Noah

"He didn't think I could make him suffer." I stretched out my legs and rolled my shoulders. "He asked for it, Wright."

"He's certainly stubborn." He inclined his head and side-eyed me. "I wonder where he got that from."

"Fuck off," I chuckled. "You're hardly one to talk, buddy."

"We're not discussing me now." He smirked.

"How convenient," I deadpanned.

"What's convenient?" Sophie joined us and shut the curtains that separated us from the next section. "Ivy and Kayden are finally asleep."

Tennyson smiled as she plopped down on his lap, and what followed wasn’t meant for an audience. Jesus Christ, where they trying for another kid?

"Get a fucking room," I said, turning back to my work.

Sophie beamed and flushed while her hubby whispered shit in her ear. "I didn't think you were against a little PDA, Collins," she told me. "You didn't seem to mind it yesterday."

"The fuck?" I frowned at her.

Julian returned at that point, so she merely shrugged and grinned impishly.

What the hell had she seen? I guessed it was Michael, when he'd kissed me. In which case, it had nothing on Tennyson and Sophie molesting each other.

Either way, it was nothing I wanted to discuss.

"Your coffee, almighty one." Julian sat down and slid the coffee my way on our table. "Let me know if there's anything else I can do for your holiness."

"You can treat me with the same respect you would a boss you don't call family."

That gave him something to think about.

*

After dinner was over, I called it a day where work was concerned. It was getting dark, and the cabin crew dimmed the lights, anyway. It got quieter.

Julian had Blue in his lap as he scribbled on his iPad, Tennyson and Sophie were dozing off, as were the others.

Pulling off my hoodie, I got comfortable and adjusted my seat so I could lean back and check out Netflix on my tablet.

"Are you going to watch a movie?" Julian asked.

"Or a TV show, haven't decided yet." I grabbed a blanket, glad I'd gone with sweats today. Sleeping in jeans was complete shit. "You wanna watch something with me?"

"Okay." He was quick to stow away his iPad and put Blue back in her travel carrier, which wasn't as easy as it should've been. She was a fucking brat. "When you fly commercial and they show movies you've worked on, is that weird?"

I smirked lazily. "Nah, it's fun. I usually end up watching them."

"But you see everything behind too, right? You see more than what the average public sees." He pulled a blanket over him as well and pushed up the armrests between us so he could take up more space, the little fucker.

"Sure, it's like a scrapbook. Every scene comes with a memory or a dozen." I focused on the app as he placed his head on my shoulder. It wasn’t distracting at all. "What're you in the mood for?"

"I'm not choosy. You pick."

He looked good, all snuggled up next to me, and it was a struggle not to go further. A blind person could see there was something between us, but it wasn’t enough. Otherwise, Julian wouldn’t have avoided me or turned me down when I was affectionate the day after his birthday.

That better stop stinging soon.

"Hey, can we talk instead?" Julian asked.

"Yeah?" That surprised me. "Of course." I set aside my tablet and leaned back again, wondering if he had a topic in mind. I hadn't pushed him about anything after last night, and it seemed a little soon for him to open up already. One could hope, though.

"We're spending almost two months in Paris," he murmured. "It didn't hit me until this morning."

I smiled and looked down as he tilted his head up.

"Will you have any free time so we can sightsee?" he wondered.

The trip was work. I wouldn’t be there to sightsee, but taking some time off was doable. I'd always loved Paris, and of course, I had my favorites. If he hadn't already been there, I wanted to show him Parc des Buttes Chaumont, catch a show in Pigalle, have lunch by the river…

I could picture it, and in not a single one of the scenarios did I view him as a family member. I wanted dates. Hand-holding, sappy photos, kisses on bridges, dinners, and all the goddamn time in the world to explore him. No more "just this once" or "to get him outta my system."

A fucking relationship.

"I'll make time." I pressed a kiss to his forehead instead. It was what I seemed to be able to get away with before he pulled away, and I couldn’t take that anymore. "We arrive in the morning local time, so technically we start with two days off."

"We should distract ourselves tomorrow," he said quietly. "I don't think I can sleep the entire day, as much as I would've wanted it."