Page 45 of The Flight Risk

“My aunt has been through a lot. I don’t think she’s ever been with anyone who remotely deserves her.” I couldn’t agree more. “She doesn’t give her heart to just anyone. In fact, I don’t think she’s ever liked someone as much as she likes you.” My insides warm and I miss Tess even though she is literally right upstairs. “Don’t mess this up, Adam.”

I pour some coffee into my Yoda mug that Lottie has claimed as her favorite and slide it over to her. I take the creamer out of the fridge, and just when I’m about to hand it to her, I pull it back. Her eyebrows crease and she gives me a what the hell are you doing? look. “I intend to love your aunt with everything I have.” Lottie’s tough demeanor wanes and a smile develops as I utter the truth: “I intend to give her whatever she wants in this life. I intend to treat her like the queen she is. I intend to give her my heart fully and irrevocably.” I extend the creamer to Lottie, who now has a full-fledged smile across her sleepy face. Lottie may put up a good defensive front, but she’s a massive softie underneath. “I promise I won’t mess this up.”

“Good answer.” Lottie jumps off the bar stool. I watch her, not knowing if I need to be afraid or not. The next thing I know, she crashes into me with a side hug. Her head barely reaches the middle of my torso. I hug her back. I have a sneaking suspicion a lot of men in her life have also let her down. I shoulder the responsibility of not only not letting Tess down, but not letting Lottie down either. “Thank you for loving her.”

I squeeze her shoulder. “It’s the easiest thing in the world for me to do.”

I glance at the Yoda mug on the other side of the island and it sparks an idea. “Hey, how about tomorrow, we have that mini Star Wars marathon we talked about before I left for my away games. We can order pizza, make popcorn, enjoy the genius that is John Williams?”

“Really?” I’ve never seen Lottie this excited and I feel like a kid again, looking forward to watching Revenge of the Sith in theaters.

“Yeah, I have some pretty nice surround sound I like to enable when I watch movies,” I say to sweeten the deal, even though I know that Lottie locked in the moment I said Star Wars.

“This is going to be so awesome.” She skips toward the pantry, rummages through and finds the strawberry Pop-Tart box. “I need to get ready for school. Hopefully Aunt Tess wakes up within the next ten minutes, so she can drive me. Maybe you can go wake her up from her slumber, Prince Charming.” Lottie giggles as she grabs her mug and heads back upstairs.

And that’s exactly what I do.

I set a coffee mug on the nightstand and look at a completely relaxed Tess. There is a part of me that doesn’t want to wake her. Another part, the stronger part, wants to see her beautiful eyes. I lean down and kiss her forehead. Her eyes slowly open and her lips curve up when she sees me.

“Morning,” she says.

“Morning. I brought you coffee.” I smirk at her. “Thought you might need it. Late night and all.”

Her lips pull up even more into a full smile. “Mmm, thank you.” She props up on her elbow and reaches for the mug. After she takes a sip, she says, “You seriously make the best coffee in the universe.”

“Lottie said the same thing about ten minutes ago.”

Tess’ eyes widen and she sits up so fast, some coffee spills on my sheets. “Shit, Oakley I’m sorry about your sheets.” She frantically tries to wipe it away. “But wait, what do you mean Lottie said that ten minutes ago? She knows?”

“Yeah, she knows. She caught me coming out of the room.”

We stare at each other for a moment, and then we both start laughing out of relief that we don’t have to sneak around or hide our real feelings for each other anymore. I haven’t laughed this hard in a long time and I think to myself, This is what true intimacy looks like–laughing with a partner who is literally your best friend.

Once we catch our breath, Tess wipes some tears away and says, “Oakley, last night was the best night of my life.” She places her hand along my jawline and rubs along my beard. It’s so sweet and vulnerable and comforting all at once. I know she is not just saying it to stroke my ego. She’s being completely genuine.

“Me too.”

“I’m so ready for this!” Lottie says excitedly. She sits down on the couch with a bowl of popcorn that is bigger than her head. We have become two peas in a pod.

“You and me–Hans Solo and Chewbacca.” I give her a fist bump. “Only if I’m Hans Solo.”

“Deal. Chewbacca is way cooler anyway.” Lottie shoves popcorn in her mouth.

I look over at Tess, who appears to be dumbfounded and utterly confused. And then a wave of shock rushes through me. “You’ve never seen Star Wars, have you?”

She scoffs and blubbers, “Of course I have…”

I cross my arms. “What’s the main character’s name in Episode Four?”

Tess puckers her lips and stares me down, trying to use her beautiful face as a distraction. Not this time. Maybe a little bit of a distraction, but I’m not falling for it. “Well, you know, obviously his name is Luc…a.”

There it is.

Lottie nearly tips over the popcorn bowl. “Aunt Tess. It’s Luke… no ‘a’ at the end.”

I press her more. “Who’s the villain?”

She squints and does that knee-weakening thing where she puckers her lips again. “Dark Vader, duh.”