As I said, Tyson Wilder is dangerous.
I get out of bed and get myself ready for a run. I’ve been seriously lacking in the exercise department lately. I tell myself that I’ll run every night after my studying gets done, but by the time I finish, I’m collapsing into bed, completely exhausted. Not to mention, I talk myself out of it, convinced that the one time I actually do run in the middle of the night, something awful will happen to me. I seriously doubt it. A place like this would be one of the safest campuses in the country, but I can’t help my female brain taking me there.
Today is the day. My flight back home isn’t for another three hours, so I have just enough time to get in a quick run before making sure I’ve packed everything and then finding my way to the airport.
My run is exhausting, just as it should be, and helps me clear my head of all my school work and get in the holiday spirit. I have three days at home, and I plan on making every last minute of it count.
I somehow get to the airport with plenty of time to spare and stand at the big window, staring out at the tarmac while taking in the big plane that’s about to take me home. I hate flying. I’m not a great flyer at all. I get panic attacks and anxiety while always thinking the worst, and don’t get me started on turbulence. That shit is a bitch despite it being perfectly safe.
Forty minutes later, my flight is called and that’s when the nerves really set in. God, I wish I had someone flying with me. Mom knows just how bad my anxiety is and offered to fly here just to help me get back and in a moment of dreaming that I was a badass bitch, I told her no, thinking I could handle it. I’ve never been so wrong.
I get my boarding pass checked and within the space of three minutes, I’m clicking my seatbelt into place and tightening it as much as I possibly can. Though if this plane was to go crashing down and burn, I’m not sure how much this little seatbelt would actually help.
Shit, Bry. Don’t go there.
An older lady takes the seat beside me and takes one look at the horror on my face before giving me an encouraging smile. “Oh, sweet girl,” she coos, placing her hand over mine on the armrest. “It’s going to be just fine. Are you traveling for business or pleasure?”
“Pleasure,” I tell her, unable to string much of a sentence together, though somehow feeling somewhat at ease with her touch.
“Oh,” she smiles bashfully. “Are you going home to see a special man?”
My head instantly takes me to Tyson and I shake the thought out quicker than it came. “No, a special man isn’t even on the radar right now,” I say with a slight hesitation, unsure of what actually is on my radar. “I’m going home for my aunt’s wedding. She’s finally marrying the man of her dreams and asked me to be one of her bridesmaids.”
“That’s wonderful. There’s nothing quite like a wedding. They always bring people together.”
The plane starts taxiing toward the runway and all conversation ceases as my heart threatens to beat right out of my chest. Please don’t crash. Please don’t crash.
A warm hand slips into mine and the lady beside me gives me a warm slide. “Don’t fret, my dear. We’ll be up in the air before you know it.” I give her a smile, not wanting to be rude and her eyes light up, thinking that’s she’s cured me in some kind of way. “I’m Carol, by the way.”
“Brylee.”
“It’s lovely to meet you, Brylee,” she says, giving my hand a squeeze and offering me an encouraging smile. “Now, tell me about this man who isn’t on your radar.”
Two hours later, the plane touches down and I realize that I’ve been non-stop talking to Carol about Tyson the whole way here. Though despite me telling her all the reasons why I can’t be with him in very clear detail, she still thinks I was stupid for turning him down. We’ll have to agree to disagree on that, because when it comes down to it, Tyson is not a commitment kind of guy, despite how much he thinks he is. He’s a lady’s man through and through, and while it’s incredibly sexy, it’s not something I’m looking for in the man of my dreams.
Carol stays with me as we get off the plane and doesn’t leave my side until I have my bag and am getting inside my Uber, even then, she stands by the side of the road at the entrance of the airport and waits until the car is going over the hill.