"Sorry. I really was hungry. Thanks."
"So, is that why you decided to indie publish, so you can release whenever you want?"
I shrugged, licking the glaze off my fingers. "Partly. At first I was too impatient to try the traditional route, but I wouldn't say no to an offer now. I've always been one of those people who wants something as soon as I've made up my mind. I'm an instant gratification kind of girl." I regretted the words the moment they left my runaway mouth.
Even Alec sat in silence. Probably pondering what he thought was a hidden meaning in my explanation. I opened my mouth to clarify what I meant when an object flew over the seat hitting him in the side of the head.
This time his curse words were more colorful and an octave louder.
"Do you mind?" Johnny's mom asked, glaring at Alec through the seats. "My son is young and impressionable."
"He's going to have a Spider-Man shoved up his young impressionable ass in a minute," Alec mumbled under his breath as I handed Johnny's mother the offending action figure. It was refreshing to see Alec flustered since it was normally me embarrassing myself when we were together.
By the time we landed in Nashville an hour later, both Alec and I were long past ready to get off the plane. We were both up and out of our seats as soon as the pilot turned off the fasten seatbelts sign. In hindsight, it may have been a better idea to let Johnny and his mom go first, because he screamed the entire way down the narrow aisle.
"I now know of another good use for duct tape."
"Wow, tell me how you really feel about kids." I was teasing of course, but Johnny had been enough to drive anyone batty.
"Hey, don't get me wrong. I like kids, but that one was like the reincarnation of Chucky."
"You're comparing a screaming kid to a freaky killer doll? He wasn't that bad."
Alec shot me an incredulous look as he walked purposefully through the terminal. "Were you just on the same flight as me? That kid made my sperm run and hide in fear. He was a walking, screaming endorsement for safe sex, or better yet, abstinence."
"Well, that shouldn't be a hard stretch for you." It was a catty comment, but I couldn't seem to help myself. I was fine having a normal conversation with him, but bring up the word "sex" and my inner bitch showed up to the party.
"Would it help if I let you punch me in the nuts?"
Not sure I heard him right, I stopped in the middle of the terminal, causing several annoyed passengers to go around me. "What did you say?"
"If I let you punch me in the nuts, will you forgive me for leading you on? I'd like to be friends with you, Nicole, but I don't think that's possible until you've had your revenge. If that means I take a shot to the nuts, so be it."
"You're willing to sacrifice your jewels to be friends? Is it even possible for a man and woman who almost slept together to be friends?" We stepped back into the flow of walking traffic after an aggravated man dressed in a business suit tripped over my rolling suitcase.
"Sure, it's possible. Don't you have any male friends?"
"No," I answered, trying to keep up with his long strides toward baggage claim. "Are you telling me you have female friends? Females you haven't slept with? And I'm not talking about the girls your buddies are dating."
"Yeah, one, and we're going to be together for the next three weeks, so wouldn't it be nice if we could manage to get along?" he cajoled, turning his devastating smile to the full-wattage setting.
"You shit." I smiled in return. I knew he was right. It was time to bury the hatchet. The night he'd rejected me may have been the most humiliating night of my life, but it was time to let it go. "Fine, but no smiling at me like that. It's a sex-on-a-freaking-stick kind of move, and since that's not an option, you might as well save it for the women you'll actually sleep with." I followed Alec down the escalator, pulling my wheeled suitcase with me.
"Sex on a stick? What is that supposed to mean?"
"Trust me, it's a thing. I might as well add no winking to the list too."
He grasped his chest like he was in physical pain. Two flight attendants going up the opposite escalator openly checked him out. "What's wrong with winking?"
I had to be blushing by now, but I figured what the hell? I'd already put myself out there. "Not all winking. Just your winks. They're worse than your smile. It's a clear invitation to jump your bones."
"If you say so," he said, chuckling.
We made it downstairs and joined the crowd of people around the luggage carousel that was starting to spit out our bags. "Would you have really let me punch you in the nuts?"
An elderly couple waiting for their bags looked at us with interest.
Alec nodded at them before reaching out and grabbing my suitcase as it made its way around the carousel. "If that's what it took, but I hoped you wouldn't take me up on it. I don't want to sing soprano."