Chapter 41
Chapter
“What are you sorry for?”
As far as I’m concerned, he just defended my honor. Against his friend, no less.
“For not seeing how Vernon truly was.” George clenches and unclenches his fist, then shoves out of my car before I can think of a way to reply.
He leaves the door open, so I can hear his muttering as he paces.
“Half the students we get are funded by their parents. He fucking knows that. Giving you a hard time just because he can.” He drags his hands over his buzz cut while he emits a noise very much like a growl.
At a more sedate pace, I also climb out of the car.
“George, you don’t need to apologize.” Circling around to his side of the car, I still keep my distance because he seems intent on furious pacing. “You can’t control how people treat me.”
He pauses mid-step, turning a harried gaze on me. “This is my fault.”
“What is? No, it’s not.”
“You didn’t think you could tell me.” His big hand grips the back of his neck.
“I…” Well, he’s not wrong. But he’s also not entirely to blame. “I have a habit of doing that,” I admit. “Not telling people things.”
I didn’t want to tell Shawn about his dad.
I didn’t want to tell Mom about Shawn’s money.
And I didn’t want to tell George that the mentor he idolizes makes me feel like garbage.
“You didn’t think I’d choose you over him,” he says, not a question.
“It’s not about choosing.” I shrug, my eyes on the toes of my shoes. “I didn’t want to ruin your relationship.”
George’s mom may have been the first person to take him flying, but Vernon was the one who taught him. The one who fostered his love of aircraft. When Mr. Bunsen dismissed his son, George found a mentor in his flight instructor.
“You didn’t ruin anything,” George insists.
“He’s like your family.”
“He is an old friend,” George admits. “But he’s self-absorbed, and honestly, the longer I’ve known him, the more I’ve realized he’s a shitty instructor.
Vernon is more interested in bragging than teaching.
And I was too fucking dense to realize how condescending he was being to you and probably every other woman who’s ever considered joining the club.
” He steps up to me, into my space. “You mean more to me than he ever could. You mean everything.” George’s large warm hands cup my face, tilting my chin up until I have to meet his granite gaze. “I love you.”
“See,” I murmur, my eyes watering with happy tears, “this is a better time to say it.”
He closes his eyes and settles his forehead against mine.
“You don’t have to say it back,” he mutters. “I don’t deserve your love, honestly.”
“That’s some bullshit.”
He huffs a sad laugh, and I drag my fingers over his skull.
“I do, though,” I whisper. “Love you.”
His entire body tenses, but I keep going.
“When I was up there today, alone for the first time, I was terrified. And euphoric. And sad.”
“Why sad?”
“Because the person on the ground waiting for me wasn’t you. And I always want it to be. You’re my home base. The one I always want to be flying back to.”