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The woman literally whips a makeup brush out of thin air and starts splattering concealer over my cuts. At some point, someone brings me a change of clothes, and blessedly, a pair of shoes. I use the small cabin bathroom to pee and put on my new outfit. It looks amazing and the shoes surprisingly don’t scrape my cuts, but they’re still sore, regardless. Rosey put me in a dazzling strapless burgundy top and a pair of black shorts with buttons running down either side. It’s not exactly my normal style, but then again, I don’t really have a normal style.
An announcement comes over the intercom as I exit the cramped bathroom. “Welcome aboard, ladies and gentlemen. Please get settled in your seats and buckle your belts as we’re cleared for takeoff. We’re on time and scheduled to arrive in approximately an hour.”
As I make my way back to Ryland, I’m stopped short when I find Dr. Em sitting on a section of the couch. His dark chocolate scent overwhelms me, and I’m thrown off balance as the plane starts to taxi to the runway. The movement has me falling onto his lap and his arms wrap around me.
In the background, I hear a growl and a thump as I peer at his face, embarrassed to find myself here, but it’s not like I did it on purpose. I don’t know why it didn’t occur to me that he’d be on the flight, too. He gives me a warm smile as he takes me in. His gaze darts to my feet and his eyes dance with playfulness when they meet mine again. “I’m glad you found some shoes, Verity.”
My chest grows warm with his attention. Why am I developing a crush on my doctor? Especially at the very start of this endeavor, where I won’t be allowed to choose who I get to date. I offer him a smile, and say, “You did tell me you didn’t want to spend all our time together bandaging me.” Realizing it sounds like I want to spend that time doing other things, I quickly jump from his lap without waiting for his response and rush past the twins situated on the couch right before I reach my seat next to Ryland.
The plane picks up speed on the runway and the ascent goes smoothly, albeit my stomach might say differently. There’s something about airplanes that gives me the heebie jeebies. A big metal box flying thousands of feet in the air is enough to make me shudder, especially after watching one too many shows about plane crashes and abandoned islands.
When we hit cruising altitude, one of the camera crewmen approaches me, his plum scent tickling my nose. “Hello, Verity. My name is Mark and I’ll be your personal cameraman this season. Would you mind answering some questions for the introduction episode?”
“Um, sure?” I respond and it comes out more as a question. I’m surprised he’s even asking instead of straight throwing a camera in my face and catching me off guard on purpose. With my answer, he moves to the captain’s chair across the table from me and raises the camera from its resting spot at his side. He situates it on his shoulder before pressing his eye to the lens, and a red light turns on.
“I think the main question everyone has is, what on earth were you doing before the ceremony? What’s with the rugged girl appearance?”
My cheeks flame and Ryland subtly squeezes my leg under the table, blocking the view of the camera, telling me to think through my answer before responding. He knows me better than I know myself sometimes. Fuck, I should have anticipated this question and prepared an answer. “Uh, well. That’s a long story. Apparently, camping before the ceremony isn’t a great idea.” I give a smile, trying to sell my words as the truth, but who knows if it’s actually working.
“Well, that certainly sounds like the short version, and we have the entire flight to Hidden Haven Manor. Could you expand on it?” Thank you, Mark. Thank you so much for not simply letting my answer slide. It’s almost as if he can tell I don’t want to say anything more. Damn it.
I want to glance at Ryland, or even Andrik, but the action would probably give me away even more than simply continuing to spin my tale. If only I were quicker on my feet. “I’m not sure what more I can really say. I was camping…” I trail off, knowing that I’m failing at this miserably.
“How long were you out there?” he asks helpfully.
“Around three days.” Nerves twist in my stomach. It feels so impersonal being asked questions by a man who’s staring at me through a camera.
“Wow! Three days… that’s cutting it down to the wire. What were you doing? Were you camping alone?” Shock almost bowls me over. I never thought they would imply I was out there doing something nefarious, although I should have seen it coming.
I lean forward a little and squeeze Ryland’s hand like my life depends on it to keep from saying something I shouldn’t. “Well, if I’m being honest—“ I lower my voice, trying to make it sound like I’m letting him in on a secret. ”—I knew the ceremony was coming up, and it’s such a big day that I wanted some alone time. I tend to be quite introverted on the best of days.”
“It’s true,” Ryland adds when I pause. “It was difficult to get her to pull her nose out of a book when we were kids.” His soft reminiscent laugh makes some of the nerves dissipate, and it’s helped along when he clenches my hand in reassurance.
“Sounds like you’ve known each other for a long time. Were you camping with her?” the cameraman asks, latching on to Ryland’s added tidbit.
“I can’t remember a time in my life when Verity and I weren’t best friends.” We glance at each other and share a smile that only two people who know the other as well as we do can share.
“Does that mean you went camping with her?” he asks again, like phrasing it directly will pull a different answer out of me. Damn, this man sure doesn’t let anything go. He’s like a dog with a bone, won’t give it up.
Something tells me if Ryland answers, he will only ask him if it’s a possibility that he wasn’t invited because I was there with someone else, so I head it off by answering myself. “I took the opportunity to be by myself. Nothing compares to the comfort of a campfire at night, the calming effect of stars shining above your head, or the sound of a burbling creek while you’re reading. It’s no wonder I lost track of time.”
“Well, when you talk about it like that, I’m a little put off you didn’t invite me, Ver. I could have used some relaxation too,” Ryland jokes with me, in his usual playful manner.
I scrunch my nose at him, like the thought is repulsive. “I don’t know about that, Ry. I think you might be a little too prissy for camping.” He gives me a dramatic shock and grips his chest as if I’ve offended him greatly, and then we both burst into laughter.
When the sound starts to taper off, Mark asks a new question. “So have the two of you ever dated since you’re so close?”
Ryland and I share another glance. “No, we haven’t,” I answer. But at the same time, he runs his thumb over the back of my hand, and the action, paired with the thought of dating him, has butterflies erupting into flight.
“Why not?” he prods, probably prompted by some unknown body language we’ve given off.
“For starters, I’ve always had a good idea I would reveal as an omega. The signs were there, and I never wanted to risk giving my heart away if it would only end in heartbreak.” My gaze turns to the camera. For some reason, I can’t stand to see Ryland’s reaction to my answer. He’s tried to bring the topic up a few times over the years, and I always shut him down. The idea of us dating and falling in love, but then being ripped apart… it’s been too much to contemplate every time my thoughts have gone there.
And as it happens, that’s exactly how things would have turned out. Keeping him as my best friend was the only option.
“Does that mean you’ve dated alphas instead?”
“Afraid not. Sorry to say, I don’t have any juicy stories of past relationships.” It’s becoming more and more clear he’s trying to get something scandalous from me. Too bad for the show I’m not that type of omega.
