“We find our way home eventually,” I assured, smiling, knowing I was well on my way there.
Jason
Holy shit. I did it.
I survived three nights in a hotel room with Elena, and my balls didn’t explode. She texted me red-hot messages during the day, forcing my mind straight into the gutter. I stumbled across her more than once on the convention floor and had to turn the other way, not trusting myself not to haul her off somewhere to fuck her senseless.
Sleeping in different beds was more than a struggle, but I’d take the blue balls over bunking with Marty any day.
I survived the four-hour drive back to Ithaca, too, in part by banning drinks from the car. It pissed Marty off, but with holiday traffic, I wasn’t stopping a hundred and one times because he preferred his blood to have a caffeine octane level.
We returned the car to the rental center and went our separate ways, though I ended up back at Elena’s place while she packed for her trip.
As long as I left for the airport by seven-thirty, I’d be golden, the hour-long ride to Syracuse International almost as long as the flight to Boston. While I liked Ithaca for a lot of reasons, I loathed its distance to the airport.
I laid across her bed with Hank at my side, stroking the purring feline as she fiddled around in her closet. It was almost four o’clock, and she had to hit the road soon, at least seven hours of highway ahead of her if she was lucky.
I wasn’t crazy about her making the trip alone, but Thanksgiving with my brothers was non-negotiable. I also didn’t want to invite myself to meet the parents. I hadn’t done the dance since Bianca and wasn’t sure I still knew the steps.
I winced at the thought, watching her stumble towards her open suitcase with an armful of sweaters. “Preparing for a nuclear winter?” I joked.
“It gets cold up there!” she defended, huffing as she tossed the pile on her bed.
She was right about the weather, but it wasn’t batten-down-the-hatches cold yet. Briar was chilly when I visited two weeks earlier, but nothing unmanageable. Once winter came, it was an entirely different story, and I wouldn’t let her make the trip alone. “You’ll be there for four days.”
Her phone rang before she could respond, settling for sticking her tongue out before answering. “Hi Dad!” she greeted, tucking the phone to her shoulder as she folded sweaters to stuff in her suitcase. Regardless of how tight she rolled them, there was no way in hell they were all fitting beside the crap she already crammed in. “I’m finishing up packing, and I’ll be on my way.”
“Are you okay? Do you need me to bring anything?” My eyes snapped to her face, but she didn’t look upset, still focused on folding her sweater, a shade of purple that looked divine against her skin tone.
“Oh... oh okay...” she trailed, her tone dipping. She stopped folding, dropping the sweater into a crumpled ball on top of the folded items. “No... no, it’s fine. I get it. There’s still Christmas, right?”
She listened carefully, an arm crossing her body as her lips twisted. “Feel better, okay?” she urged, a lopsided grin slicing through the sadness. “I will. I love you too. Bye.”
She sighed, disconnecting and tossing the phone down on her bed. “Change of plans. Dad has the stomach flu, so I’ll be staying here.” Her cheeks were flushed, and she averted her eyes, visibly upset.
“You can come with me,” I offered, regretting the words as soon as they fell out of my face. What the fuck was I saying? She couldn’t meet my brothers yet. They’d eat her alive. I didn’t have parents for her to meet; I had a pair of Tasmanian devils.
“No, no, I don’t want to intrude.” She pulled clothing from her suitcase, fluffing each item to hang back in her closet.
“It’s not intruding,” I assured, reeling that I invited her, but refusing to leave her alone for the holiday. “I’m inviting you. It’ll be fun. Ever been to Boston?”
She shook her head. “No, but I can’t, Jase. It’s a boys’ weekend. I’ll be fine. I haven’t seen Hank all week, anyway.”
I pulled out my phone, ignoring her. With a few taps, I booked her a ticket, scoring a seat in business class. “Not an option. I bought you a ticket.”
Her jaw dropped, knuckles white around the sweater in her hands. “Jason!” she screeched.
“Come on, it’ll be fun! I’ll show you the hahbah!” I joked, giving her a taste of my best Boston accent, which was complete shit.
Her chocolate eyes flicked to mine, and I could tell she was warming to the idea. “Where am I going to stay?”
“Uh, with me?” I replied, sitting up.
“Where?” she pushed, a hand on her hip.
“In my brother’s house...” I trailed. “If you aren’t comfortable, I could get us a hotel room, but I’ll warn you, Ethan’s place is nicer than any hotel in Boston.”
She sighed, coming to sit on my lap, looping her arms around my neck as she pressed a quick kiss to my cheek. “You’re too much, Jason Barrett.”
* * *
In twelve hours, we went from New York City to Ithaca, to Syracuse, and finally, Boston, ending up in front of Ethan’s condo by eleven-thirty.
I didn’t bother to tell either brother that Elena was coming, deciding to keep it a surprise, figuring that I’d rip the band-aid off all at once. I also didn’t want to give them a chance to concoct a god-awful prank.
Now that we were in Boston, her nerves appeared to kick in, her eyes wide as she let me lead the way to the elevator without a word.
Ethan’s place was intimidating, the towering waterfront building as posh as they came, each unit worth upwards of five million. His, of course, was the best of the best, a sprawling penthouse that made the nicest homes in Gold Coast
