Chapter 35

Zane's announcement hung in the air. No one made a sound. He couldn’t mean what I thought he meant. He wouldn't seriously ditch her at a random airport and keep on going? Would he?

Then again, this was Zane Bennington. He did a lot of things that nice people didn't do.

The brunette blinked a couple of times and said, "What?"

Zane replied, "You heard me."

She glanced around as if searching for a hidden camera. "But why?"

Zane looked back to his cell phone. Almost under his breath, he said, "Because I didn't bring a parachute."

For himself? Or for her? He didn't say, and no one asked.

She gave a shaky laugh. "Oh, so you're kidding?" She blew out a long, unsteady breath. "Wow, for a minute there—"

"I’m not kidding," Zane said. "Now, buckle up." He scrolled through his phone. "Or not. Your choice."

The blond guy and I exchanged a look. For once, he looked utterly unconcerned with my apparent sluttiness.

Across from us, the brunette sputtered, "But I'm working that show in New York."

"Not my problem," Zane said.

She was glaring at him now. "Well, it's gonna be your problem, considering that you're one of the sponsors."

I had no idea what they were talking about. I heard myself ask, "What show?"

It was the brunette who answered. "A fashion show." She gave me a quick once-over and added, "Not that you'd know anything about that."

I felt my gaze narrow. "Excuse me?"

Next to her, Zane stopped scrolling only long enough to say in a low voice, "I said, leave her alone."

The brunette practically leapt to her feet, as if preparing to storm off, which was really stupid, considering that there was nowhere to go. "Well, this is just terrific," she told him. "What? You're sleeping with her, too?"

Oh, God. I looked toward the rear of the plane. If only there was a parachute. It would have my name all over it.

The guy next to me spoke up. "She's not sleeping with Zane," he said. "She's sleeping with her roommate's boyfriend. Remember?"

The brunette gave a snort of derision. "Oh, like that matters. You do know you can sleep with multiple people, right?" Her lips formed a smirk. "Sometimes, even at the same time."

She looked to Zane, and her tone softened. "Which reminds me… I've got a friend in New York. She's hot as hell and super-freaky, too." The brunette leaned closer to him and said, "If you want, she'll do things—"

"Don't," Zane said.

She blinked. "Don't what?"

"You know what."

Again, the brunette's gaze swiveled in my direction. "Is it because of her?"

"No," Zane said. "It's because you're embarrassing."

"Oh, so you're embarrassed? Is that what you mean?"

"No," he said. "You're embarrassing yourself."

"Hey," she said, throwing back her shoulders, "I'm not embarrassed by my own sexuality." When he made no response, she gave his crotch a pointed look and added, "And last I looked, you weren't either."

I sunk lower in my seat. Forget the parachute. Maybe I'd just jump out the emergency exit and pray for the best.

The brunette turned and gave me a particularly nasty smirk. "Can you suck a golf ball through a garden hose?"

I stared up at her. What did that even mean?

Next to me, the new guy muttered, "If you really wanna know, ask her roommate's boyfriend."

I'd had just about enough. I jumped to my feet and glared down at the guy. "What's your problem?" I demanded. "I didn't do anything to you – or to her stupid boyfriend, not that it's any of your concern."

Zane's voice cut through the commotion. "You wanna hit Kalamazoo, too?"

Just great. So now he was threatening to leave me behind? Cripes, at this point, he'd be doing me a favor, well, aside from the fact that I'd be stranded with the garden-hose golf-ball sucker.

I turned to glare at him, only to discover that he wasn't looking at me. He was looking at the new guy.

As I watched in stunned disbelief, Zane told him, "Now, apologize. Or grab your luggage."

After a long, awkward pause, the new guy looked vaguely in my direction and muttered a few words that might be considered an apology if I weren't too picky.

I was still trying to make sense of it all when the brunette demanded, "What about me? Don't I deserve an apology?"

I couldn’t resist asking, "For what?"

"What do you mean 'for what?'" She straightened. "I'm being kicked off for no good reason."

This might've been true five minutes ago, but now, I could see plenty of reasons to kick her off. Wasn't it some sort of flight hazard when someone stood up and flipped out on a plane? The thought had barely crossed my mind when I realized that she wasn't the only one standing.

Unsure what else to do, I sank down in my seat and tried to pretend that none of this was happening. I closed my eyes in a desperate bid to block out everyone and everything, including my own jumbled thoughts.

In the background, I heard Zane say, "Are you gonna buckle up or not?"

The brunette snapped, "No. And you can't make me."

"I wasn't talking to you," Zane said. "I was talking to her."

My eyes flew open, and I looked to Zane. He looked to my seatbelt, and his voice hardened. "Now."

Well, that wasn't bossy or anything.

Still, I reached for my seatbelt and began fastening it over my lap.

The brunette gave a single stomp of her foot. "Doesn't anyone care about me? I'm still standing for Christ's sake!"

Next to me, the blond guy assured her, "I care."

"Yeah?" she said. "Well, up yours!"

I glanced out the window and bit my lip. We were definitely getting ready to land. True, I couldn’t see the airport, but the ground was looking a whole lot closer than it had just a couple minutes earlier.

I looked up and told the brunette, "Seriously, I think you'd better sit."

"Oh yeah?" She crossed her arms. "What if I don't want to?"

I tried to think. "Well, um, if we have a rough landing, couldn’t your face get mangled or something?"

Her hand flew to her face. She felt around as if imagining an ear where her mouth should be and vice-versa. She stopped in mid-motion and gave me the squinty-eye. "Oh, shut up," she said, before plopping back into her seat and fastening the belt over her lap.

It was a good thing, too, because Zane wasn't kidding. We were definitely landing.

Welcome to Kalamazoo.