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Tall, broad, athletic.
Abs for days.
Not that I’d stared for a few seconds too long when I saw Crew walking down the hallway in his towel from the shower. And fortunately for me, I didn’t have to feel guilty about staring because Crew was as gay as the night was dark. Even though by looking at him and talking to him, you’d never guess.
“You heading somewhere?” Crew asked casually.
“Nah, I just really like to hang out at the airport,” I answered with a smirk.
He nodded enthusiastically, pointing across the vast space. “Me, too. That lady over there has been on her phone for forty minutes asking her daddy for money to upgrade her to first class.”
I followed his finger, tilting my head curiously. The woman was wearing a dress that was far too short and had hair that hung down past her shoulders which looked like it had been bleached so many times she was lucky it was still attached to her head. “She looks a little old to be still asking her father for money.”
When I turned back to look at him, he winked with a wide grin. “I’m almost positive it’s a different kind of Daddy she’s talking to.”
I couldn’t hold in the laughter, even though it should really make me cringe. Like the lady had heard me and known I was laughing at her, she looked over, hitting me with a narrowed glare, quickly shutting me up.
Crew coughed, trying to hold a laugh under his breath. I elbowed him in the ribs, and the both of us stilled until Daddy’s girl looked away.
“So, what are you doing here? Heading somewhere?” I asked, teasing him with the same stupid question he’d asked me.
He grinned, his face lighting up and the dimple in his left cheek making me suddenly want to pinch them. “I’m from Houston, flying home to see my mama.” The way he said mama was so sweet and southern, with the hint of an accent I hadn’t picked up on before. “She makes the best chicken fried steak you’ll ever eat. I’ll probably come back twenty pounds heavier for it, and football practice will be like torture.”
“Maybe try not to eat too much of it then?” I suggested, smiling and rolling my eyes.
He placed his hand over his heart and gasped. “And offend my mama? No way.”
Even though I knew he was being dramatic, I couldn’t help but think that Crew wasn’t the type you’d think of as your typical mama’s boy. He was handsome, a little rugged, with a side of boy next door. His short blond hair spiked up on top of his head, and he had the lightest brush of bristles across his face which made him look older than he was, and the red tinge in them I found kind of cute.
Not only that, but he had style. The leather jacket he was wearing wasn’t fake like I saw a lot of the kids on campus wearing, and he had it paired with a pair of black jeans, a plain gray T-shirt and a few chains here and there. Yep, he really knew who he was.
He just so happened to be everything that not long ago I would have found myself wishing would take notice of me, but that seemed so far out of my reach.
This time, extremely far out of my reach given I had the wrong body parts to satisfy his needs.
He leaned in close to me, sinking low in his seat so his mouth was close to my ear. “You know that guy across there has been giving you the eye, hoping you’ll notice him for at least the past hour?” He kept his hands in his lap but pointed with his finger.
The second I looked, a young man with black rimmed glasses and casual clothing instantly met my eye. He smiled, but I quickly looked away.
“Um… ouch,” Crew noted, screwing up his nose.
“It’s not him…” I started but his face instantly cracked, and he snorted out a laugh, the both of us knowing the words that were going to come next, and just how cliché they were. “That sounded stupid, sorry. Long story short… I’m still trying to put myself back together. And honestly, it’s been really hard.”
The smile dropped from his face, and he nodded a gentle and nonjudgmental understanding. “For what it’s worth, I hope he knows what he’s missing out on.”
I hope he knows too.
The muffled sound of a lady’s voice came over the speakers, calling a bunch of numbers that I assumed was a flight.
Crew must have better hearing than I did because he stood and picked up his bag. “That’s my flight.” he grinned. “We’ll catch up when you get back?”
I nodded. “Absolutely.”
He gave me a wave and took off, his long strides carrying him quickly into the distance. I exhaled a long breath, and slumped into the uncomfortable hard plastic airport chairs, feeling like I escaped a situation that made my body twist and turn and just all around feel uncomfortable.
But why?
Things had been okay until he expressed some kind of interest in me.
