Page 98 of Filthy Twisted Devil

“I have a girlfriend,” I say quickly.

“See?” she yells into the phone. “Some men are loyal!”

“Dodged a bullet,” mutters the guy behind us.

A flight attendant walks down the aisle toward us, her hands trembling. I don’t blame her for being shaky. The last time she asked Jenna to wrap up her phone call, Jenna drove her to tears.

“Excuse me, miss,” the flight attendant says. “We’ll be landing in half an hour, and I need you to wrap up⁠—”

“Are you deaf?” Jenna shrieks. “I’m in the middle of a conversation!”

“Yes, but federal regulations⁠—”

“You don’t understand. My boyfriend of four months is breaking up with me for no reason! I can’t just wrap it up.”

The flight attendant looks on the verge of tears again, so I clear my throat. “Jenna, would you mind if I talked to your boyfriend for a minute?”

Jenna blinks, apparently shocked. She waffles for a minute, then hands me her phone. I take a breath and put on my most charming voice.

“Hi,” I tell the guy. “You don’t know me, but I can tell that you’re going to regret losing a woman as passionate and lovely as Jenna here. That’s probably punishment enough, isn’t it?”

On the other side of the line, he sighs. “You don’t know punishment, man. I never asked her to pierce her nipples, by the way. I have no idea where she fucking got that.”

I look up at Jenna. “He’s crying. He put on a strong face for you, but he’s pretty broken up about it.”

She sniffs. “I knew it.”

“Jenna’s got to go,” I continue. “She’s got a bright future in front of her, and it doesn’t include people who bring her down. You think about that. And don’t call her. She’ll call you.”

I hang up and pass Jenna back the phone. The flight attendant shoots me a grateful smile.

“Was he mad?” she asks.

“Furious. I think I heard him punch a wall.”

She smiles. “Good. Sounds like he’s finally stopped pretending to stay strong. I know he’s hurting, too.”

“Absolutely.” I nod. “You still deserve better, though. If I were you, I’d find another guy.”

“Yeah, you’re probably right.” She smiles flirtatiously. “Are you sure you and your girlfriend are stable?”

“Yup. Sorry. Totally in love with her. Probably getting married and all that.”

She shrugs. “Well, I hope that works out for you. It didn’t for me.”

When we land half an hour later, I turn to her before I get off the plane. “Thanks for everything, Jenna.”

“Why would you thank me?”

I skip the honest answer. Thanks for keeping my mind busy, so I won’t obsess over how I’m going to survive the next week.

The past few weeks without Eden have been full of unsent texts and busywork to keep my mind off her. Now, I’m going to have almost a full week to soak her in, to watch her move around rooms with a quiet, graceful confidence, to wrap my arm around her and pretend I have the right to do it.

Pretending I’m her boyfriend is going to be the easy part. Turning it off when her brothers aren’t in the room is going to be harder. Maybe even impossible. The last time I was on the ranch, I got reckless. I took her hand when nobody was watching, and this time, I don’t know if I’ll have it in me to let go.

Of course, that’s a little too much information for poor Jenna.

“For being a good seatmate,” I tell her instead.