I wait for the ground to drop out beneath us, chanting the silent prayer. I read somewhere that the majority of all airplane crashes happen within thirty seconds of takeoff, so if I can get through the next fifteen seconds…
My eyes fly open as I feel a hand come to rest on top of mine.
Collin is looking directly at me.
His phone is, thankfully, dark on his lap. One less thing that could cause this plane to go down.
“You okay?” he asks, taking my hand in his and slowly tracing circles around the inside of my wrist.
I nod, not trusting myself to speak for fear that my voice will crack.
“I didn’t know flying freaked you out,” he whispers.
“Yeah, well…” I trail off.
He stares at me. “What?”
I shrug, flicking a quick glance to Macy and Ashlyn, who are chatting with each other across the aisle over the sounds of the plane making its ascent. I turn back to Collin. “There’s a lot about me that you don’t know.”
He frowns. “We’ll have to remedy that. Let’s play two truths and a lie.”
I furrow my brow. “Right now?”
“No time like the present. I’ll go first. I’m going to tell you three things about me, and you have to guess which two are true and which one is false.”
“Alright.”
“Let’s see.” He holds up one finger. “When I was six years old, I won a poetry contest for my original poem about autumn leaves.” He holds up a second finger. “When I was sixteen, I failed my driver’s test.” He makes an exasperated face, and I can’t help but chuckle. He holds up a third finger. “When I was at the police academy, I won the award for best-looking cadet.”
I roll my eyes. “Well, that one’s gotta be true. You wouldn’t have used the best-looking cadet tidbit otherwise. Your ego would be too bruised.”
Collin smirks. “No need to pretend. You can say it. You know I’m good looking.” He winks at me.
I narrow my gaze. “I know no such thing,” I whisper to him, and I refuse to think about the perfect symmetry of his face, or the way his hair is laying just so, or his toned muscles and easy smile…anyof that. I assume an air of indifference and switch topics. “Whatever. I’m going to say the poetry one is the lie.”
He makes the sound of a buzzer. “Incorrect. I gave so many signs. Have all my notes meant nothing to you? I’m wounded!” Collin shakes his head, grinning. My stomach swoops because his notes have meant more to me than I want to admit. “Care to adjust your answer?” he says.
“That means you flunked your first driver’s test?”
“Ding, ding, ding.”
“Wow. My belief in your authority as a cop just dropped down a few notches.”
“You’re a cop?” Macy leans forward. “Sorry, I couldn’t help but overhear.”
“I am,” Collin says. “And Noli is a 911 dispatcher.”
“Oh em geee,” Macy squeals again. “Please tell me you two had a workplace romance.”
“Something like that.” Collin chuckles easily. “Though there was nothing against the rules about it.”
“Tell us everything.” Macy claps as if this is the greatest idea in the world.
“Seriously. Please do. Workplace romance is such a great trope,” Ashlyn pipes up from across the aisle. She looks between us curiously. “I’m a journalist by day, but I have a secret hope of writing a romance novel.”
“Really? So does my sister,” I say.
“Poppy?” Collin says with disbelief dripping from his lips.
