“Already on it.”
The other person that affected my change of heart about the camping trip, was surprisingly my mother.
Sylvia Hartley was a bitch to everyone, her kids included. I imagined she would be livid because of Clem’s pregnancy. She wasn’t happy about how the situation was unfolding, but she tried to be supportive. If she was trying, why couldn’t I?
So, I was now standing at the airport, preparing myself for all the time I would have to spend at that camping trip.
“Where is your girl?” Nick asked me. He was seeing Hannah off.
My sunglasses hid the glance I sent her way. Her smug face made me want to turn the things around. To make her uncomfortable.
“Tracy is my fuck buddy,” I said loudly enough for the deaf ninety-year-old grandma three rows behind us to hear. Hannah coughed out a lung, choking on her coffee.
“I had a fuck buddy in college. It didn’t end well,” Nick said while he patted his girlfriend on the back.
“Yeah, most girls tend to catch feelings,” I knew that comment would rile Hannah up. “You have to pick them carefully. I rarely make the mistake to get involved with girls that are high maintenance.”
Hannah’s chest rose slowly as she inhaled a deep, soothing breath. She was offended. I wasn’t talking about her specifically, but she was exactly that type of a girl. She wanted love. She wasn’t the type of girl to let loose and have casual sex just for the pleasure of it.
Too bad for her that Dr. Douchebag wasn’t that interested in her. It was written all over his face on Sunday when he checked out Tracy’s ass on her way to my office. He was probably keeping Hannah around for the same reason I texted Tracy to come over that day. Sex without effort.
“We should go,” Hannah said, and I got up, giving the two of them some privacy. That consisted in me taking three steps away and turning around to watch them say goodbye.
Nick whispered something in her ear, and she smiled. Then he grabbed her by the waist and kissed her way more enthusiastically that I had seen so far. I still thought he wasn’t that into her, so maybe he was marking his territory. I would, if I was sending my girlfriend away with someone like me.
I took my phone out and shot a text to Chloe. Just to check on them.
What should I bring Liam from California?
For a moment I allowed myself to imagine taking him with me. Then I dismissed the idea. The boy belonged with his mother.
When Hannah finally got enough of sucking Nick’s tonsils, she hugged him and strolled over to me, moving her hand luggage from one hand to the other, avoiding eye contact. I was about to ask her if she wanted help with her bag, but she spoke out first.
“You’re a dick.”
And you will be carrying your own shit, sunshine.
“Women tend to associate me with that organ.”
“Maybe because that is the only organ you give them.”
“Why change something that works?” I teased and waited for her sassy answer. It never came, so I continued. “At least I don’t lie and pretend that I can give them something more.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
We stopped at the end of the line of people waiting to board the plane. I was right behind her. She was so close I could smell her. Jasmine and coconut. I leaned in to whisper in her ear.
“Your boyfriend wouldn’t mind switching you up with my fuck buddy.”
It was a rude and offensive comment, but it was also true. Hannah shook her head, not bothering to look back at me.
“You see yourself in others, Tyler.”
“He wants to fuck other women.”
“He can acknowledge the fact a woman is sexy without it meaning anything more than that. And even if it’s true, I judge people by their actions. Nick didn’t do anything wrong.”
“Calling my fuck buddy hot in front of his girlfriend seconds after he wiped his drool off his face seems like something wrong to me. Unless you are into threesomes and open relationships? Knowing you, I doubt it.”
She whirled around to face me, her eyes narrowed to slits.
“Thank you for the analysis of my relationship, but maybe try to stick to topics that you are more familiar with. Love isn’t one of them.”
“You think that’s love?” I asked. “The guy barely registered the fact you are going away with another man for four days.”
“I am not going away with you. We are just traveling together.”
“And why are we doing that?” I pretended to think about it. “Oh, right. Because you wanted us to.”
“Only because I want to keep an eye on you. I don’t want to you to land and immediately board a plane back to Boston, just because you can’t handle acting like a grownup.”
I heard the people behind me mumbling that we were holding up the line. Hannah was too engaged in your exchange that she didn’t notice there was a gap between us and the people in front of us, big enough to fit at least four people.
I liked it. Her losing track of her surroundings, having no clue we were making a scene. I couldn’t wait to see her face. She would probably blush and excuse herself to the people behind us until we landed in California.
“The truth is, little Spencer, that you could have told him I was going to fuck you senseless for the duration of the flight and he wouldn’t care.”
“He knows I’m not into assholes.”
“Well, that is a flat out lie considering our history and your current boyfriend. He’s a douchebag.”
“Takes one to know one.”
“Exactly,” I winked at her.
“Excuse me,” a woman behind me intervened. “Miss, do you mind? Some of us need to board the plane.”
Hannah turned around and saw there was no one on her side of the line. “Oh. I’m so sorry.” She practically ran ahead mumbling something under her breath.
“I can’t hear you,” I teased even though I knew she wasn’t talking to me. About me, yes. But not to me.
“Believe me, Tyler. You don’t want to hear what I have to say to you right now.”
We boarded the plane in silence. I passed by her seat, leaving her there without a word. It was a good thing we weren’t spending the next six-and-a-half hours sitting together.
I found my seat and checked on her before I sat down. I could see her from here. She wasn’t looking at me at all. The silent treatment didn’t bother me at all. It was perfect. For about half an hour. Then I got bored. And then I got anxious. About leaving Chloe and Liam. About Patrick Hayes.
But the thing that disturbed me the most was the fact I was going back home. I loved how isolated I was in Boston, so far away from the family drama. I didn’t even remember the last time I went back. It was more than a year ago for sure.
I needed a distraction. Something to help me stop thinking about going back home. I thought about ordering a drink, but little Spencer treated me like an alcoholic already and I usually drank for fun, not to avoid my problems. Getting drunk on a plane seemed like it would create more problems than it would solve.
Sex was the other thing I usually used as a distraction. I doubted Hannah would volunteer to help me with that, so I caught the gaze of one of the flight attendants and smiled at her. She approached me, asking if I needed anything. For the next hour she pretended I was just another man she was obligated to talk to, up until the moment we were full-blown flirting regardless of the disapproving looks of the passengers around us.