Sophia was in theshower, taking her time and probably hiding from my family, when I’d just about given up hope of finding a ticket to Hawaii. My aunts had both come over and joined us at the dining room table and were watching me with interested expressions. It was like they’d never seen a man in love before.
“I can’t find a ticket,” I said, dropping my head in my hands.
“You checked all the flights, not just hers?” Mom asked, pulling the laptop from me.
“Yes,” I groaned.
“Can you believe he’s this into a girl?” Aunt Sloane asked. “I can’t wrap my head around it.”
“Leave him alone,” Aunt Lavi said. I lifted my head to look at her. “You didn’t just check first class, right?”
“No, I checked everything,” I said, defeated. “I’ll sit in the fucking bathroom for the entire flight at this point.”
Mom sighed, closed the laptop, and put it back in front of me. “You can take the jet.”
“What?” Aunt Sloane jumped out of her chair in outrage. “You’ve never let us take that anywhere!”
“Because you can be drugged on a commercial flight just as well as on a private jet, Sloane,” Dad said. Aunt Sloane had been sedated on family trips due to her flying phobia for as long as I could remember.
“And it’s unnecessary,” Aunt Lavi added. She wasn’t wrong, but it’s not like my parents hadboughta private jet. It had come with themulti-billion-dollar company Mom had inherited from my grandfather. Technically it was the company’s jet, though Mom was the one you had to go through for access and she rarely approved business trips. Jace had been on it once and had bragged about it for a month.
“Really?” I asked. I’d assumed I would never fly on that jet given everyone’s feelings on using it.
“Yes, really. I’ll call and have it prepped for you,” Mom said as she stood up.
I heard Sophia come out of the bathroom and I got up to tell her the plan. I stopped in the doorway to the guest room and watched as she sat on the bed and pulled on a pair of knee-high boots over her jeggings. For someone born in Hawaii who clearly preferred a warmer climate, she still managed to look smoking hot in all her winter clothes.
“Good news, bad news,” I said. “There are no seats available for me on your flight. But my mom owns a private jet, courtesy of the company she inherited from my grandfather, and she said we can take that.”
“You’re kidding.” Sophia’s jaw dropped and she froze with one boot half zipped.
“I’m not.” I chuckled. “She knows how I feel about you, and she’s clearly helping me impress you.”
Sophia finished zipping her boot, jumped up, and sprinted to me. She wrapped her arms around my neck and I spun her in a circle until she was pressed against the doorframe and I lowered my mouth to hers for a soft kiss.
“Well, it’s working,” she said. “You’re a private-jet-owning hockey star with an eight-inch dick. Color me impressed.”
Jace cleared his throat, and I lifted my head to see him standing beside us with a smirk on his face. “Hello. I was just headed to the bathroom.”
Sophia froze and her cheeks instantly flushed crimson. She slowly turned to face him and Jace’s smirk grew.
“You think the hockey star is impressive?” he asked. “I run a third of the company that pays for that private jet, and I wouldn’t be bragging about an eight-inch dick.”
“Fuck off, Jace.” I shoved his shoulder.
He laughed. “I’m kidding. That’s very impressive, little dude. I can barely top that. But I can.” He winked at Sophia and went into the bathroom.
“This has been a humiliating weekend for me,” she said, dropping her head on my shoulder. “Please take me away on your private jet and let me watch you be embarrassed around my family now.”
“I can’t wait to meet the family you love so much,” I said, stepping closer to her.
She laughed and looked up with a menacing smirk. “You say that now. Just remember: I have three men in my life who think of themselves as father figures and I’m their first little girl.”
My stomach dropped. “Should I be worried more about embarrassment or my safety?”
“Oh, definitely your safety.”
Chapter Thirty-Five
