Wilson Mooney, Almost Eighteen (33 page)

K. GOTTA GO. LUV YA. W. I texted
back.

“
Who’s that?” Cindy leaned
over to read what I was texting. I pulled my phone against my
chest. Cindy gave me the
after all that
I’ve done for you
look. She was a master
at the guilt trip.

“
It’s Joanie. Asking how
our weekend was.” I tried to fix the huff I created when I pulled
the phone away from her sight. Cindy was manipulative to the
core.

“
Make sure you tell her I
miss her and
next
time she should come with us,” Cindy bubbled, snapping the
handle up on her suitcase.

She was such a piece of work. First
off, she never invited Joanie and besides, she would never let
someone come that would take the attention away from her. Joanie
and I are BFF’s so our connection would just kill her. It’s hard
enough being her roommate. I faked a text back to
Joanie.

“
Okay, told her next time
she’s gotta come with us and we miss her.” I shoved the phone in my
pocket and anchored the duffel bag across my chest and up over my
shoulder.

“
You know where you’re
checking in, right? I’ve gotta go,” Nick asked me, ignoring
Cindy.

“
Nick, don’t do this to
your sister, not before she leaves. Make up with her. Be the bigger
person, for me?” I told him. He reached up and grabbed the back
hatch, the muscles in his neck tightened.

“
Sorry to let you down. But
I’m done being the bigger person. I’ve done it my entire life and
look where it’s gotten me. I’m a chauffeur for my bitch half-sister
and sadly enough, I didn’t end up with the girl.” He pulled the
hatch closed and passed around me to the driver’s side of the
Sequoia. He might as well have punched me in the stomach. The blood
pulsing through my body pooled low in my gut as I tried to catch my
breath.

“
Nick, I don’t want to
leave knowing you’re upset. Couldn’t we meet half way? Find
someplace where we both feel comfortable with something more than
strangers? Maybe even friends?” I pushed my hand out to him. I
figured at least I could get a handshake from him. He looked over
at Cindy who was already talking with the skycap about her
ticket.

“
Friends.” He grabbed my
hand and pulled me close, bent towards me and kissed my cheek. “I
guess I have to be satisfied with what you’re willing to give me.
See you, friend.”

“
Thanks. See you.” He
hopped into the car and with that, I watched him drive
away.

“
Alright ladies, your
flight will board from Concourse C, gate C41. It’s the last
terminal past the metal detectors. Gate C41 will be on the right
side, closest to the middle of the airport. Thank you for choosing
Southwest Airlines for your traveling needs.” The Skycap smiled and
handed back Cindy’s ticket. He loaded her suitcase on the carpeted
rollie cart.

“
Thanks,” I responded for
the both of us.

Cindy stuffed her ticket into her
backpack and entered the airport without acknowledging him. She
only stopped her brisk walk to answer her phone.

“
Hello? Hi dad, where are
you?” She pushed her finger into her ear to hear him. She wrinkled
her nose and scowled bending forward. I could tell it was going to
be bad, another blow off situation. “That’s fine. I understand. No
our flight leaves after 3,” she paused to listen. “Okay, well if
you’re stuck in Albuquerque, I understand. See you another time.
Bye.” She slipped her phone into her backpack.

“
Your dad stuck in New
Mexico?” I prepared myself for the blow up.

“
Yeah. What’s new? Bummer,”
she played it cool as we waited in line at the security
gate.

“
Sorry Cindy. I know how
much you were looking forward to seeing him,” I mumbled.

“
You know what Wilson? I’m
pretty used to being screwed by my family. So when you apologize,
it’s mainly to make
you
feel better. Words people use to fill an awkward
moment, that’s what an apology is.” She pulled off her shoes and
waited to be cleared as a threat to our country’s air space.
What was I going to say to her response? She was
kind of right. In that instance, I was a guest in her awkward
situation.

