* * *
Instead of texting me, Seth appeared at my hotel room door an hour later and informed me that he was driving me to the airport himself. Seth was close to the same age as Eli and had a similar build, though he was a bit taller and had a head of thick blond hair and bright green eyes. I hadn’t gotten to know him until well after he’d gotten together with Ronan, but my initial impression had been that he was a quiet and kind-hearted young man, but also somewhat docile. But the second I’d started telling Seth I would ride my Harley to the airport, he’d pulled my bag from my hand, said that my plan wasn’t acceptable and proceeded to walk to the elevator. When I’d joined him, he’d taken my hand in his for a gentle squeeze before letting me go.
We hadn’t spoken on the ride to the private airport other than Seth giving me some general information about the trip and that a car would meet me at the airport in Newark and drive me to the ME’s office. By the time Seth had pulled up to the small hangar where the jet was parked, I was a jumbled mess of emotions. But it wasn’t my mother I was thinking about – no, just one episode kept playing on a loop in my head…the moment I’d reduced every beautiful thing that had happened between me and Eli to a few ugly words.
Because you’re a good fuck.
I climbed out of the car and went around the front to collect my bag from Seth. As soon as I took it, he was wrapping his arms around me. I knew the act was meant to offer comfort, but all it did was make my skin crawl.
“Take care of yourself, Mav.”
I withdrew from Seth as quickly as I could and murmured, “I will.”
“We’ll see you when you get back.”
I nodded and stepped past him. The pilot was standing at the bottom of the stairs. He shook my hand and introduced himself and told me to make myself comfortable while he and the co-pilot finished doing some pre-flight checks on the outside of the plane.
My insides began to knot up as I stepped into the plane as I realized this was really it – that this time when I left, there would be no turning around.
It’s the way it should be, a little voice inside of me whispered.
And then everything just stopped because the first thing I saw when I stepped into the spacious cabin wasn’t the huge white leather seats or luxurious décor.
No.
The first thing I saw was the reason I was fleeing Seattle for good.
Eli.
I stood in the doorway of the plane for several long seconds in complete and utter disbelief before I forced myself to step inside. Eli had been sitting in one of the seats in the first row, but he quickly stood when he saw me. He was wringing his hands together and the look on his face could only be described as terrified. I couldn’t help but wonder if he was afraid I’d physically hurt him or if he was just waiting for me to inflict more verbal wounds on him.
The brief excitement that had surged through me at seeing him dissolved and was replaced with anger. “Fucking Ronan,” I muttered.
“I did this, not Ronan,” Eli said, his voice shaky. “I told him to bring me here when he said he’d arranged a plane for you.”
I had no doubt that Ronan hadn’t put up much of an argument.
“You’re not coming with me,” I said as I turned to look out the door to see if Seth had left yet. Irritation went through me when I saw that he was leaning against the front of his car, along with the pilot and co-pilot.
Yep, I’d been played.
“Go,” I said as I motioned to the door.
“I’ll follow you,” Eli said.
I lifted my eyes at that and saw that Eli had moved closer to me and the terror in his eyes was gone and had been replaced with a grim determination.
“I’ll find the ME’s office in Newark and wait there until you show up. And when you push me away again, I’ll figure out where you’re going next and I’ll follow you there too. I don’t care how many times you tell me you hate me or that you don’t want me or that what we had together didn’t mean anything,” Eli said angrily. “I. Am. Not. Leaving. You.”
I hated the sudden rush of warmth that filtered through me at his last words.
“Fine,” Eli suddenly said and although there was a thread of hurt in his voice when he said it, he straightened his back as he stepped past me and I had no doubt he would do exactly what he said. I snagged him by the waist and stepped forward until Eli’s back was pressed up against the wall of the plane. His arms came up to grab mine as I held him there with my body.