Only One Forever (Only One 8)

“And vomit by the house,” Michael adds, putting his hand by his mouth.

“Do you remember, one year …” I start laughing as I think about it. “I ended up in your house, and you ended up in mine. I got up and threw up in your father’s shoes.”

“Oh my God,” Alex says. “And he put his foot in there. I thought he was going to throw up everywhere.” The three of us can’t stop laughing.

“Those were good fucking times,” I say. “But sadly …” I look at the young kids all excited about going on vacation. “We are the old ones.”

“Speak for yourself,” Alex retorts, walking away from us. “I’m younger than you two by two years.” She walks to the steel steps pushed against the plane.

“I’ll remind you of that when you fall asleep on the beach!” Michael yells after her, and she just flips him the bird.

“Why does she always get to have the last word?” Michael asks me.

“Because we let her,” I say, watching her walk up and then smile at Uncle Matthew as she kisses his cheek.

“Let’s get on the plane before they leave us here,” Michael says, and I smile at him as we walk in.

We walk onto the plane, and the seats are practically all taken. I walk down the aisle, my eyes automatically searching for Alex, and the seat next to her is empty. “Why are you sitting here?” she asks me as I sit next to her. “Why don’t you keep walking?”

I laugh. “You would be lost without me,” I tease, and she rolls her eyes looking outside.

“But would I?” she asks, and for one second, I forget that there are so many people around us.

“Well, I know that I would be lost without you,” I admit to her, and she just looks at me. Her eyes searching mine, not sure what to say, and I want to kick myself for saying too much.

“Mimosa?” the attendant asks us, and I grab a glass for Alex and another one for me.

“Thank you,” she says to me, and the plane starts moving. “How long is this flight again?”

“Eight hours,” I answer as one of the babies starts crying. “Let the good time roll.” I hold up my glass to her.

She clicks her glass to mine, smiling, making me just stare at her. “To an unforgettable vacation.”

Chapter 12

Dylan

The plane ride is one of the longest of my life. Everyone is walking around, switching places as we catch up with each other. Even though the plane is huge and there are always people walking, my eyes always seem to find her. “You look like you have the weight of the world on your shoulders,” my father says from beside me, and my eyes fly to his. With everyone around, I have to make sure that no one catches me. I look at him for a second to see if he caught me watching her again for the tenth time in five minutes.

“Just trying to figure everything out,” I reply, grabbing my bottle of water and drinking it. The captain comes on to tell us that we are landing in twenty minutes. To say it’s pandemonium is an understatement. People are rushing to get back to their seats, and when I get back to mine, I buckle my seat belt, then I look over and see that her eyes are shining. “You’re drunk.”

“I am not drunk,” she defends and follows that with a giggle. “Leave me alone. I’m on vacation.”

I look out the window and hear Julia from behind. “So do you have a hammer?” Chase’s laughter fills the plane as soon as the wheels touch down. The whole plane erupts in applause, and I’m not sure if it’s because we landed, or the fact we can get the fuck off the plane.

Standing, I grab Alex’s and my bags as she puts the hat on her head. She gets up and then sits down again, laughing, and I groan. “It’s fine. My leg was asleep.”

“Sure,” I say, waiting for her to walk in front of me before getting off the plane. She holds Emma’s hand, looking down at her, smiling. The sun shines high in the sky as six people hold up the letters to spell Hawaii. Another group of people dance on the side, two people stand at the bottom of the stairs with leis.

“Are you ready to play in the sand?” she asks Emma, who just nods her head as we creep down the stairs at a snail’s pace.

“No one would believe me,” Julia says from behind me. “If I said yeah, I took a private charter, and the whole island came out to greet me.” I can’t help but laugh because she is not wrong. “And with a tour bus, no less.”

“Two tour buses,” Jillian corrects her, pointing at another bus coming onto the tarmac.