More Than She Can Chew | Book Two ✔

Chapter Twelve

Alissa stared at the flashing screen as more and more flights turned red. Was she going to be able to get home for Christmas this year?

Her flight was delayed for three hours. At least it wasn't canceled...

Alissa sighed as she sat down at her gate, getting ready to people watch for the next three hours. There was a couple sitting across from her whispering and giggling in each other's ears.

She thought about Trevor and that steamy kiss back at Mile High Station. She bit her lip. That man was something else.

A child nearby started crying. This was going to be a long day of traveling.

~~~

She didn't get much sleep on the plane. That same crying kid just so happened to sit right behind her and wouldn't shut up for the whole six-hour flight. She had a migraine and the jitters after ordering one too many cups of coffee. This whole week was just not her week.

With Liberty booking the wrong day with Goldz, and then when she just wanted to relax from that god-awful day, that creep at Minote showed up. Now, she had been traveling for 9 hours, had a migraine, and it didn't help that her love life seemed to be going nowhere fast.

Her and Veronica decided to just stay friends, she hadn't spoken to Chris since before the holiday party, and Trevor had still not called or texted her. It had been almost two weeks... She wondered if he wasn't as into her as he lead on.

She sighed as she waited by the baggage claim. The Albany airport wasn't too crowded since it was almost ten o'clock at night. She still had to wait for her family to pick her up from the airport and then drive another hour before finally reaching her small hometown of Mayfield.

She wondered if the whole bunch would be in the car. Probably not since it was so late. Her phone rang with the caller ID, Zach.

"Hey, I guess you've landed."

"Yeah, I'm at baggage claim now."

"Okay, well I'll be there in like ten... Uh, maybe twenty. I'm stuck behind an old person or something."

Alissa sighed, "Okay."

It had been thirty minutes. Alissa was starting to get drowsy.

She yawned as she read a text from her brother saying he was outside the pick-up area. She wrapped her scarf around her neck and zipped her coat up before stepping outside. The New York winter air felt refreshing. Sure, it was freezing, but it was fresh and damp. Denver's winter air was drier than sin.

She saw Zach's '03 Chevy Cruze in its bright red color sitting with its hazard lights on. He stepped out and leaned in to hug her. She didn't remember him being this tall. Some of his ash brown bangs popped out from under his gray wool cap.

"It's so nice to see you, again." She smiled.

"Yeah, come on," he said as he lugged her bags into the trunk.

As she sat down in the front seat, her eyes watered. The AC was on full blast directly in her eyes. She pushed the vent out of the way as she shook her head. Zach was always hot, no matter the temperature outside.

When they were kids, he had once overheated so much, he took off all his clothes in the middle of a snowball fight. While he felt hot all over, his toes did not. He had gotten frostbite on his left pinky toe and ended up losing it. Every now and then, their friends and she would pick on him asking if he could still feel his ghost pinky toe.

"So, how's the big city?" he asked as he pulled out from the curb.

"The city is good. It's been crazy, though, the closer it's gotten to Christmas. Traffic is horrendous, and don't even get me started about how my coworkers' minds seem to be elsewhere." Alissa threw her hands up in the air.