Gold (All that Glitters #2)(11)

No matter how empty she felt on the inside.

The next morning, Bryna shrugged off Stacia’s questions about her night. She didn’t want to talk about it. It had been a while since she felt so low. And it made zero sense. After such a victory, she should have been unbelievably happy, yet she had lain awake for far too long, trying to fall asleep and chase the memories away.

She was not broken. Today, she would renew her calm confidence and forget about the momentary slip.

They were transported back to the airport, and she sank heavily into her assigned seat on the airplane. Her head was throbbing. She was in no mood to talk to anyone. It was too early in the morning, and she hadn’t gotten enough sleep. As soon as the plane took off, she was going to put in her headphones and pass out. She wished she were flying private, so she would have a bed to sleep in. That would be ideal.

“Bryna!” Beth said, appearing in front of her.

Beth was a senior on the cheer team and a real pain in the ass.

“Hey, Beth,” she said.

“You’re sitting next to Greg, right?” she asked.

“Uh…yeah, I think so.”

“Can we switch seats?”

Bryna arched an eyebrow. “Why?”

“Why do you think?” She flipped her dark brown ponytail and winked. “Plus, you’ll be at the front of the plane, so first off.”

Bryna wanted to ask what Beth was going to do for her if she switched, but it was a sign of how out of it she was that she didn’t. “Fine. Where are you sitting?”

Beth breathed out a sigh of relief as if she had thought it was going to be more difficult than that. She handed over her plane ticket, and Bryna grabbed her bags and trudged up the aisle. She found her row empty and took the aisle seat even though Beth’s ticket directed her to the window.

Bryna hated window seats. She hated the thought of climbing over people to have to get up. She hated waiting for someone else to get out of the way, so she could get to her bags. In fact, this was why she hated coach, too. If she couldn’t fly private, then it absolutely should be first class.

She hoisted her carry-on into the overhead bin, retrieved her headphones, and placed her purse under the seat in front of her. She was blissfully unaware of her surroundings as soon as she closed her eyes and turned on her music. This was her Zen. As long as no one disturbed her, she might be able to control the über bitchiness that was bubbling right under the surface this morning.

A tap on her shoulder pulled her right out of her happy place. She yanked off her headphones and glared up at the person who had disturbed her.

“You’re in the wrong seat,” Eric grumbled.

Fucking great.

“We meet again,” she said dryly.

“You’re in the wrong seat,” he repeated.

“I switched with Beth. She wanted to sit by Greg. I’m sure if I had known I’d have to sit by you on the way home, I wouldn’t have been so generous.”

“Generous,” he said with a chuckle. “I’ve heard you’re very generous.”

She ignored the jab and rolled her eyes. “Just what I wanted.”

Eric threw his bag up next to hers. “Seemed that way at Posse.”

Bryna hadn’t talked to him since that night, and if she’d had it her way, she wouldn’t be having this conversation at all. Especially after the night she’d had, she was in no mood for this.

“Don’t flatter yourself.”

“Didn’t have to,” he said. He crossed his arms over his muscular chest. “You did that for me, remember?”

Bryna glowered at him. Seriously, what is wrong with him? All this because I’m sitting in Beth’s seat? Fuck off already! “You have no idea what you’re talking about, so I suggest you shut the f*ck up,” she said.

At her profanity, the people in the seats surrounding them glanced over, but Eric pointedly smiled at them, and they quickly looked away.

He leaned forward before speaking again, “Why don’t you scoot over?”

“Um…no. I like the aisle. If I have to demean myself by flying coach, I’m staying in the aisle.”

“Wow. Flying coach must be so rough for you,” he said as sarcastically as possible. Then, he stepped over her legs and sank into the seat next to her. He pushed his backpack under the seat and removed his own headphones.

“I prefer to fly private,” she said.

“Why does none of this surprise me?”

Bryna gritted her teeth. She had given him the benefit of the doubt earlier because she admired his football skills. But her temper was flaring, and she wasn’t sure she was going to be able to handle this right now.

“What the f*ck is your problem? You don’t know anything about me.”

“I know enough,” he drawled, untangling the cord of the headphones.

“Clearly nothing important. What about you, Cowboy?” she joked, but it came out with venom.

She knew Eric was from outside of Dallas, and the Southern drawl sometimes crept into his words.

“What should I know about you, other than that you’re a self-righteous prick who likes to try to humiliate people and pick fights?”

“A self-righteous prick?” He raised his eyebrows and then nodded. “Seems you already know everything about me. Not sure why you asked me out if you thought that about me.”