I wondered what would Hannah say about me fucking someone on a plane. I was dying to turn around and see if she was outraged.
The flight attendant invited me to follow her. I got up from my seat and I my gaze flew in Hannah’s direction before I could stop myself. The need to provoke her was just too strong.
She was looking at me, but I wasn’t expecting that expression on her face. She wasn’t disgusted or disappointed. Her face was blank, her gaze pinned on mine.
Everyone thought I slept around with everything that moved, but that wasn’t true. I had a lot of sex, but I was selective.
In that particular moment, I wanted to sleep with the flight attendant to distract myself and it would be a form of a middle finger to my family. Hannah would probably share what I did with Clementine. And I wanted to cement the fact I didn’t care about their opinion of me. That I wasn’t going to play by their rules.
But then again, I was going back home because I was becoming an uncle soon. Clem turned her life around. Was I going to be the one to never change? Stuck in one place? Never moving forward? That wasn’t my plan when I left California after I graduated.
I tore my gaze away from Hannah’s and I followed the flight attendant to where she was waiting for me. I politely declined her invitation and returned to my seat. I allowed myself one last look at Hannah. She was looking down at her book. For the rest of the flight, I tried not be annoyed by the smirk I saw on her face.
***
We arrived in California and went straight to Clementine’s apartment. I knew she had lived there for a few years now, but I had no idea where it was. I had never come to visit her. For the first time since we met at the airport, I was glad Hannah was there with me. She knew where we were supposed to go.
One look at Clem’s face when she opened the door made it clear that she had just vomited or was about to.
“You look like shit, little monster,” I planted a kiss on her forehead and went inside. The floor was covered with open half full boxes. I peeked inside a few of them. “Trouble in paradise?” She rolled her eyes in such a Clem fashion I couldn’t help but grin. There was still a hater somewhere in there.
“The only trouble I have is that I want to sleep twenty hours a day and I have to pack everything by the end of the week. We are moving out.” Clem looked at me with a weak but happy smile. “We bought a house.”
“You bought a house?” I asked, confused, and looked at Hannah who didn’t actually react at all to the news. Clem had already told her.
“Yeah, we have to leave the apartment on Monday. I told Lucas I could handle packing, but all I do is sleep.”
“Is he blind?” I asked. They both shot me an annoyed look and Clem continued.
“He won’t be able to help me on the weekend, because of the camping trip.”
“We will help you,” Hannah said, honey dripping from her mouth, and gently pushed my sister towards a door. “Go take a nap. Tyler and I will stay and pack everything.”
I tilted my head back, looking at the ceiling. Of course Hannah Spencer would volunteer to help, the people pleaser that she was. I looked back down the moment I heard a door closing. We were alone.
“We will pack everything?” I raised a brow. Hannah smiled at me like she had my balls in one hand and a hammer in the other and was just waiting for me to contradict her.
“Yes.”
“You planned this all along, didn’t you?”
“Yes.” Her smile grew even bigger.
“Can’t we hire someone to do it for us? I don’t want to accidently find something I shouldn’t see.”
“Like what? A dead body?” She peeked in the box next to her.
“My sister’s lingerie? Their sex toys?” I shook my head and added. “Now that I think about it, I don’t want to see Lucas’s underwear either.”
“Okay, I’ll pack Clem’s dildos and Lucas’s thongs. You can take care of the dishes in the kitchen.”
“You are the one that offered to help. I’m starting to get a little annoyed with you two,” I pointed to Clementine’s bedroom with my chin. “I agreed to go on a camping trip. I’m not here to bend over backwards and do everything Clementine and Lucas can totally do on their own by the way.”
Hannah turned her back to me, not at all impressed with my attitude. She took her phone out of her purse and dialed someone.
“Hey, Lucas. We are at your place, helping Clem pack.” She paused then giggled. “Yes. I sent her to bed and offered to do it for her.” Another pause. “No. Keep pretending you didn’t notice. We will do it. But Tyler has a question. He wants to know where you keep your sex toys. Apparently he’s not as open minded as he pretends to be.”
Lucas said something to her, and Hannah pursed her lips together trying not to laugh. I couldn’t miss the closeness between them. It made me realize two things.
One. I hadn’t been that close with anyone for years. Chloe knew my secrets, but I tiptoed around her most of the time.
Two. Little Spencer was fun. In a limited, carefully designed not to insult anyone but me, way.
She continued her conversation with Lucas while I spent that time following her movements with my eyes. She felt comfortable here. A minute later she killed the call and pointed at the kitchen area.
“The kitchen is safe. Dive right in.”
“You know what, little Spencer? They are your friends already. You don’t have to go out of your way to make them like you.” She froze with a shocked look on her face. “Oh, I’m sorry. Did I hit a nerve?”
She didn’t answer. In fact, she gave me the silent treatment all over again for the entire afternoon. I thought about leaving a few times, but going home to my mother seemed an even more undesirable option, so I packed everything I found in the kitchen cabinets and then moved to the living room.
Two people had lived here for about four years. How the fuck did they had so many things? My possessions could fit in two of these boxes and I had lived in Boston for almost a decade.
I was beginning to think the torture would never end when Lucas finally came home. Hannah’s face lit up for the first time in hours. She approached him with a growl.
“I’m starving,” she started sniffing the pizza boxes he was holding. She looked like a dog. A cute dog. I fought a smile and nodded a hello to Lucas, who continued to look like the happiest person on the planet. What was with these people? Someone should explain them that everything was doomed to end one way or another. Maybe not today or next year, but some day for sure. I didn’t mind bursting their bubble. In fact, I wanted to do it, but I had a feeling it would only prolong my visit, so I settled for the obvious choice again. Teasing Hannah Spencer.
“You should have told me you were hungry. I could have found you something to eat.”
Hannah slowly turned her head in my direction and looked at me with defiance.
“I’m not into other people’s leftovers,” she provoked me, but a memory of her kneeling down in front of me exploded in my head unprompted.
“I like your claws, little Spencer.”
“I have teeth too, Hartley.”
“I know,” I said and her whole face became tomato red in seconds.
“Okay,” Lucas cleared his throat. “I’m going to check on Clem and see if she wants to have a bite with us.” He raised a brow and shot Hannah a look I couldn’t decipher. She ignored it and opened one of the pizza boxes.