The Stopover (The Miles High Club 1)

Alan smiles and nods in acknowledgment.

Jameson stays silent. He holds his hand out for me to get in first. I climb in and shuffle over the seat, and Jameson gets in beside me.

A folded newspaper sits on the seat, and I pick it up and begin to read.

Jameson stares at me, and I know it’s his paper. Well, too bad—I got it first. For ten minutes, I read in silence. There is none of my fake news today. Hmm. I wonder if this has a correlation to me not having it to Hayden by four yesterday. I think about it for a moment. I’m going to test this theory today. I’ll have a story to him by three and see what happens.

“What are you doing tonight?” he asks.

“I’m going out with Ava,” I lie as I pass the paper to him.

“I told you I didn’t want you going clubbing with her.”

I smile. The nerve of this control freak. “What I do when I’m not with you is none of your business, Jameson.”

“So now you’re going to be all dramatic?”

I roll my eyes. “Will you just stop.”

“Stop what?”

My eyes hold his. “I’m not in love with you. So . . . you can stop worrying that I am. I enjoy your company, but you obviously have a hang-up about someone caring for you and mistake it for love.” I roll my eyes. “It’s all a bit too hard, to be honest.”

His jaw clenches, and I know he’s fuming on the inside. “What does that mean?”

“What?” I ask.

“That it’s too hard.”

“It means go and find someone else not to fall in love with you.” I shrug. “I’m fine with that.”

“You’re fine with that?” he whispers angrily. “So if I went and had sex with someone else tonight, you’d be fine with that?”

I frown as I stare at him. What the hell is going on in that head of his? I drag my hand down my face. “Jameson, for fuck’s sake. What do you want from me?”

“I don’t know,” he snaps.

“Fine.” I blow out a deep breath. “Let’s leave it at that, then.”

“What does that mean?”

“My God,” I snap in exasperation. “For a smart man, you’re being really stupid. I can’t help you work out what you want from me, Jameson.”

He stares at me.

“One minute you’re telling me not to ruin it by falling in love with you, and the next minute you’re telling me you don’t want me going out without you.”

He sits back in his seat, affronted.

“I want a close friend to have sex with. We talked about this. It seems to me that the only person breaking the rules here is you. Why are you even thinking about love?”

“Don’t turn this on me,” he whispers angrily.

“All right, then,” I snap. “Can you look me in the eye and tell me that you have no feelings for me?”

He rolls his eyes in disgust.

“Can you?”