AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Despite growing up with close families and spending a big chunk of time together when we were younger, Cooper and I aren’t overly close. Life is a busy, fleeting thing, and ours areverydifferent. They always have been.
There isn’t anything besides our families that brings us together much anymore. He’s fighting for a teaching job at the university he graduated from, and I’m still trying to figure out what I want to do for the rest of my life.
I turn my body toward him as much as I can and lean my elbow on the back of the seat, resting my cheek in my hand. He’s already looking at me, copying my positioning.
“You’ve never been out of the country before?”
He shakes his head. “Not once.”
“How did I not know that? Adam never got you a passport once in your life? Even as a kid?”
“There wasn’t a need. My mother had no interest in taking me out of Canada, and by the time I was a teenager, Amelia was just a baby, so there wasn’t much talk of vacations. Then I was in university for eight years and working right after. There wasn’t much time for travelling.”
“I can’t tell if I should feel sad for you or even more excited that I get to take your travel cherry.” My lips tug at the corner.
He smiles back, eyes bright. “You should be excited. Definitely excited.”
“I’m very excited. So, that means you don’t know if you hate planes yet, right?”
“I’ve been in one before. It just wasn’t for very long before I was jumping out of it.”
I laugh. “True. Okay, well, the time that you were inside of it, did you love it or hate it?”
“It was fine, I suppose. What about you? Do you like planes?”
I shrug. “It depends on the flight and the plane. The small planes I could do without, but the bigger ones are usually fine. I tend to get a bit nervous on the smaller ones. Need a bit of a cuddle and a shot of cheap vodka to relax, you know?”
He nods slowly, understanding playing on his features. “And which do we have to take to get where we’re going? Big or small?”
I flash him a devilish smirk as I say, “Both.”
6
ADALYN
The flight attendanthands Cooper two shot-sized plastic bottles of vodka before dashing up the aisle toward a woman who’s currently holding a barf bag to the mouth of a young boy. I cringe toward the window when the boy releases a low gurgling sound, and the paper bag shudders in her grip.
“I like you enough, Cooper, but I refuse to hold a bag to your mouth if you puke, so for the love of God, please swallow it back down if the urge arises,” I mutter.
“I’m not going to puke.”
“Are you sure? You look a little green.”
He doesn’t. Not really, but his discomfort is obvious as the plane continues to fly. We’ve been in the air for about twenty minutes now, but for some new flyers, it’ll take a bit of time for the nausea to pass.
Cooper keeps one hand on his thigh, fingers curled into the dark denim the same way they were when we took off, while the other grips the alcohol tight. His cheeks are a bit pale, his forehead clammy. I almost feel guilty that his second experience on a plane will be followed by a short layover at LAX.
Poor guy.
“I’ve jumpedoutof a plane, Adalyn. Staying inside of one has never been my issue. I just don’t like the takeoff part.”
“Did the gum help, at least?”
He nods and stiffly twists off the caps of both tiny bottles before handing me one. “Not as much as this will, I’m sure.”
“I like the way you think,” I reply, grabbing the bottle and extending it out for a toast. “Here’s to a fucking fantastic trip.”
There’s no sound when our bottles collide, but it doesn’t matter. In near perfect sync, we down the contents, my face wrinkling in disgust while Cooper’s remains calm, as if the flight attendant had swapped his for water when I wasn’t looking.
