Don’t Pass Go
DON’T PASS GO
RACHEL
Getting on this plane ranks somewhere near the top of the stupidest ideas I’ve ever had. Dating Andrew was number one. Moving in with Amanda Tate my sophomore year of college was number two. That’s an entirely different story, but a lot of jewelry and clothing went missing that year.
The plane sped down the runway, and my heart thumped at an even greater speed. Two glasses of wine did nothing to calm me. I pushed myself into the back of the seat, my nails digging into the cheap foam of the armrests. The plane groaned as it lifted off the runway. It rattled and shook along with my insides. My breathing increased, and for a moment, I felt as though there was no air.
And that’s when Cam’s hand touched me softly. I jolted, my eyes opening.
Cam’s expression had softened for the first time since he picked me up. He wrapped a chiseled arm around me, pulling me to him. He took my hand in his and squeezed.
“You’re okay,” he whispered. “There’s always a few bumps during landing and takeoff, but those are perfectly normal. Just breathe.”
I nuzzled my head into his shoulder and focused on the steady rise and fall of his chest.
In.
Out.
In.
Out.
The plane climbed, but my heart rate slowed from a gallop to a trot. Cam’s familiar cedar and citrus scent acted like another embrace that further settled my nerves. He leaned his head on mine. We fit together perfectly and I felt the world simply falling away. I focused less on all the creaks and moans of the metal bird and more on the soothing baritone of his voice, telling me over and over again that it was going to be okay.
And at that moment, it was.
Nothing had ever felt so right to me than being in his arms. My weighted eyes closed, and it was only when the flight attendant touched my arm sometime later that I realized both Cam and I had dozed off.
“We’re already there?” I asked, a wave of relief sweeping through me.
“Unfortunately, we’re unable to continue on to Miami due to a minor mechanical issue. We’ll be diverting to Denver,” the flight attendant said. “We are making our descent, if you could both bring your seats back up.”
“Mechanical issue?” I asked, the panic rising in my voice.
“It’s nothing serious at all, but we need to address it before we continue to Miami.” She forced a smile and continued down the aisle.
My eyes met Cam’s teal pools, and my cheeks heated. He cleared his throat and pulled away, bringing his seat up. I followed, my heart rising into my throat when the plane shook again.
Cam set his open palm on the center armrest. “The mountains. Denver is always like this.”
I managed a faint smile and wrapped my hand in his. When the flight attendant trotted by, I reached out to get her attention.
“Excuse me,” I said. “Uh, what does diverting to Denver mean?”
“We’re here overnight, I’m afraid. They’ll have vouchers for accommodations at the check-in counter once you disembark. We’ll reboard tomorrow at 10:35 p.m. All the new flight information will be on the United app or in your account.”
After several more drops and jolts, all I could do was squeeze Cam’s hand until I broke his bones and close my eyes.
“You’re doing great,” he soothed. “We’re almost there.”
The plane touched down, and I instinctively jammed my foot on an invisible brake pedal. The sound of the plane screeching across the runway reverberated in my ears, and just when I thought I couldn’t take it anymore, it slowed and finally came to a stop.
“Oh, thank goodness,” I panted, ripping off my seatbelt.
Cam chuckled. “You made it. Only five more hours to go once we actually get going again.”
“Yeah, not helping, but thank you.” My eyes lingered on his face, his wild and wavy hair … his full lips.
“Kicklighter?” Cam said, eyebrows raised. “We can get off now.”
“Right, sorry.” I shuffled out of my seat, and Cam urged me to go while he grabbed the carry-ons.
Once we filtered out into the airport, Cam took one look at the line at the check-out counter and tugged on my arm.
“But, our voucher,” I insisted.
“Probably for a shitty airport hotel. Let’s head downtown since we have a lot of time to kill before we leave tomorrow. I padded some extra time on the front end of our trip.”
Cam helped me into the car that would take us to the Four Seasons. He then went to help the man load my many bags—bags that I now realized contained a totally ridiculous and unnecessary amount of stuff. I leaned back and grasped my head with my hand.
“Are you feeling okay?” Cam asked, sliding into the seat next to me.
