The Spiral Down (The Fall Up #2)(49)

Judging by the hope etched on his face, we weren’t talking about the washcloth anymore, but my answer remained the same. “Not at all.”

If possible, his smile grew wider as he looked down and cleaned his stomach.

That smile did something to me. I couldn’t put my finger on what, but I gave up trying to figure it out and decided to put my fingers on him instead. Crawling into bed, I flipped to my stomach and draped an arm over his hips.

Part of my mind screamed for me to get up, get dressed, and use any possible barrier to distance myself from him. However, I didn’t care what my head had to say anymore. With his breath on my neck and his heart slamming in my ear, I knew what I wanted.

Him.

He tangled our legs together and brushed the hair off my forehead. “What are you thinking about?” he asked.

“Nothing.” But it seemed distant even to my own ears.

“Look at me,” he urged gently. “What’s going on in that sexy head?”

I smiled, tilting my head back to catch his eyes. “Just thinking about us. That’s all.”

The skin on his forehead wrinkled. “What about us?”

“How good this feels. Just being here with you. I never expected—” To crave you so deeply. And not only in the bedroom. But in everyday life.

“Evan. This. Me and you. It’s not a bad thing.”

“I know.”

“Don’t fight it, okay? Just trust me that I’m in this with you. One hundred percent. Every step of the way,” he implored before leaning down and placing a reassuring kiss on my lips.

Filling my lungs with all that was Henry, I allowed his promises to infuse me. The calm left behind was confounding, but I’d never wanted to embrace something more.

“Do you trust me?” I asked.

“Yes,” he replied immediately.

“Good. Let me fly you to your next show.”

His arms spasmed. “Evan…”

I pushed up on my elbows. “That’s my job.”

“This isn’t about jobs.”

“No. You’re right. It’s about me. And I f*cking hate the idea of anyone else flying you. Or even driving you, for that matter. I should be there.”

His blue eyes warmed. “You hate it?”

“Despise might be the better word.”

He bit his lip and bashfully cut his eyes away. It was so unlike Henry it made me chuckle.

“I despise it too,” he whispered.

“Then let me fly you. You want me to trust you? Consider it done. But you have to trust me too. I swear on my life I won’t let anything happen to you up there.”

His eyes dimmed. “It’s just… I had a really bad experience in the air a few years ago.”

I rolled to my back, and he followed me over until his front was plastered to my side.

“You know this is where I give you the whole ‘flying is safer than driving’ inspirational speech. They teach it the first day of flight school. Plus, I’m a damn good pilot. You’ll be safe with me.”

He dragged his finger over the curve of my pecs. “Maybe, but even the best can’t prevent an act of God?”

I narrowed my eyes on his blank stare as he watched his finger swirling circles on my chest. “Okay, I guess you could worry about that. But I assure you—”

“You can’t assure me of anything.” He lifted his gaze to mine. “Two years ago. There was a bad storm. My flight was struck by lightning while we were descending toward the airport. We lost power. Blew an engine and suffered a good bit of damage to the body.” His hand stilled as his eyes filled with overwhelming fear at the memory. “There was this loud banging rhythm from a piece of metal flapping in the wind, and all I could think about was that it was going to be the bassline of my death.”

I blinked in shock. “No f*cking way. AirUSA Flight 219?”

He chuckled humorlessly. “That would be the one.”

Awestruck, I announced, “I would have given anything to be on that flight.”

He curled his lip in utter disbelief before rolling away.

I caught his elbow. “Henry, that flight is legendary in the world of aeronautics. No one, and I mean no one, should have survived that flight.”

“Yeah. I got that much when I was wearing an oxygen mask and praying to a God, who obviously hates me,” he scoffed.

“No.” I tugged on his arm until he turned back to face me. “See, you and I, we look at this differently. Sure, lightning is considered an act of God. Fine. But the real act of God I see is that you had Captain John Wyatt in the cockpit that night. That man is the most talented pilot I’ve ever met. He was quite possibly the only person in the world who could have gotten that plane back on the ground with zero casualties. And, out of the thousands of pilots who could have been behind the controls, you got him. That was your act of God.” I laughed quietly. “I can’t believe you were on that flight. The jealousy actually hurts a little.”

His mouth slacked open. “Jealousy?”

“I’ve heard all the stories at least a dozen times, but I’d have given anything to experience that landing firsthand.”

His lips formed a hard line. “Is there something wrong with you? It was the most terrifying experience of my life, not a rollercoaster at an amusement park.”