Chapter 9 Ellis #2
After I hang up on them, I drag my feet back to an empty seat.
Leaning back, I fold my arms across my chest and close my eyes.
It takes great effort to calm my breaths, especially with how these might just be the most stressful moments of my life.
It doesn’t help that the group of people berating the airline for the delay are still going at it.
I glance at my watch.
Damon should be boarding soon. He’s going to go to Anchorage and have a great break with his family.
With his two younger sisters. He’s probably going to have a boatload of banana bread and do whatever else it is that people in functioning families do.
God, they’re probably going to watch Love, Actually again.
He seems to have the type of family who’d insist on still doing it, just for tradition and all that stupid shit.
I’ve never had that.
Ever.
Even now, maybe the reason I’m not so angry about the delay is because I know that all that’s waiting for me back in Tampa is an empty apartment.
My phone buzzes with a new message, and my heart jumps when I read it.
Dee: Boarding soon. Take care, Ellis.
What does it say about me that I wish he’d have called me sweetheart instead?
This… this man. How can a simple five word text shake me to the core?
I’ve never been this hung up on one man before.
And thing is, I’m pretty sure he knows it.
How else would he get the courage to lay out his cards that way?
He’s got the upper hand on me. He’s got all the leverage.
He made it seem like it’s my decision now, but we both know I was done for before he even asked.
There’s a round of mocking applause around me, and when I snap my head up, I notice it’s because the screen for my flight has changed from delayed to boarding now.
But instead of getting up for that, what I do instead is crazy.
I head for Damon’s gate instead, as fast as my legs can take me.
***
His flight’s boarding when I finally make it to his gate.
My cheeks are flushed and my breaths are coming out in sharp gasps.
God, I’m no athlete, but I can’t believe that dash took away my oxygen.
Should really look into getting into shape or something.
Dragging my stupid carry-on suitcase didn’t make it any easier.
I should have left it behind. What’s losing all my clothes and my laptop, anyway? I don’t need that shit.
Right now, all I need is to talk to Damon.
Badly.
I can’t see him. There’s a mass of people queuing for the boarding gate, and I can’t see him.
I can’t see his dark hair and his massive shoulders.
I can’t see his gray eyes anywhere. Oh, God.
He’s already on the plane, isn’t he? I missed my fucking chance.
I won’t be able to see him until next year, and maybe by then, maybe he’ll have come to his senses and decided that asking to date me is a horrible idea.
I mean, I agree, but for some minutes there I was convinced I could do it. Okay, maybe this is for the best. This is the universe saying—
“Ellis?” calls a familiar, deep voice from behind me.
I spin around so absurdly fast that I almost faint from the rush.
Damon catches me when I lose my footing, grabbing me by my arms and holding me steady, because that’s what he’s good at. Always. He’s good at steadying me. At keeping my feet on the ground.
“What are you doing?” he asks, panicked. “Your flight’s boarding. I heard the announcement. It’s going to leave—”
Nobody’s more surprised than I am when I wrap my arms around his neck and pull him closer. His words get cut off when I press my mouth against his, hard. Damon tastes like the stupid banana bread he’s so obsessed with.
And when I pull away, he gives me a wide-eyed look. I watch as he brushes his fingers against his mouth.
“Ellis…?” he asks, voice weak. His cheeks are so red. So goddamn adorable, really. “What’s going on?”
“Needed to tell you something important,” I say, breathless. “Westley and Vaughn are together. They’re dating. They came to their senses.”
His eyes widen, and then the cutest smile spreads across his face. It’s so dorky and adorable that all my willpower goes into not climbing him like a tree here and now.
“Really!?” he asks. “That’s… that’s fucking awesome. But… you’re missing your flight to tell me that? And… you kissed me? Why?”
Goddamn. He never lets me get away with anything, does he?
My eyes dart to the line leading to his boarding gate. It’s getting thinner. One of the staff members glances at us, probably wondering if we’re getting on. Damon should probably go if he doesn’t want to miss his flight home.
I shouldn’t be dropping a bomb on him when he should be boarding a plane.
But… I’m done. It’s over. I can’t not be true to what I want, and I can’t wait until after the holidays to tell him.
“I want to date you,” I say quickly. “Damon. Baby. Let’s do it.”
His mouth parts. “A-are you…? Wait, are you for real?”
“Yes!” I grab the front of his shirt and yank him.
It does nothing. He stays completely still and unmoved.
“I want to try. I should have given you my number two years ago, Damon. It’s something I’ve never been able to get out of my head.
Dating scares me. It fucking petrifies me. But you make me want to try.”
He gives me a stunned look, still not saying anything.
Jesus Christ. After all that talk from earlier, now he’s tongue-tied? I can’t have that, so I grab his face and say, “Can I kiss you?”
Damon’s eyebrows furrow and he studies my face. It makes me feel seen—way too fucking seen.
“You don’t do that,” he states, the corner of his mouth curling upward. There’s a glint in his eyes. It’s not unkind, though.
“I want it.” I don’t even attempt to hide the desperation in my voice. “I don’t date, either, and I don’t spend holidays with other people’s families—but I’m doing all that, because you asked. What do you say?”
He sucks in a breath.
Then Damon leans down, and his mouth collides with mine again.
He dives in again and again, holding me by the back of my head. Damon kisses me in a way that leaves me dazed. It weakens me in the knees.
He kisses me deeper, again and again, and a fire starts to simmer in me.
It’s intoxicating.
We should have done this much sooner.
Damon grins. “Come on. Flight’s boarding but maybe we can somehow still get you a ticket.”
“What if we can’t?”
“Then we’ll catch the next one.”
I snicker. “And if we can’t, I guess we’ll unfortunately have to share a hotel room again tonight.”
“Deal, sweetheart,” he murmurs, giving me that sweet smile of his that makes my heart beat rapidly.
“Deal.”