Page 21 of Reckless
“He knows I’m not into assholes.”
“Well, that is a flat out lie considering our history and your current boyfriend. He’s a douchebag.”
“Takes one to know one.”
“Exactly,” I winked at her.
“Excuse me,” a woman behind me intervened. “Miss, do you mind? Some of us need to board the plane.”
Hannah turned around and saw there was no one on her side of the line. “Oh. I’m so sorry.” She practically ran ahead mumbling something under her breath.
“I can’t hear you,” I teased even though I knew she wasn’t talking to me. About me, yes. But not to me.
“Believe me, Tyler. You don’t want to hear what I have to say to you right now.”
We boarded the plane in silence. I passed by her seat, leaving her there without a word. It was a good thing we weren’t spending the next six-and-a-half hours sitting together.
I found my seat and checked on her before I sat down. I could see her from here. She wasn’t looking at me at all. The silent treatment didn’t bother me at all. It was perfect. For about half an hour. Then I got bored. And then I got anxious. About leaving Chloe and Liam. About Patrick Hayes.
But the thing that disturbed me the most was the fact I was going back home. I loved how isolated I was in Boston, so far away from the family drama. I didn’t even remember the last time I went back. It was more than a year ago for sure.
I needed a distraction. Something to help me stop thinking about going back home. I thought about ordering a drink, but little Spencer treated me like an alcoholic already and I usually drank for fun, not to avoid my problems. Getting drunk on a plane seemed like it would create more problems than it would solve.
Sex was the other thing I usually used as a distraction. I doubted Hannah would volunteer to help me with that, so I caught the gaze of one of the flight attendants and smiled at her. She approached me, asking if I needed anything. For the next hour she pretended I was just another man she was obligated to talk to, up until the moment we were full-blown flirting regardless of the disapproving looks of the passengers around us.
I wondered what would Hannah say about me fucking someone on a plane. I was dying to turn around and see if she was outraged.
The flight attendant invited me to follow her. I got up from my seat and I my gaze flew in Hannah’s direction before I could stop myself. The need to provoke her was just too strong.
She was looking at me, but I wasn’t expecting that expression on her face. She wasn’t disgusted or disappointed. Her face was blank, her gaze pinned on mine.
Everyone thought I slept around with everything that moved, but that wasn’t true. I had a lot of sex, but I was selective.
In that particular moment, I wanted to sleep with the flight attendant to distract myself and it would be a form of a middle finger to my family. Hannah would probably share what I did with Clementine. And I wanted to cement the fact I didn’t care about their opinion of me. That I wasn’t going to play by their rules.
But then again, I was going back home because I was becoming an uncle soon. Clem turned her life around. Was I going to be the one to never change? Stuck in one place? Never moving forward? That wasn’t my plan when I left California after I graduated.
I tore my gaze away from Hannah’s and I followed the flight attendant to where she was waiting for me. I politely declined her invitation and returned to my seat. I allowed myself one last look at Hannah. She was looking down at her book. For the rest of the flight, I tried not be annoyed by the smirk I saw on her face.
***
We arrived in California and went straight to Clementine’s apartment. I knew she had lived there for a few years now, but I had no idea where it was. I had never come to visit her. For the first time since we met at the airport, I was glad Hannah was there with me. She knew where we were supposed to go.
One look at Clem’s face when she opened the door made it clear that she had just vomited or was about to.
“You look like shit, little monster,” I planted a kiss on her forehead and went inside. The floor was covered with open half full boxes. I peeked inside a few of them. “Trouble in paradise?” She rolled her eyes in such a Clem fashion I couldn’t help but grin. There was still a hater somewhere in there.
“The only trouble I have is that I want to sleep twenty hours a day and I have to pack everything by the end of the week. We are moving out.” Clem looked at me with a weak but happy smile. “We bought a house.”
“You bought a house?” I asked, confused, and looked at Hannah who didn’t actually react at all to the news. Clem had already told her.
“Yeah, we have to leave the apartment on Monday. I told Lucas I could handle packing, but all I do is sleep.”
“Is he blind?” I asked. They both shot me an annoyed look and Clem continued.
“He won’t be able to help me on the weekend, because of the camping trip.”
“We will help you,” Hannah said, honey dripping from her mouth, and gently pushed my sister towards a door. “Go take a nap. Tyler and I will stay and pack everything.”