We made it unscathed through security
and shuffled our way down to the very end of the airport to
Concourse C. Winded, we found a couple of seats and waited to
pre-board the plane with an hour to spare.

“
You know, Nick can be such
an ass. He really needs to grow up. What if my plane went down and
I died?” She rummaged through her backpack.

“
Cindy, can you not talk
about planes going down, especially when I’m going to be on it.” My
heart pounded hard. She pulled out Chapstick and rubbed it across
her lips.

“
Oh come on Wilson,
like
that’s
going
to happen.” She tossed her lip balm into her backpack.

I was already a pretty inexperienced
traveler, so my nerves were dragging about the whole process. A
voice came across the speakers asking anyone who needed extra
assistance to board first. Of course, Cindy tried to say she needed
extra time. It didn’t fly.

Eventually our numbers were called and
we got on the plane. After adjusting our bags and spots, Cindy
ended up on the aisle seat and I chose the window seat, which left
an open one in the middle. I just hoped the flight wasn’t sold out.
We sat waiting for the plane to finish filling up. I watched as
people of all kinds scurried down the aisle, looking around to find
the open seats left. Lucky enough, no one was looking at the seat
between us. Just as the trickle of people slowed I figured we were
safe. The flight attendants were taking their places to tell us
what to do if the plane went down, when one came and bent down to
Cindy.

“
We have one passenger that
was bumped from an earlier flight that will need this seat. Sorry
ladies.” She stood up and walked to the front of the plane and
greeted him.

He was out of breath from running and
unbelievably gorgeous. Butterflies woke and twisted in my stomach.
He smiled at the attendant and ran his hand through his hair
pushing it back out of his eyes as he sauntered down the aisle
towards us. My heart stopped. How lucky was I? If I would have
played the lottery, I would have won.

“
Oh My God. Mr. Goldstein!
First my house, then skiing and now the flight home. Are you
stalking us?” Cindy stood up and let him in.

“
Hi Cindy; Wilson. Wow,
what are the odds of sitting with you ladies?” He turned to each of
us as he fastened his seatbelt.

He smelled really good as I tried to
swallow. My heart rose into my throat. I was so close to him, his
elbow pressed light into the bend of my arm.

“
So how was your weekend
Mr. Goldstein?” Cindy pressed his knee. My eyes burned holes into
the back of her hand.

“
Great. Yours?” He looked
at Cindy almost totally ignoring me.

“
Good. Other than Wilson
wrecking her first time skiing.” She leaned forward and looked at
me.

“
That’s right, I was there.
You okay?” Max turned to me. He gave me a slight grin, and narrowed
his eyes pitching one of his brows.

“
Yeah.” I bit my lip to
stop from smiling.

“
Oh come on you had a huge
gash in your head Wilson.” Cindy interrupted.

“
Really? Where?” He looked.
I pointed to the side of my head as he tangled his fingers in my
hair above my forehead. He was touching me. He let out a masculine
sigh. My butterflies went spastic and crazy throughout my body. I
wanted to kiss him.

“
It wasn’t that bad. I’m
okay,” I whispered as his fingers left my skin. The hair on the
nape of my neck stood on end and goose bumps rose on my
arms.

“
You stayed home with a
headache. I would say it was bad enough to flake on me.” Cindy was
still annoyed about that.

“
Hopefully you weren’t too
bored staying back,” he winked at me. My butterflies leapt high in
my chest climbing into my throat.

“
What did she flake on? If
you don’t mind me asking.” He looked at Cindy.

The plane started to move and the
flight attendants started their spiel about, if the plane goes
down, we can use our seat cushions as floatation devices. The
oxygen will fall from the ceiling, put yours on first then help the
person next to you. Exits are on either side of the plane. We were
exactly in between the front door and the back exit down by the
wing. Great, which exit’s closer? I guess we’ll go to the shorter
line of people trying to escape.

