Out of Bounds (The Summer Games #2)(111)

All of that should have made me happy, but Brie was still the only thing on my mind.

“Now boarding first class passengers,” the attendant called out from behind the podium.

I stood up, slinging my backpack over my shoulder and scanning for Brie. I lingered in the back of the line, letting the other passengers rush forward. We had assigned seats; it’s not like it mattered who boarded first. I hovered until there wasn’t any more time. Brie still wasn’t there and the attendant was waving me forward, insisting I was holding up the boarding process.

I handed her my pass, walked down the long tunnel, and tried to fight the need to vomit. I’d never been lovesick over a woman before, not like this. I nearly laughed at the idea of boarding a plane for such a long flight at the exact moment my stomach’s contents wanted to revolt. What perfect timing.

“Here you are, sir,” the flight attendant said, directing me to my seat in first class with a gentle smile.

I’d upgraded Brie’s seat too. She was supposed to occupy the seat directly beside me, but it was glaringly empty and would remain that way for the next few hours, until we landed in Texas. I tossed my backpack onto her seat and sat down, rifling through the seat-back pocket in front of me for a vomit bag. Just in case.

I listened as the other passengers boarded the plane behind me. Soon everyone would take their seats and they’d close the plane doors, locking out the possibility of Brie joining me.

“Warm towel, sir?” the flight attendant asked, already holding one out for me.

I shook my head and waved her away. She smiled and proceeded to remind me to turn off my electronics or switch them to airplane mode before making her way to the next passenger. I reached in my pocket to turn my phone off and caught sight of the calls I’d missed, ten in total, the last one only a few minutes before. Every single one of them was from Brie. I hurried to call her back, pressing the phone to my ear just as a soft voice filled the first-class cabin.

“You know, it’s kind of rude to stash your stuff on someone else’s seat.”

Warmth radiated through my body as I turned my head and saw Brie standing in the aisle. Our eyes collided, a mix of blue and brown so full of emotion, I felt dizzy. She was beautiful, standing there with messy brown hair framing her face. Her hand was pressed to her chest; she was trying to catch her breath. I assumed she’d had to run to catch the plane in time and my body flooded with relief that she hadn’t missed it.

Her eyes were wide and expressive, and though she tried to play off the moment with an easy, playful smile, I could see her nerves eating away at her. She smoothed down her shirt and fidgeted on her feet, glancing down the aisle toward the back of first class and then back to me with a question in her eyes.

I reached for my backpack so she could take a seat, and she did so with a long exhale, not looking to me right away. I wanted to speak, to do something silly like thank her for coming, but we sat in silence those first few moments as I tried to absorb the shock that she and I were finally meeting in the middle, no longer running from one another.

I knew she could feel me watching her. A soft blush crept up her neck and she bit down on her bottom lip to try to keep from smiling. She was radiant and the longer she sat there, the more I picked up on the subtle things I’d come to love in the last few weeks. The smell of her shampoo—something with coconut—had a way of hijacking my senses. The smattering of freckles that stretched across her cheeks was more prominent than ever, brought out of hiding by the Rio sun.

For several long minutes we sat in silence, each of us trying to process the step we were about to take. I was still struck silent when she finally turned to me, lips parted as if prepared to say something, but instead she shook her head and glanced away.

I leaned forward and touched her hand, encouraging her.

“This is crazy, isn’t it?” She shook her head and tried to pull her hand from mine, but I didn’t let her. “We are crazy,” she continued, as if trying to convince herself of something.

“No—”

I tried to cut her off, but she wouldn’t let me.

“Do you have a plan for what you’ll do once you get to Texas?”

I shook my head. “I’m kind of flying by the seat of my pants here.”

She laughed. “See! Only crazy people do that!”

I brushed my thumb across her knuckles. “Crazy would be doing the same thing I always do but expecting my life to just change on its own. This is me—us—doing something different.”

Her gaze glanced to me, searching for more. “So you’re sure about this?”

“Absolutely.” I didn’t even have to think it over. I’d never been more sure of anything in my life. “I want to be where you are.”

“Why?”

“Because I’ve…” I stalled, trying to decide if I wanted to say the next few words, if I could even say what she wanted. I’d never been the whirlwind romance kind of man. I’d said those three words to only two women in my life, one of whom was my mother, the other a woman I’d been dating for years before I even considered uttering them. Brie was different. Brie wasn’t a woman that would try to fit whatever ideal mold I thought I had for a partner; she was a woman that shattered the mold and made me feel the excitement of young love again—the kind of love where you never know what to expect next and you can’t wait to find out.