I'm stuck on a flight to Japan with Gaige and Chelsea. Not that this is awkward or anything. At all.
Chelsea has been sweet as pie to me, but I'm pretty sure she wants me dead. I think she suspects Gaige and I are up to something, and that's definitely true. We've been sneaking around like a couple of hormonal teenagers. The truth is, I can't get enough of him. I find myself wanting him all the time, and that fact is starting to scare me a little bit.
The flight itself hasn't been terrible. We have first class suites, so I put up the privacy partition on mine as soon as we took off, and I didn't have to even think about Chelsea and how she glared at me from the other side of the aisle when Gaige got into the suite next to mine. It's almost like she doesn't exist. The seat converts into a bed, and I'm lying here on my laptop looking at the schedule, but I'm preoccupied with thoughts of Gaige.
Gaige says he wants us to be more than just a one night stand. But is it only because he doesn't want anyone else to touch me?
I press my finger to my lips, thinking about Gaige's version of owning me. I've never wanted to be possessed by someone before, but that's what I find myself wanting now.
A message appears in my inbox.
Are you sleeping? I'm bored. You should figure out a way to entertain me. That's going to be your job on this trip, right? The flight attendant has been by a million times with champagne, you know. Put down your partition and join the living.
I choke back a laugh and roll my eyes.
I know what your version of entertainment is. I'm sure Chelsea would be thrilled if that happened. Is she still giving me the evil eye through the partition?
I give it a few minutes before I go back to looking at the schedule. Obviously, Gaige got bored and moved on to something else. And that's precisely what I'm afraid of, when it comes to him and women. That's why I keep trying to push him away.
I wonder how much I'm deluding myself by thinking I'm something special in Gaige's eyes. I think I might be letting my past feelings about him affect my judgment now. I'm afraid it might be making me careless.
I have to remind myself that what's between us is just sex. That's all. We're hooking up and that's all it's going to be. It might not be just one night but it's certainly not going to be forever.
I get another email from Gaige.
Chelsea put her partition up and she hasn't poked her head out since. She slept on the flight to Vegas. You should put down your partition and entertain me.
Show me your boobs.
Have you joined the mile-high club?
I shake my head, but I lower the partition that divides us. "You're bad," I whisper.
"Aw," he says. "Why are you still wearing your shirt? I said boobs."
"I'm looking at a boob."
"Wow, you bowl me over with your witty and clever retorts, Delaney," he says, raising his eyebrow.
"Shut up. You give me very little to work with."
Gaige grins at me, reaching over to slide his hand around the back of my neck and draw me in close to him. He kisses me full on the lips, but I push him back. "What?" he asks.
"You're going to kiss me like that, right in public?"
"No one can see in here. Our partition is down but everyone else's is up. Including Chelsea's. Fool around with me."
"How many glasses of champagne have you had?" I ask. "I'm sure the flight attendants can see in here when they walk by."
"So what. Who cares?" he asks.
"So…" I start. "Despite your blasé attitude and carelessness about, well, everything, you are a minor celebrity, you know. People are interested in who your girl-of-the-moment is."
"Pfft," Gaige says. "I'm not minor. I'm fucking major, baby."
I jump back when a flight attendant interrupts us, offering champagne. Gaige charms the pants off her, and has her giggling and leaving us the bottle in less than ten seconds. With her phone number beside it.
He pours a glass and hands it to me. "What?" he asks, when he sees my face.
I shake my head. "That's what I'm talking about."
"You're jealous of the flight attendant?"
"No, don't be ridiculous. I mean, okay, you were totally flirting with her and everything. But I know that's just how you are. And she did leave you her number."
"Which I promptly tossed in the trash. Oh, you are jealous," he says, his voice sing-songy. "I love that you're jealous."
"I'm not jealous. I'm saying that people remember you. Even if they don't know who you are, they remember you. I mean, look at you," I say, gesturing down the length of him. I had a point with this. What was my point? Okay, maybe seeing Gaige charm the pants off the flight attendant threw me off a little bit. "You're hot. You're hot…and, basically, you're fucking ripped….and tattooed….and even if you weren't all of that, your eyes, I mean, they're just so…"
"No, no," he says. "Don't stop. Keep going. What else do you love about me?"
"What?" My voice comes out like a squeak. "Who said anything about love?"
Gaige shrugs. "You're the one going on and on about how sexy I am, and how you can't stand that anyone else is even looking at me –"
"That was not the point I was making," I say. "I'm just saying that you're memorable. And people do not need to remember me with you."
Gaige studies me, and the intensity of his gaze makes me blush. Damn it, he's always making me blush. "So you're just looking out for me."
"Exactly!" I say. "I'm looking out for your best interests. It's my new job."
Gaige leans closer to me, reaches over to my seat, and runs his hand up my leg. "I'm glad we're a team."
"Is that some kind of innuendo?"
He makes an exasperated sound. "I'm glad your dad assigned you to me. Not everything that comes out of my mouth is an innuendo, Delaney."
"You were just talking about joining the mile high club and you have your hand on my leg. Plus, pretty much everything you say to me is innuendo."
"That's not true," he says, and his forehead wrinkles. For a second, I think he looks almost…hurt.
"I didn't mean it as an insult," I say, my voice halting.
"Do you think he did it on purpose?" Gaige asks.
"Did what? Who?"
"Do you think your dad knows?"
My heart stops. "No, of course not," I say quickly. "Wait, do you think he knows?"
Gaige shrugs. "I don't know," he says. "I was just wondering if he was…trying to get us together or something."
I almost spit out my champagne. "No," I say. "Definitely not. Are you kidding?"
"Is it so bad?"
"What, you and me?" My voice is too loud, and I drop it to just above a whisper. "Are you asking about if you and I got together?"
"No," Gaige says, and averts his eyes. "Forget I said anything." He lies back in his seat and closes his eyes.
Shit. I feel like someone punched me in the gut. But Gaige asking what my father would think if we got together is insane on so many levels. "I thought you were joking," I say lamely.
Gaige's eyes remain closed. He was joking, wasn't he? I nudge his arm, but he doesn't open his eyes. "Stop ignoring me. Are you screwing around with me? You're asking what my father would think about the two of us? He would absolutely kill you. And me. Maybe me first. He'd definitely fire me. And you. And probably disown me. You're my…" I lower my voice to a whisper. "Brother."
He opens his eyes and looks at me. "Step-brother," he says. "And yeah, whatever, I was totally just kidding. Hooking up is one thing, but what am I going to do, date you?" His voice is nonchalant, but there's an edge to it that wasn't there before.
Crap. Now I really feel like someone punched me in the gut.
Gaige sinks back against his seat and I sit back in mine, the silence between us deafening, acting as if nothing happened.
Except it feels like everything just happened.
Sometimes the most important conversations start like the most innocuous ones in the world, no big deal, and then they just spiral out of control of their own accord. I want to rewind the last twenty minutes and do it all over again. But this time, I'd actually say the right words.
Except I'm not sure what I would say. Was Gaige hinting that he wanted to date me? I don't even know how that would work, even if we weren't step-siblings. I already know Gaige. We have history. Would we sit at dinner and go to movies and pretend to get to know each other?
I close my eyes, faking sleep. How the hell did I get myself into this situation?
And why can't I stop thinking about what Gaige said?