back.”

HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO US

RIVER

Ileft Sky standing there like a statue as I hauled ass out the door, chasing after one pissed off and hurt flight attendant. I had known the two of them were friends—Sky had told me that—but seeing how devastated she had looked after Stacy said those things to her really made it all hit home.

They weren’t just coworkers and casual acquaintances, like I was with my fellow pilots. Someone you worked with and then never talked to again until you crossed paths once more. No. Stacy and Sky cared about each other and probably spoke or texted every day, the way real friends did.

It tore me up to watch Sky take all the blame for what had happened between us. I was, after all, the real reason why Stacy was angry in the first place. I felt obligated to fix things and fill in the blanks for her where I knew she must have some.

“Stacy, stop,” I shouted as I caught up to her in the hallway and reached for her shoulder.

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