Filed to story: Swallow Me Whole (Sadie & Ashton) Book Free
“Can’t say I’ve given it much thought,” he says. “But I’ve gotta admit that life threw me a curveball today, too.” He takes a long drink of the amber liquid in his glass, finishing it off. “I wasn’t supposed to go home until tomorrow, but here I am….” His voice fades, stolen by a note of pain, and the way he stares at me hijacks my breath.
And I’m curious. More than curious. I’m downright intrigued by this guy.
“What happened?” I ask. But I can already tell he doesn’t want to talk about it. We don’t know each other—we’re just two hurt souls who happened to collide in midair. It’s random and odd, and this surreal feeling is fucking with my head. And yet, despite the palpable weight of his silence, I can’t help but push him.
“It goes both ways, you know,” I say, refusing to waver.
“What does?”
“Talking about it.” I bite my lip for a few seconds before plunging ahead. “Maybe we landed in these seats together for a reason. I think you need to get it off your chest as much as I did.”
His hands clench then unfurl. “You’re very perceptive.”
“I’m also a good listener.”
And too fucking nosy for my own good.
“I might need another drink for this.” He raises his empty glass to get the attention of the flight attendant. After she takes the tumbler and goes to fetch him another drink, a couple of long minutes go by before he speaks. “She’s cheating on me.”
There’s a note of disbelief in his words, finality even, and I wonder if saying it out loud just cemented that statement of ugly truth in his mind. He seems as stricken as I’d felt this morning as I watched Chris leave, powerless to stop him. The heat of my shame crawls up my neck and spreads over my cheeks. Whoever she is, she’d hurt him the way I hurt Chris. The irony leaves a bitter taste on my tongue.
“Maybe it’s not what you think.”
Maybe she got wasted and made the biggest mistake of her life.
“Pictures don’t lie, Jules.”
Ouch. I can only imagine how devastated Chris would have been if faced with visual evidence of my betrayal. I cringe just thinking about it.
“I had tunnel vision when I got on this plane. I couldn’t see beyond confronting her, but now I’m not so sure.” He drags a hand through his adorably mussed hair. “I’m so damn unprepared for this.”
“Facing it head-on might help you move past it.” I shoot him a sheepish look. “I’m sorry. It’s really not my place to tell you what to do.” For one, I don’t know him. And two, I’m not the best example of facing shit.
“Tell me what you’re thinking,” he says. “You won’t offend me, I promise.”
The lonely and sad note in his voice rips my heart wide open. If I could punch the bitch who’d hurt him, I would. The hypocrisy in that doesn’t escape me. Maybe I should start with the bitch in the mirror first.
“I think you should wait until you talk to her before making any rash judgments.”
“Trust me, no rash judgments here.”
“I’m sorry.”
“So am I.” A tick goes off in his jaw.
“Do you know what you’re going to do about it?”
“Not a clue.” He clears his throat, and I think he’s going to say more, but he doesn’t.
God, how I want him to say more. Is he going to leave her? Give her another chance? The fact that I’ll never know eats at me.
We fall into silence for a while. The flight attendant brings more drinks and even a light snack. But I can’t eat, so I nibble, way too conscious of how close he’s sitting. The sleeve of his shirt brushes my arm every time one of us moves.
Who knew the caress of fabric had the power to cause goosebumps?
I should move away, but I don’t.
He doesn’t either.
It’s almost as if a magnetic force is bringing us together. The air grows thick. All around us, passengers are either asleep or glued to their devices, but this gorgeous stranger and I have found a private bubble where electricity sizzles. He has me captivated, his nearness humming above the roar of the engines and lulling me into the first speck of serenity since Chris left.
I should have known it wouldn’t last. Lightning streaks through the sky, and the plane hits a spot of wicked turbulence. For a few heart-pounding moments, I straddle the line between hyperventilating and not breathing at all. The aircraft lurches again, and I turn to him in a panic, my breaths coming fast and shallow. His face is mere inches from mine.
“It’s okay,” he says with a huskiness that turns me to mush. “These planes are engineered to withstand lightning.”
My heartbeat goes into overdrive. I dart out my tongue, wetting my suddenly dry lips, and that’s when he lowers his gaze to my mouth.
Another spot of turbulence brings us forehead to forehead.
“Oh, God,” I rasp, closing my eyes.
Adrenaline courses through my veins, and the thunder of my pulse drowns out all sound. I’m terrified from the air pockets we keep hitting, but in this moment, I’m mostly afraid that if I open my eyes, he’ll see the truth.
That I’m falling hard 35,000 feet above the ground.
“Just so you know,” he says, sliding a hand along my cheek. “I’ve never wanted to kiss someone as much as I want to kiss you right now.”
Oh wow. His voice is tortured, and when I finally lift my lids, I find his at half-mast.
He tangles his fingers into my locks, leaving me trembling and aching to feel his mouth on mine. I can’t speak, so I don’t even try.
“Jules…I don’t normally do stuff like this.”
“Do what?”
“Kiss strangers on planes.”
There is something so wrong about this. So off. Not to mention dangerous. Like diving into an empty pool.
Or boarding a plane that’s heading into a storm.
“You don’t seem the type,” I whisper as his breath warms my lips.
And he doesn’t, despite the fact that we’re an inch apart, our mouths aching to taste while his hand tugs on my hair, angling my head back.
“I’m not.” His fingers loosen their grip, and something inside him seems to deflate as he lets out a sigh of defeat. “So I’m going to chalk this up to high-level emotions and…”
“And?”
Cursing under his breath, he pulls away completely.
