The plane fills up as more and more people file in.
“Might have the row to ourselves,” Harper says. Every now and then Harper looks nervous, but I chalk it up to my guilt over my feelings.
We both look down the aisle as a man who looks like he could be a Viking comes down the aisle. He’s huge enough that his head is just an inch or two from touching the top of the ceiling, and he has to walk down the aisle sideways to fit. And because today is not my day, I know he’s coming for the empty seat beside me.
Harper giggles beside me, and I know she’s seeing the same thing I am.
“Oh please, no,” I whisper as Harper covers her mouth, almost losing her composure.
The man is staring at the labels on our row, and his eyes settle on our row. I can see the recognition in his eyes. He’s found his seat.
He makes a quick motion to put his duffle bag in the compartment above our heads. Harper shifts beside me, and I can tell she’s still trying to hide her laughter.
“Hey,” I say as he comes to sit beside me. He gives a friendly smile and sits. In his defense, he does his best to stick to his side of the seat, but his arm is three times the size of mine.
I scoot over as much as I can, leaning more into Harper than I usually would, but she’s too distracted trying to stifle her giggles to notice.
The guy doesn’t talk. Once he’s settled in next to me, he opens up his phone and doesn’t look up again.
Soon enough, everyone is seated and we’re taxiing across the tarmac. Harper is looking out the window, and I can see the grin she’s trying to mask, her body pushed up against the glass as she watches the plane move.
As we take off, Harper glances over at me, her face lighting up with excitement. Her chestnut hair is pulled back into a braid, leaving her face uncovered and beaming.
I’m happy to be going on the trip, of course, but to be honest, I’d go just about anywhere to see Harper this happy. Even with the huge Viking sitting next to me for the next five hours.
Chapter 7
Harper
When I calm myself down enough to stop laughing at Luke being stuck between me and this massive guy who looks like a linebacker, it hits me just how much more awkward this plane ride will be. As if me reading Luke’s text message wasn’t bad enough, now Luke is forced to lean closer into me to give this huge guy some space.
Luke’s thigh is pressed against mine, and he’s leaning his upper body into me as much as possible. If it hadn’t been for the text, I’d probably offer to put our armrest up to give Luke a little more space, but now I feel like I need that thin piece of plastic as a divider.
I start looking through the movie options on the screen built into the plane seat, not overly impressed by anything.
“Want to share?” He holds up his headphones and points to his screen. He has a movie pulled up that we’d both talked about wanting to watch. My first inclination is excitement, but then I second-guess how Luke may view the situation.
“I’m fine,” I say, because again, it feels too intimate now. How many things have we done in our friendship that werecloser to things you do as a couple?
Luke turns back to his movie, and I pull out my bag to grab my headphones. I pull up my favorite playlist on my phone. I hit play and settle into my seat, but listening to the lyrics of the songs, I start to squirm.
How many of these lyrics are about love?
I don’t know how many songs I skip through before I pull the earbuds out and shove them back into my bag. I’d rather sit in awkward silence, thank you. When I close my eyes, it feels like I’m putting too much effort into the process ofnotthinking about the text message. It’s all I can think about.
I toss and turn as much as I can in the tiny seat until I feel a jostle at my elbow. When I open my eyes, Luke is staring at me, his face soft, brows furrowed in worry.
“You okay?”
“Tired.” I give him a gentle fake smile.
“You sure you don’t want to watch a movie?” He offers the earbud again. He must have watched me wrestle with my playlist before giving up.
“Yeah, I’m fine.”
Luke’s eyes linger on me a little longer, like there’s a question he wants to ask but is afraid to, before he turns back to the movie.
§
