Chapter Ten
Ten
Alistair
The chance to love and be loved exists no matter where you are.
—Oprah Winfrey
“What am I doing?” I asked myself as I looked at the bouquet of grocery store flowers sitting in the passenger seat of my rental car. I was cutting it dangerously close with my flight, but I didn’t really give a shit.
Since last night, all I could think about was her. Her laugh, her smile, her scent—the way her body felt pressed against mine. I’d spent the entire morning waffling over whether it was appropriate to text her, and even then, I wasn’t sure what I was supposed to say.
Something about this just felt so necessary. I wanted—no, needed—to show her how interested I was.
My nerves peaked as I turned onto her street, my clammy hands slipping along the leather of the steering wheel.
If this didn’t go over well, that was the end of it. I’d board my flight with a bruised ego and call it a day.
I pulled into her driveway, and before I could even put the car in park, Pam walked out the front door and onto the porch.
All right, Al. It’s now or never.
Taking a deep breath, I grabbed the flowers and exited the car.
“Al, is everything all right?” she asked, her eyes darting between my face and the flowers.
“Pam, listen. I know my profile on Mate Match said I’m looking for something casual, but I like you.
I mean really like you.” I joined her on the porch and grabbed her hand.
“I know you have your own life here, but I want to see where this goes. Date me, Pam Rollins. I’ll understand if you say no because of the distance, but please just give me a chance? ”
I held the flowers out toward her, and she looked at them, her mouth hanging open.
Was it shock? Surprise? Disgust? I couldn’t really tell.
Right when I was about to pull back the bouquet and regret the entire thing, she took it from me and held it against her chest.
“All right,” she said with a nod and a watery-eyed smile.
“All right?” I asked, sounding a little too eager.
“Mm-hmm. I’d love to date you, Alistair Reid. But I have to tell you, I’ve never done this before.”
I laughed and leaned in closer. “That’s all right, because I’ve never done this before, either. We’ll figure it out together.”
She stared down at the flowers. “I thought you were just going to stop messaging me and disappear.”
“Gods, Pam. I’d never ghost you. Do you know how many times I typed out a ‘good morning’ text earlier, then went back and deleted it? I didn’t want to come on too strong. But you know”—my nose wrinkled, and I gestured at the flowers—“it, uh, seems like I’m doing that anyway.”
She tilted her head and stared at me, her green eyes sparkling behind the lenses of her glasses. “I happen to think it’s romantic.”
“Well, let me up the ante.”
Bending down, I threaded my fingers through her hair and kissed her—and I mean really kissed her. If I didn’t have a flight to catch, I’d take her inside and…
“Shit,” I mumbled against her lips. “My flight.”
She pulled away and trailed her fingers down my chest. “You should go. I don’t want you to miss it.”
I could see the pain in her eyes, but the longer we drew this out, the harder it would be.
“All right,” I said, and nuzzled the side of her face. “But I promise I’ll text you as soon as I can, okay?”
“Okay.” She ran her hand through the curls along the side of my face and kissed my nose. “Have a safe flight.”
“I will.” I gave her one last smile, darted off the porch, and hopped into my car.
It was cute that she was worried about me.
I drove to the airport, returned my rental car, and barely managed to make my flight. I received some disgruntled stares from the flight attendants as they scanned my ticket and closed the door behind me.
“Excuse me,” I mumbled as I shimmied my way down the aisle.
I hated flying.
Not because I feared the plane would crash or anything, but because it was so damn uncomfortable.
The little tin cans in the sky weren’t engineered for monsters and humans with larger bodies in mind.
The airlines packed you in like sardines to make the largest profit they could.
Sure, flying first class helped tremendously, but that wasn’t cost-effective for most folks.
I pulled the blue alien book from my carry-on before shoving it into the overhead storage. When I told Pam I would read it on my return flight, I meant it. She’d enjoyed this book, and I wanted to know why; I wanted to be able to discuss it with her.
It wasn’t long before we were in the air, and once the flight attendant brought me my drink order—a whiskey on the rocks—I dug into the book.
Gods, what an opening scene.
The alien woke her up by eating her out and called her clit a “third nipple.”
A third nipple between her legs.
It was one of the most unhinged yet hilarious things I had ever heard. I couldn’t believe that Pam—sweet-stranger-to-oral-sex Pam—read this sort of thing. It was funny, it was romantic, and judging by how tight my pants felt, it was pretty fucking hot.
I grabbed my phone, snapped a pic of my place in the book, and sent it to Pam courtesy of the in-flight Wi-Fi plan I’d purchased. She responded almost immediately.
Pam: Oh my gosh. You’re actually reading it. That’s one of my favorite parts.
Alistair: I told you I was going to! It’s a lot spicier than I anticipated.
She responded with the blushing smiley face emoji, which I could picture as her exact expression. Not wanting her to feel embarrassed, I quickly added another message.
Alistair: I’m enjoying it.
Pam: I’m glad. You have to finish it and read book two. That one is my favorite. Did you make your flight?
I pulled up my shopping app and searched for the second book in the series. I was enjoying this, and if book two was her favorite…
Purchased.
Alistair: Just barely. I’ll be landing soon.
Pam: When you get home, will you send me pictures of your house? I want to see it.
My house.
I lived in a modern cabin perched on the side of a mountain.
It had it all: sleek angles, cedar siding, a sundeck, huge windows, and a view that was to die for.
But with each passing year, it felt less and less like home.
That was typical, I guess, because I had no one to share it with.
When I arrived home tonight, there would be no one there to greet me.
No familiar face or affectionate touches, just silence.
But if I video-chatted with Pam, it wouldn’t be silent.
Alistair: We can video chat and I’ll give you the grand tour.
Pam: I’d love that.