“
I went out to Polaris last
night. I felt kinda bad she was all alone at the cabin but it was
my vacation too and I wanted to go out. Besides she told me to.”
She looked away from Max across the aisle at a little girl
clutching to the arm rests. The plane stopped.

“
Well it looks like you
survived staying home from Polaris last night.” He looked at me and
squeezed at my knee. I felt the plane take off and my butterflies
flew south.

Chapter Twenty-six:

He had to know that when he touched me
it caused a chemical reaction in my body and I couldn’t stop myself
from shivering deep in my core. My butterflies were so controlled
by him. If he asked them to fly into the flame of a candle, they
would do it without hesitating.

“
So what did you do last
night, Mr. Goldstein?” Cindy grabbed her bag and started digging
around, peeking up at him when she thought of it. I whipped my head
towards him. My skin went cold and I felt a surge of adrenaline
rush throughout my body.

“
Well, um. My
girlfriend
and I hung
out.” He looked at me when he said the word that sent my head
spinning.

Cindy stopped digging. “I didn’t know
you had a girlfriend. Does she live in Colorado?”

“
No, she doesn’t.” He
didn’t offer any more explanation.

“
Well, where does she live?
How long have you been going out?” Cindy prodded at him as she
pulled out her iPhone attached to her earphones.

“
Cindy! You can’t ask him
questions like that,” I interrupted her as she stared at
him.

“
Why not? We aren’t at
school. He has partied with us, at least he can tell me about his
girlfriend.” She stared back over at him, waiting for him to
answer. “Why didn’t you bring her to my party?”

I watched Max shift his body to face
her. He was actually going to engage with her about this. I hope
he’s ready to protect our secret. She was so manipulative she could
get a Tibetan monk to talk.

“
Max—Mr. Goldstein, you
don’t have to answer.” I swallowed hard. I prayed she didn’t catch
that I slipped.

“
Max? You called him Max.
On a first name basis are we?” She glared at us.

“
I told her to call me by
my first name. It seemed crazy to have her call me Mr. Goldstein at
your party that night.” He looked at me then back over at Cindy.
“She lives in California and I didn’t bring her to your house
because she was with a group of friends that night. And about that
night, I wasn’t there. Right?” He peered into Cindy’s eyes,
convincing her to believe his simple lie.

“
Alright, if that’s the
case, I get to call you Max too?” She batted her eyelashes at him
and wrapped her arm through his, resting her head on his
shoulder.

What the Hell was she
doing? Touching him, flirting with him, he wasn’t her type at all.
He tells her about his girlfriend and she comes onto him?
I cleared my throat, I was ready to
pounce.

The seatbelt light chimed off and the
captain came over the loud speaker, inaudibly, telling us all about
our flight.

“
Oh good, I’ll be right
back.” She stood up and left towards the back of the plane. The
moment she was out of sight, Max pushed his face into my hair and
inhaled. His hand slid up the other side of my face.

“
I missed you. You smell so
good,” he whispered. I turned and he pressed his lips hard against
mine. Our mouths opened and for a moment of time, he and I were the
only ones that existed. He tasted extra sweet and more forbidden
today. Our kiss was filled with sparks and explosions that mapped
through my body when he pulled back from me and stopped.

“
You taste so good. I
wasn’t done,” I told him against his moist lips. He gave me one
last kiss. My cheek, fire hot, was doused with an ice cold chill as
he slipped his hand from my face.

“
No we aren’t done. It’s
driving me wild to sit next to you. Not being able to touch you is
torture.” He leaned back in his chair. “I want to see you tonight,
when we get back. Will you meet me?” His eyes blazed a sensuality
that pulled my butterflies toward him. I looked back at the
restrooms, Cindy wasn’t out yet.

“
Okay.” I didn’t mention to
him I had a Romeo and Juliet essay due tomorrow for Mrs. Clouser’s
class. I’ll just do what I can before we meet then get up early to
finish it. He probably would not have asked knowing I had weekend
homework. “I’ll text you when I’m settled.” I added.