Virgin Flyer

“Well, I have my computer, and I think the hotel has Wi-Fi…” He glanced at me again under his lashes, and I imagined lunging over the table and tackling him to the floor just so I could taste the lip he was currently biting on. “So if it’s not a bother…”

“Not at all,” I said in a gruff voice. “Happy to have you.”

He blew out a breath and smiled at me. I really needed that server to come take our order before my stomach turned completely inside out from hunger. “Okay, good. Thanks. That’s… thanks.”

After we placed our orders for a shocking amount of fried food and the hostess came over to refill Teo’s water for the tenth time since seating us, Brenda began making polite conversation with Teo by asking him where he was from and why he’d become a nurse. I could have kissed her for drawing out so much personal information from him.

He wasn’t as shy as I’d originally thought. He chatted happily with Nate and Brenda, telling them about growing up outside of Chicago where his dad worked as a plumber and his mom stayed home and cooked for half the neighborhood. He had one sister, same as me, but his was older.

“She nags me,” he said with a laugh. “But if it weren’t for her, I don’t think I would have made it through nursing school.”

“How so?” Brenda asked.

He shrugged and took a sip of his water before answering. “She’s an LPN. She wanted to become an RN, but then she got pregnant with my niece before she could finish more than the diploma program. So, since she didn’t get a bachelor’s degree, she decided to hound me to make up for it. I’m glad she did though. I love what I do.” His brows furrowed a little bit. “Well, I mean… I…” He looked up and seemed to remember he was sitting with three practical strangers. “I love taking care of people.”

Brenda patted his hand again and gave him a maternal smile. “I could tell. Mr. Banks was lucky to have you there last night. You were very calm under pressure.”

He blushed and looked down, fiddling with the fork in his place setting. “I hope he’s okay. If only I’d assessed him earlier. Maybe I could have—”

“Nonsense,” Brenda said. “I saw you take his vitals and check his glucose once we got into the air. If you’d done more than that, he probably would have griped at you.”

Teo’s lip curled up a little. “You’re right. He doesn’t like being babied.”

Brenda and Nate went on to share some stories of flying Mr. Banks over the past several years since they began working for the company. They had nothing but complimentary things to say about the older man, and Teo laughed and shared his own stories. By the time our food came, I felt like I’d gotten to know enough of him to confirm my first impression that he was a kind and sweet man.

The more I learned about him, the more I wanted to find out why he’d placed that ad several months before asking for the silent hookup. Why silent? And why did he need to resort to an anonymous hookup to get someone to treat him like he mattered?

It had also become clear that the reason he knew Mr. Banks so well was because Teo had been Chris Banks’s best friend since they were in elementary school. That bothered me more than it should have. It should have been none of my damned business. And even if Teo was somehow my business, what did it matter if he was close friends with rich businessman?

I forced Chris Banks out of my mind and focused on Brenda’s story about their son, who’d just gotten an impressive promotion in the Air Force. Before long, the meal was over, and Brenda and Nate were discussing meeting back up for lunch the following day.

Teo’s sweet, unsure glance at me before answering made me smile. Hopefully that meant he wanted to spend that time with me. “Yeah, uh, sure. That sounds fine. The lady at the front desk said there were a couple of pub-type places close enough to walk to.”

We said goodbye in the lobby before making our way to the room. Thankfully, Brenda and Nate’s room was down a different hallway, so they didn’t see Teo and I enter the same hotel room.

Once we were in the room, things turned awkward. Teo sat down at the foot of one of the freshly made beds and folded his hands in his lap.

“Um. Do you want to watch a movie, or…” He didn’t look at me while he spoke. He kept his eyes riveted on his hands.

“I’m actually still really tired,” I admitted. “Would you mind if I—” I gestured to the bed, and he hopped up like it was on fire.