Chapter 10 #2
I don’t say goodbye to Hendrix. He doesn’t say anything to me either, but I feel his gaze on me as I walk away, like an electric current running up my spine.
Definitely not going to be awkward at all between us.
I can already tell Elena and I are going to be good friends.
When she turned around and exclaimed, “Oh, thank God. This group needs another female to liven it up a bit,” I couldn’t help but laugh.
She then proceeded to boot her husband out of his seat so I could sit across from her as the plane taxied out of the gate and left LAX for Miami. Elena explains that we start in Florida because it’s “hot as balls,” and it’s better to get it out of the way in late spring rather than summer.
I can’t argue with that logic.
Over the next five months, I’ll visit sixteen states and fourteen countries.
In the last thirty years, with the exception of my honeymoon, I’ve barely left California.
“So…are you ready for this?” Elena asks about an hour into the flight.
We’ve already gone through the basic get-to-know-you stuff.
She’s a lawyer turned suspense author who publishes under a super-secret pen name she doesn’t share with anyone.
She likes keeping that part of her life separate from this one.
She’s originally from Texas, but her family moved to Virginia when she was in high school. She had a brother, but he died several years ago in a ferry accident off the coast of North Carolina. It’s through her best friend, Marin, that she met Zander. Their husbands are brothers.
“If you’re asking if I’m prepared to do my job, then yes.
My medical bag is stocked, and I’ve got everything I need to set up a pretty sweet med station backstage,” I answer, biting the corner of my lip as I look across the aisle where Marisa is sleeping soundly in her car seat, which is buckled to one of the plush leather seats.
“But if you’re asking about anything outside of that, then no.
I have no idea what to expect, even if I’m ready for it. ”
“That’s fair.” She nods, leaning back against the seat, which looks like a damn recliner. Nothing on this plane seems like it belongs on a plane. No boxy carts that run over your feet or pull-out trays in this baby.
No, everything is hand-delivered, and it is all bougie as fuck.
Even my Diet Coke is served in a fancy glass with a lime wedge.
“I was really nervous in the beginning too, but I had Zander to fall back on. I can’t imagine what it must feel like to just be thrown into all this.”
“Is it that bad?”
She shakes her head. “No. Manic is pretty tame. Or at least they are now. The scandal with Mitch mellowed them out, plus they’re older now.”
“Yeah, the thirties are brutal.”
She laughs, but is quickly interrupted by Marisa, who makes it clear she is no longer asleep. Before long, Elena has her in her arms and is gently rocking next to her seat, but Marisa is not having it.
I notice her tugging at her ear.
“Do you have a bottle or a pacifier?” I ask.
“No, I’m still breastfeeding,” she answers. “But she’s starting to wean herself, I think. She’s down to once or twice a day.”
“Think she’ll be up for it now?”
She shrugs. “Maybe. Why?”
“Her ears may be bothering her. It could be due to a change in pressure. Could be something more. Have you noticed her fussing with her ears?”
She shakes her head. “No, but she’s had ear infections in the past.”
“Well, let’s see if she’ll let you feed her, and if it’s just the cabin pressure, it should help. In the future, we can have you do this when we take off and land, or if that’s too much for her, we can look into getting her something to suck on during those times.”
She’s already taking her seat again and getting comfortable, lifting her shirt and starting to unclasp the top hook on her nursing bra.
Suddenly, a tall, tattooed man stands in front of her. “Whoa, what the fuck, Louie?”
Who’s Louie?
“What do you mean, what the fuck?” God, she mimics her husband’s deep voice perfectly. Chef’s kiss.
“You can’t just—” He struggles to finish his sentence as Elena looks up at him with an annoyed expression. “The guys are like right there.”
“And?”
“And those”—he waves a hand toward her chest and drops his voice to a whisper—“are for my eyes only.”
“Jesus Christ, Z,” she mutters. “You are ridiculous. No one is gonna be looking at my tits when they’re attached to our kid.”
He turns to look at the rest of the band, Ridge, and the other random people I haven’t met. Only a handful can hear what is happening, and it happens to be Hendrix, Darius, and Asher.
Hendrix holds up his hands, eyes firmly on the floor. “You know I’m scared of anything baby-related.”
I snort out a laugh. Why does that not surprise me?
Asher has his head buried in a book. I haven’t had much of a chance to check him out yet. We haven’t even been properly introduced, but I take this moment to observe him.
Okay, not so much observe as blatantly check out.
There is a reason this man is on the covers of magazines on a regular basis. He is like Harry Styles hot. His floppy brown hair is pushed behind his ear, showing off some seriously chiseled cheekbones. And he’s wearing glasses. That’s like a nerdy girl’s kryptonite.
He acts like he’s in another world, buried in that book. He doesn’t even bother to look up and just waves at Zander, as if he’s shooing away a fly.
Darius, on the other hand, has his full attention and tosses a hand in the air. “What if I told you my interests were purely academic?”
“Get the fuck out of here,” Zander growls.
“Yes, sir.” He jumps out of his seat and heads further down the aisle toward the bar, cackling like a lunatic the whole way.
Yes, a bar. This plane is ridiculous.
“You happy now?” Elena looks up at him. She sounds annoyed, but the grin she’s struggling to hide suggests otherwise. “Can I feed our daughter now, or do you need to question Zara too?”
I hold up my hands in protest. “Not into girls, but even if I were, I’m a doctor. And a professional.”
“Right.” Zander nods. “Yeah. Of course.”
He’s still staring down at his wife, but his somewhat insane caveman expression has softened as he watches her go through the motions of unhooking her bra and nursing their child at her breast. She looks up at him once Marissa quiets, no doubt soothed by the feel of her mother’s touch, and I find myself turning away.
The love they share is palpable, so painfully obvious in the way they look at each other. I can’t help but wonder…
Did Tanner ever look at me like that? I’m not so sure.
Because I’m starting to wonder if our whole marriage was nothing but a scam.