Page 5 of Tastes of Him

Someone else that I know you’re even happier to get to see.

My pulse jumped at the thought of the one person I wanted to see more than anything. Not once had he been out to see me since I moved here, much to my disappointment. I didn’t want to get my hopes up, but over the past four years, I think hope was the one constant when it came to the two of us.

Sean is coming with me.

CHAPTER THREE

Sean

“How I let you talk me into this shit, I will never know.”

Cameran giggled, and I glared over at her. Her expression was wholly unrepentant from where she stood by an equally smug-looking Julie. If not for me being a whole ass adult, I would have stuck my tongue out at them. Somehow, I couldn’t help the feeling that I had gotten played. It wasn’t until last night that Julie “surprised” us with the news that she would be able to come to visit Rod after all. Cameran played shocked well, but I still smelled a fucking rat.

“I thought you said he was excited to see Rod,” Julie said, not even bothering to try to whisper. I turned away, not giving them the satisfaction of acknowledging them again as I waited to board the plane.

“Oh, he is. Sean is just a nervous flyer.”

“I’m not nervous,” I bit out. The flight attendant scanned my boarding pass and handed it back to me with a wide smile. I grimaced before continuing onto the walkway leading to the tuna can that would soon be hurtling itself through the sky with me in it. Fuck being nervous. I was terrified of flying, and Cameran knew that. If humans were meant to soar in the sky, we would have wings. “Why he had to move all the way across the fucking country, I will never understand.”

“I don’t think he had that much of a choice,” Cameran spoke up. “He had to go to where he matched, remember?”

“No one told him to be a doctor. He could have run the café with us.”

Cameran’s groan was unnecessary. “I would never survive the two of you together every day. The unresolved sexual tension alone would have driven me up the wall.”

“Better than walking in and seeing them resolve that tension.”

“Very true.”

I grumbled as they continued talking about me like I wasn’t standing two feet in front of them. The flight attendants were all perfectly welcoming, but I felt my heart rate jump when I finally stepped foot on the plane. I found my spot easy enough, stashing my carry-on underneath the seat in front of me before I settled in. Cameran sat down beside me, and I frowned at her in surprise.

“Aren’t you seated with Julie?”

She smiled at me and shook her head. Her hand covered mine, and I tightened my grip on the armrest. “Julie has some work she needs to get done, so we switched our seats last night so I can sit with you.” She laid her head on my shoulder, and despite my anxiety, I felt myself relax as her familiar scent washed over me. I forced my breath out slowly and turned my hand over to thread my fingers through hers.

“Thank you.”

She looked up at me with a smile. “None needed.”

~*~*~

“Never again.”

“We have to get back on a plane to go home, Sean.”

“I’m taking the bus.” I crossed my arms as I glared down at the conveyor belt. My legs still felt wobbly though I was happily back on solid ground. “There is no way in hell I am getting back on that death trap in the sky.”

Cameran’s sigh was loud and put out. She knocked her shoulder into mine. “It was just a little turbulence. We were never in any real danger.”

“I could probably upgrade our seats to first class for more space on the way back,” Julie piped up unhelpfully. Her earnest expression might have worked on Cameran, but I didn’t give a crap about better seats if it meant flying again.

“I don’t think turbulence only hits in coach.” A grinding sound interrupted the rest of what I was going to say, and I turned my attention back to the revolving metal as I looked out for our bags. The flight had been going fine the first two hours, but then bumps and dips hit our plane and almost had me losing my lunch on the seat in front of me. I don’t know why people thought that shit was normal, but I was not one of them. “I’ll rent a car and drive my damn self before I fly.”

Cameran and Julie exchanged a look that I didn’t appreciate before Julie gave Cameran a quick kiss on the forehead and moved toward the belt. She gave my arm a squeeze before brushing past me, but I refused to be pandered to. They thought I was joking, but I was more than serious. I had the money, and I would take the time.

“You know,” Cameran started as she came to stand beside me, “Rod is planning on driving back to Atlanta. You could probably catch a ride with him if you’re serious about not flying back with us.”

The thought of being cooped up in a car with Rod sounded a little too good to be true, but I didn’t need her knowing that. Cameran would no doubt take that little bit of knowledge and run with it.