“Fine,” I sighed.
“Did you kiss that prick before we left?”
My eyes widened. “I … I’m sorry?”
“Right before I arrived. You kissed him, didn’t you?”
“No, I did not. He lunged at me, kissed me, and I slapped him.”
He pursed his lips. “Why was he in your house in the first place?”
Thoughts swirled in my head, and I paused. Cam, stared at me with a look that mixed concern with frustration.
“We’re friends, right?”
He arched his brows. “What?”
“Whatever this thing is between us, at the very least, we’re friends, yes?”
“That’s a safe assumption.”
“So we can bypass all the bullshit about how to act on first dates where we don’t show our true selves, don’t really order anything to eat in case something gives us garlic breath, and we don’t talk about our crazy exes?”
Cam laughed. “Since you heard me puking my guts out in my bathroom and I told you all about Britt, I think we’re way past worrying about all that. Especially since we wrote into the rules that these aren’t dates.”
“Good.” I sat up and turned to Cam. “When my Ring sounded, I thought it was you. I wished it was you, but it was Andrew. He wanted to talk, and for sheer curiosity’s sake, I thought I’d hear him out.”
“So you did kiss him?”
“I told you. He kissed me as I was trying to kick him out. Anyway, do you ever look at a photo of Britt or see her and think … why? Why was I ever with her?”
“Every time,” Cam said, his expression softening.
“When Andrew came to the door, I let him in out of sheer curiosity to hear what he was going to say. He started to drone on with this ridiculously fake apology, and I honestly have no idea what he even said, I was so preoccupied with answering the question of why. My mind started to flip through the pages of our memories searching for the reason I was ever attracted to him. Then he lunged at me and kissed me.”
Cam diverted his eyes toward the city lights rushing by outside the car. “And how was it?”
“Like kissing a fresh-caught fish flailing around on a boat.”
Cam chuckled. “Sounds terrible.”
“It was, and it also didn’t answer the why .”
“You can’t penalize your present self for what your past self has done. You were young and you were into him then. You’ve changed. We all make mistakes.”
“A mistake I don’t want to repeat, but I seem to be on that same path.”
“You think you’re going to make the same mistakes?” Cam asked.
“I feel like I already am … with you.”
His expression shifted and he pointed at his chest. “With me?”
“When I was with Andrew, I couldn’t be myself. I was constantly trying to impress him to keep his attention, and I realized the only way I could do that would be to change everything about myself in order to be the person I thought he wanted me to be. I lost myself entirely.”
“And is that why you wore the yellow sundress and heels on an overnight flight? To impress me?”
I nodded. “I really wanted to wear my joggers, tank top, and glasses, but I don’t know, I thought that if I?—”
“Kicklighter…” he touched my hand. “I’m already impressed with you.”
“You are?”
“Yes. You’re beautiful whether you’re wearing your glasses or not. You’re thoughtful, caring, and it was pretty damn cool watching you hang all that wall art in my mom’s house without even measuring anything. That seriously blew my mind.”
A quiet warmth unfurled in my chest. “Oh, thank you.”
“You should always be yourself with me.”
“But, ‘myself,’” I said, making air quotes, “is a woman who blurts out whatever she’s thinking, is obsessed with potatoes in all forms, and is, as you’ve found out, deathly afraid of flying.”
“She sounds great,” Cam said. “And the nice thing about our arrangement is all of that doesn’t matter since we are friends helping each other out while keeping things uncomplicated. So, be yourself. That’s the only person I want to do this with.”
A smile spread across my face. “Okay.”
Cam shook his head. “Were you trying to impress me by bringing four pieces of luggage? It would’ve been more impressive if you had only brought one.”
I lifted my shoulders. “No, that’s me. I wanted to prepare for every type of scenario, and I do like wearing dresses when the occasion calls.”
“As long as one of those bags contains those llama pajamas, that’s all that matters.”
“They appreciate you asking about them, but since we aren’t sharing a room, it doesn’t look like you’ll be seeing them.”
I should’ve known by the way this evening was going that I would be filing that statement under “famous last words.”