Page 70 of PS: I Hate You
Dom signed on to my idea when I agreed we’d take one vehicle. Spending hours in a car with him doesn’t seem as horrible as it used to. During this stretch of time apart, I plan to fully immerse my mind in the idea of being Dom’s friend. If I successfully suppress my insecurities and resentment, the excursion might actually be pleasant.
As pleasant as spreading my dead brother’s remains can be anyway.
“How’s your connection looking?” I ask. We sit side by side in theterminal, both on this first flight from Phoenix. When Dom found out I’d booked myself a seat in coach, he immediately pushed me to upgrade to first class into the seat next to him and insisted I also upgrade for my next flight to Seattle. He pointed out Josh left us more than enough to cover the expense, but I still feel weird traveling in luxury on my brother’s dime. The larger seat makes sense for Dom, who would have to fold his tall body into a painful shape to fit into a cheaper seat. But I’m more compact than him.
These arguments held no sway, so now I possess a first-class seat.
“I’ll probably miss it,” he says. “But there’s two more to Philly later in the day. I’ll grab one of those.”
I nod and reach back to bundle the hood of my sweatshirt into a makeshift pillow. “Gonna nap. Wake me when our plane gets here.” A thunderstorm in Dallas pushed back a morning flight to Phoenix, which means the plane we were supposed to be boarding in five minutes hasn’t even landed in the airport yet. I expect a long wait, and I’d rather sleep through it. My body needs the rest after I spent half the night fidgeting and rolling around in my bed, trying to forget the way Dom’s heat soaked into my thighs when I wrapped my legs around him in the pool. Or how the phantom touch of his hip lingers like hot sparks in my fingertips…
“Maddie.” Someone says my name in a low, gentle voice, and a warm pressure brushes my cheek.
When I blink my eyes open, the world is a bright blur of colorful, unfamiliar shapes. I jerk upright, hands skittering over my face.
“I can’t see!”
“Maddie.” The same voice, though sterner this time, draws my attention to my side. Dom’s there, close enough to be visible in my nearsighted range, and he holds out my glasses. I slip them on, remembering I’m in an airport terminal and I don’t wear contacts when I’m traveling for exactly this reason—I tend to nap, and I don’t want them gluing to my eyeballs.
“How long was I out for?” I slip my glasses off again and holdthem up to the light. They seem cleaner than they were this morning.Did Dom polish the lenses?
“An hour. I forgot how you can sleep anywhere.” He has his laptop open and looks to be sorting through an email inbox. “Our plane is here. They’re going to start boarding in a minute.” He glances at me and a hint of a smile tugs at his full lips.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
“Bullshit. Did you write on my forehead while I was out?” I scrub my hand across my skin and look for traces of ink on my fingers.
Dom snorts. “That’s Adam’s move. I can’t believe it took Josh an entire day to realize he had ‘butt’ on his face.”
I chuckle at the memory. “I have my suspicions that he figured it out much earlier and just went with it.”
Dom’s half smile turns into an almost full curve of his lips. “He would. But you don’t have an insult on your face. Just a crease on your cheek from my shirt.”
“Your shirt…” That’s when I realize my head was tilted to the side, not back, when I woke up. Unconscious Maddie decided to turn Dominic Perry into her personal pillow. I eye his cotton T-shirt, relieved there are no drool stains there.
Before I can decide if I want to apologize or fall back on my normal snark, an announcement comes over the intercom.
“Boarding will begin in five minutes, starting with Group A.”
“That’s us.” He shuts his computer. “I’m going to use a normal-sized bathroom before we board.”
Just the idea of Dom trying to tuck his wide shoulders into one of those closet-sized airplane bathrooms has me snorting.
“Can I check my email?” I gesture toward his laptop. “I don’t feel like getting mine out.”
“Lazy,” he murmurs with another twitch at the corner of his mouth as he settles his computer in my lap. Dom stands with a stretch and a groan, and I try hard—but not hard enough—to avertmy eyes from the stretch of skin that peeks out between his T-shirt and the waistband of his sweatpants. He drops his arms, the strip of his lower belly that haunts me disappears, and the man strides toward the bathroom. It takes me entirely too long to realize I’m staring at Dom’s butt.
“Damn nice-fitting pants,” I grumble as I tap the touch pad to bring the laptop screen to life.
The desktop background is a picture of the Perry family. The Perry family plus Josh and Rosaline. Adam and Carter wear graduation robes and huge grins, standing in the middle of the gathering.
I missed this.
Emilia had sent me the announcement, and I’d mailed the two graduates gift cards. But I could’ve been there. As awkward as I would have felt around Dom and Rosaline, everyone would have welcomed me.
The day could’ve been another memory with Josh.