Your Side and Mine

Chapter 2

"I stayed out way too late last night," Connor said with his stupid perfect mouth as he looked over the aisle at me. "I thought I was going to miss our flight."

Our flight? Was he supposed to be there? He didn't seem the least bit surprised to see us. Me on the other hand, I was speechless. A trillion thoughts ran through my head at once, and I was having trouble with brain processing power to put anything coherent into words. I'd bet this wasn't a coincidence. Liv was leaning against the window with her eyes closed.

Save me! I tried to telepathically scream to her in the first sentence I was able to string together in my head. I contemplated smacking her but restrained myself. Probably too obvious.

"Hey, Connor," I managed to finally speak, praying that the red I could feel spreading wasn't noticeable yet. I wished I could turn into Jell-O and slide beneath the seat out of sight.

He winked at me.

And just like that, the heat was gone because that only infuriated me. He knew what his face was capable of, and his charm was reaffirmed (yet again) when the two girls behind me started to giggle. He didn't seem to notice them though. But he did know how hot he was. He couldn't just wink and all was right with the world.

He looked different from the last time I saw him a month earlier. His buzz cut had grown out an inch or two, and he had scruff on his usually clean-shaven face. It suited him in an 'I'm not seventeen anymore, but I'm still sexy way.' Really sexy way actually.

No, Marin, I willed my thoughts to calm the hell down. My eyes deceived me as they ran over his arms and chest. God, I hoped he didn't pick up on that. He had on a dark blue long sleeve t-shirt that was tight enough around his muscles to see them. Then I looked down at his joggers, which I'd always liked on guys. I didn't know what it was about them. I hated to admit how attractive he was. The kind where he'd probably never been the second hottest guy in the room. And that was saying a lot in his line of work. He wasn't the type of tall where people did a double take—probably around six feet—but with my tiny frame coming in at five foot two on a good day, he could envelop me. My mind went back to the first day he had his arms around me.

Brain off, Marin, I told myself again.

"It's good to see you, Marin, but I seriously need sleep. When the flight attendant comes back, will you ask her for Advil, please?" His eyes were studying me like he was trying to gauge my receptiveness to his presence.

"Sure. Pillow?" I extended mine toward him flustered. As the plane started to taxi onto the runway, the sun came through the window behind me and hit his eyes. Every speck of gold around his pupil looked straight into me. He smiled and winked again, taking the pillow from my hand. My stomach did a flip into my throat, sank to my feet, and settled back in my abdomen. On the outside, I rolled my eyes at him and turned away.

"Don't be like that, Marin," he laughed. "You have to put up with me for the next couple months, you know." I knew it wasn't a coincidence. He must have been in the movie. Why didn't Liv tell me?

I ignored him and pretended not to notice as he put his lie-flat seat down, pushed his headphones into his ears, and lay down with his back towards me. I picked up my drink and downed the rest in a few gulps, preparing myself for takeoff and preparing myself for when Connor would eventually wake up. After my nerves settled, I gave Liv another ten minutes to make sure Connor was asleep before I hit her.

"What!" she exclaimed, throwing her eyes open.

"Shh," I put my finger to my mouth and jerked my head in Connor's direction.

She pulled the headphones from her ears. Her gaze followed mine, but she still looked confused. I tried to keep my voice really low, even though I was resisting the urge to grab Connor by the shoulders, shove him in her face, and scream WHY?!