The Write Stuff (Write Stuff 1)

Stubbornly, I remained by the window until the boarding of our flight was announced. The first rays of the sun were beginning to peek through the horizon, filling the sky with delicate shades of pink and creamsicle orange. My actions felt more and more childish the longer I stood there. Regardless of our history, I had to figure out a way to make it through this trip. Olivia had been right. This wasn't high school.

Thirty minutes later, I probably would have jumped from the plane without a parachute if given the chance. A hard thump hit the back of my seat, jolting me for about the hundredth time since we had taken off.

"Johnny, please stop kicking the poor lady's seat."

"Nooooooooo," Johnny bellowed, making several passengers turn to look at the offending row where he was currently tormenting his mother.

"Sorry. He's just excited to be flying," Johnny the Kicker's mom said, peeking between our seats.

"It's fine," I said, flashing her a tight-lipped smile. Alec shook with silent laughter. Without thinking, I swung my foot out bringing it smartly against his shin.

"Damn, woman," he said, rubbing his shin. The way Johnny's mom gasped, it sounded like she may have thought Alec was talking to her. Regardless, it was enough to make me smile.

Alec leaned in conspiratorially to whisper into my ear. "You know you could tell her it's not okay?"

"Or you could just switch seats with me," I said out of the corner of my mouth.

"Not on your life. Johnny might find himself strapped to the wing of the plane if we did that."

I couldn't help snorting with laughter, nearly losing my iPad from my lap.

"What are you working on?"

"Nothing much. I planned on starting the sequel to Wicked Lovely, but my brain is refusing to cooperate. I'm never very productive when I have a lot going on. I should probably resign myself to the fact that I won't get any writing done for the next few weeks," I said, closing my iPad. >"Holy fuck. That was insane," Alec stated, sinking into Olivia's chair when she abandoned it to go to the bathroom. The last attendee had been shuttled out the door a few minutes prior and the majority of the authors were packing up. I needed to decompress for a few minutes before I could think about leaving.

I shot him a weak smile. I was tired, but I couldn't imagine how tough it must have been on him. At least I had a table to hide behind. "You did great. I appreciate you handling it so well," I said, speaking to him for the first time in four hours.

"It was fun." He laughed when I raised my eyebrows skeptically. "Really. I'm being serious. It's not every day a guy has hundreds of women waiting in line just to take a picture with him. Well, unless you're Channing Tatum, I guess."

I rolled my eyes. "I'm sure it didn't hurt your overly inflated ego. Of course, you're more a tease than anything else."

He laughed. "Tease? That's the first time I've been called a tease."

I looked away, afraid he would see through the shabby wall I had built.

"Look, about the other night—"

I cut him off. "If it's all the same to you, I'd rather not talk about it, okay? You had your reasons, and I don't see why we need to rehash things. I got it. Loud and clear." I stood up, making busywork of packing up my stuff.

"Nicole." He reached out to touch my hand, but I jerked it back like it was a venomous snake.

"Alec, please don't," I pleaded as Olivia joined us.

It was clear she knew she had walked in at a bad moment. Her eyes moved from Alec to me, but I looked away. My nerves were frazzled and I was just ready to be done. I'd never been a glutton for punishment anyway, so today had definitely tested me.

Knowing when to give me space, Olivia remained silent as she helped me clear off the rest of my table. Alec took down my banner without being asked, and I grudgingly thanked him.

We carried my belongings out to the car, saying more goodbyes to some of the authors I knew. My family would be meeting us at a local Italian restaurant not too far up the road from the hotel. I would have just as soon bowed out of dinner, but I knew tonight was supposed to be a bit of a celebration since it had been the first time they had seen me in action at a signing.

I could have done without Alec tagging along, but Olivia had already mentioned it and I saw no graceful way of taking back the invite. Plus, I would have looked like a mega-bitch after all his help during the event. To say he'd been a trouper would be putting it mildly.

The dinner rush was in full force when the three of us arrived as the line of waiting customers overflowed out the front door. Luckily, Olivia had made a reservation. We shuffled through the crowd to get inside, spotting Mom, Dad and Ashley sharing a loveseat off to the side of the hostess stand.

"Honey, you were amazing," Mom gushed, standing to give me a big hug. "I can't believe how many people came out to see you. You're famous."

"Mom, really? You're attracting attention. Look at those people staring," I said, ducking my head in embarrassment.

"What? Sweetie, it's my job to brag over you." She turned to the young couple standing to her right. "My daughter is a famous author."