Car is a poor excuse for what carries us to the airport. It’s a limo, and the driver takes our bags and arranges them in the back while we all pile inside. Will settles his arm around my waist, pulling me close, and I like it. I like the way our bodies behave with each other, the intimate familiarity. Maybe it was a good thing that we met the way we did—when our intention was just sex. We got that tension out of the way, and at the very least, touching is common ground. It’s easy. I don’t think the rest of it will be as easy as he thinks, but one can hope.
As if he’s reading my thoughts, Will turns his head and presses a kiss to my forehead. I close my eyes, examining the feelings that rise up in my chest. Longing and desire and comfort. It’s strange that these things are so strong. Wyatt never made me feel them with this kind of intensity. I don’t know if it’s because he broke my heart that I can’t remember, or because he never actually inspired that kind of emotion in me. Which makes me wonder, if he never did, why was I with him for so long? What kind of relationship did we have if a man I’ve known for one day can make me feel more than Wyatt did in two years? The anger bubbles up, but now it’s grappling for attention with my own confusion and the desire that I have for Will. It’s exhausting.
I open my eyes to see Anna looking at the two of us. She’s taking everything in from the way Will’s arm is tucked around my waist to the way I’ve relaxed against him. Seeing me looking, she gives me a small smile. I understand her wariness and I’m grateful for it. If anyone is going to keep me safe, it’s Anna. She would have tracked down Wyatt and done him some serious bodily harm if I had let her.
We pull into the airport, but not into the terminal like regular passengers. It is exactly like the movies where we head directly out onto the tarmac where the plane is waiting. The driver of the car passes our bags to the flight staff as we board. My friends are whispering and giggling, and I don’t blame them. This isn’t exactly how we thought we’d be going home today. It’s more than overwhelming. As we board the plane behind them, a thought strikes me, and I turn to face Will as he finishes climbing the stairs. “If you want to give this a try, how is it going to work if we’re long distance.”
“We’re not,” he says lightly. “I’m from New York too.”
“How do you know I’m from New York?”
“You told me,” he says, “last night, over champagne and strawberries. This was before the wedding. It’s one of the reasons I agreed.”
He moves to walk past me, and I grab his arm, stopping him. “Wait, ‘agreed?’”
“Agreed to marry you. It was your idea.”
He moves past me and tells the pilot we’re ready to take off, leaving me gawking in the galley of the plane.
5
The girls have all taken seats around a table when I enter the cabin. I approach, thankful that they’re at one end of the cabin, and that Will and I will have some relative privacy at the other end. “I need to ask Will some questions about exactly what happened last night. I’ll wave to you guys if I need a rescue or something.”
Anna nods. “A bird call or smoke signal would be appropriate.”
“Noted,” I say, unable to keep the smile off my face.
Will comes into the cabin, and I gesture with my head to the other end of the plane. “We need to talk.”
“Okay.”
I take a seat near a window at the back of the plane, and he sits across from me. “I need you to tell me what happened last night. What I said, what exactly happened. Because I agreed to give this a shot, but I can’t do that if I keep getting blindsided by stuff like ‘getting married was your idea.’”
“That seems fair,” Will says, settling forward with his elbows on his knees. “Tell me how much you remember.”
I lean forward too, and now are faces are close and I’m distracted by the scent of his cologne and the proximity of his lips. “I remember the club, and the private room, and everything that happened in there.” A blush creeps up my cheeks, but I have to get through this. “I remember your hotel room, and the sex. At least the first two times we had it. After that it gets a bit fuzzy. If I try hard I can remember glimpses of champagne. Nothing after that until the morning.”