Page 31 of Playing the Player

“No, it’s too much.”

“Sasha,” Olivia huffs, pulling my size off the rack, “you’re my best friend, my sister, and I want you to be happy. This dress will make you happy.”

“You make me happy.” I interrupt, but she continues as if I didn’t speak.

“Let me do something nice for you. You will look unreal in this dress.”

I growl, not bothering to argue with her anymore. She’s more stubborn than I am and sometimes you have to pick your battles. “Fine, I’ll try it on.” I say, taking the dress out of her hands.

“Plus, he won’t be able to take his eyes off you the whole day.”

“I don’t think I want Max to look at me like that anymore.”

Olivia runs a gentle hand down my arm, smiling down at me, “I wasn’t talking about Max.”

13

Conor

I love flying. There’s something peaceful about it, just being completely removed from the world and all the problems happening down below. Flying above the clouds, leaving everything behind for a few hours of peace. No responsibilities. No distractions. It’s freeing.

Out of all the flights I have taken over the years, and there have been a lot, this one is by far my favorite. Sasha is curled into my side, her face buried against my neck, her sweet scent wrapping around me. Sure, she’s only doing it because she’s scared shitless right now, but I’ll take it as a win.

Sasha didn’t tell me that she was freaking out until after we got to the airport. She seemed jittery all morning and I assumed it was because of the engagement party we’re going to tonight, but no. As it turns out, my girl is terrified of flying. She has always hated it, opting to drive or get a train anytime she could, but somehow that little detail slipped her mind when I was booking flights to New York.

The entire way through the airport, she was asking endless questions, ridiculous questions, questions that I did not help with at all.

“What if we crash into another plane while we’re in the air?”

“What if the plane gets hijacked?”

“What if one of the engines blows up?”

That was only a few of the questions she had asked me, and I don’t think she appreciated my smart-ass comments, judging by the ear flick and arm punch I received.

After a little crying at takeoff, shaking when she saw the ground down below, and hyperventilating with every small bit of turbulence, Sasha finally fell asleep. We’re close to landing now, but I don’t want to wake her until we’re on the ground. I think she’s been through enough trauma today.

I chuckle under my breath. I know I shouldn’t laugh, but she was being a little dramatic about the whole thing. I mean, I think the chances of a meteor coming down from space, hitting our plane and killing us all, are very fucking slim, but Sash seems to disagree.

Once the plane has firmly hit the runway with a solid thud, I gently shake Sasha’s shoulders. “Wake up, Angel.” She stirs lightly, but doesn’t wake, so I shake her a little harder. Sasha shoots upright, digging her nails into my forearm as if she’s preparing to brace herself. Her eyes are wide, all the color has drained from her face again and she looks like she’s about to be sick. I’m surprised she hasn’t already. “We’ve landed, Sash. You can retract your claws from my arm now.”

She peeks over my shoulder to look out the window for confirmation and the second she sees the runway she instantly relaxes. “Oh.” She looks up at me, guilt flashing across her face. “Sorry.” She moves her hands from my arm and the sudden loss of her warmth hits me harder than I thought it would.

I shouldn’t have woken her up. I should have let her sleep until we were forced to get off the plane, just so I could feel her against me for a little while longer.

Once the seatbelt signs turn off, Sash is up, grabbing her bag from the overhead locker and high tailing it out of there. Thankfully we don’t have to wait on suitcases. We’re only here for one night so we packed light.

“I’m sorry I was so erratic about the flight.” Sasha says once we get settled in the Uber heading towards the hotel. “I’m a little scared of flying.”

“I hadn’t really noticed.” I tease which earns me a glare. I bite back a smile. “I think it was a completely rational fear. Getting locked in the bathroom and having nobody notice which ends in you dying alone from lack of food, water and oxygen. It could happen to anyone.”

Sasha scowls at me, her brows drawing together, while the uber driver chuckles from the front seat.

“It could happen!” She whines at me and then turns her glare to the driver, “And you are losing a star for that.”

The laughter immediately stops. He straightens in his seat, eyes fixed firmly on the road, but I can still see the hint of a smile tugging at his lips.

I turn back to Sasha. “You really think I wouldn’t notice if you were gone?” I ask, feigning hurt.