"I'm down." She glanced back at me. "If they only let one of us go up there, you can go."
"No, it's all good. I don't mind snuggling up to the window and going to sleep. I know you can't sleep on flights. You enjoy the first class ticket if we get it." I shrugged, honestly not caring about rubbing shoulders with anyone.
"Whatever. We'll try for both tickets. Who knows...maybe my good luck will usurp your craptastic luck." She stopped as the tram pulled up. "See there? It's already working."
I rolled my eyes and loaded my bag onto the back of the over-sized golf cart and got into the second row, letting Casey take her usual position of leader. I sunk down into my seat and pulled out my phone, moving through my text messages and landing on the last ones I'd had with Jackson almost a month back.
Jackson: If you would just let me explain, Viv. Shit. You don't understand.
Me: I don't understand what? Your face was between some chick’s naked thighs. Please do tell me what I didn't understand.
Jackson: I'm a guy. I have needs. You're just... just... Fuck. Let me just see you and I'll explain.
Me: No need. I saw all I needed to see. This isn't about your needs. It's about your character. Grow up and good luck with life. Nice sharing the last twenty-plus years with you. Asshole.
Jackson: Viv. Come on, baby. You know how good we are together. Don't do this over a silly misunderstanding.
A silly misunderstanding.
The image of him cheating on me rolled through my mind's eye over and over as it did most days. I wasn't sure I was ever going to be able to get the visual of the man I loved giving pleasure to another woman out of my mind. Knowing that she wasn't the first, but one of many, did nothing but make my stomach turn upside down. After catching him in the act, I was dumb enough to check his phone and look into his actions and whereabouts. Uncovering the massive lie underneath my nose was numbing. It went all the way back to our freshman year.
How dumb was I? Wanting to believe in true love. So pathetic.
I slid my thumb to the top of the screen and pressed delete. I didn't need him in my contacts anymore. Seeing him only caused me pain, and there was really nothing else to say between us. I wasn't promiscuous enough. Or adventurous enough. Or sexy enough. I wasn’t enough.
Funny how quickly I would have changed all of those things had he only said something, but he didn't say a damn word. He went out and slept with a handful of girls, trying to get the few things from them that he wasn't getting from me.
"Ten years," I mumbled and sat up as the tram stopped. There was no doubt that I would get over him, but it was going to take more than a month, or a slutty trip to Miami. I'd agreed to go for only a few reasons, namely to take care of Casey and catch up on some romance reading. Seemed that the best boyfriends would always be found in the center of my books, which was fine by me. I needed safe and comforting for a while. Living on the edge hadn't gotten me very far, but had I really even stepped off the porch with Jackson? Maybe that was the issue.
I grabbed my bag and glanced over at Casey, wishing like hell that I had a little bit of her rebellious spirit inside of me.
"Do you think I'm a risk taker?" I glanced to my left and smiled at one of the baggage guys as he nodded toward me.
"Not at all." She pulled her bags behind her and turned to me. "Do you think you are?"
"No. I guess not." I shrugged and looked around at the various people milling about. "How do you become a risk taker? I think that's one of the main reasons that Jackson slept around on me."
"He fucked around on you because he was an idiot, Viv. It has nothing to do with you, which we've been over a million times." She touched my cheek and forced me to focus on her. "Live this week with me as a free woman. Let's have fun, drink a little, flirt a lot, and take a few risks. You'll feel so much better after we get back."
I nodded, cupping my hand over hers. "Maybe you're right."
Glancing up, I let my eyes scan over the board with the flight times, noticing that our flight was scheduled to leave in forty minutes.
"Forty minutes?" I turned to Casey. "I thought you said the flight was at eleven."
"It is. I think. Something like that." She shrugged.
"It's at ten, Case. Shit. We're never going to make it." I tapped the shoulder of the older gentleman in front of me. "Is there any way we can move in front of you? Our flight leaves in thirty minutes."
"Sure. Why not?" He smiled and moved back, giving me room to tap a few more shoulders. It had to be the sweet smile on my face, or the dark circles under my eyes. Either way, we were moving up quickly, and within a few minutes, we were up to the counter next.
"We misread the flight time, so if you could help us move through this quickly, we'd really appreciate it." Casey barked at the
middle-aged woman that glanced up from the other side of the counter.
"We'll try." She gave us a tight smile as I gave Casey a 'shut the hell up and let me deal with this' look.
"I love your earrings. My mother got me a pair just like them." I pressed my forearms to the desk and smiled at the woman as she glanced up wearily.