Rhodes. It’s just our thing, I guess.
“Dinner is served, guys.” Blaine arrives from the galley with a little cart with four trays with steak, some kind of pasta dish, a bread roll, salad, and a chocolate brownie. Oh, thank God. It looks and smells much better than the standard airline food and my mouth waters at the thought of a nice meal. I realize that I’m absolutely starving. It doesn’t exactly surprise me considering the last thing I ate was half a turkey sandwich yesterday afternoon, before the shit hit the proverbial fan.
Blaine extends the little table folded into the armrest of my seat and places one of the trays in front of me and my mouth waters in anticipation of the delicious meal.
“Wow, dude! I thought you were the copilot, not the flight attendant. I’ll have to complain to the captain about not having my meal served by a hot girl in a skimpy uniform.” River has just opened his eyes and obviously he can’t resist cracking a joke at Blaine, who shakes his head at his crazy friend. He places a tray in front of River with a grin and a wink.
“Glad to see that you’re feeling better, River. I knew you’d be alright, after all the worst motherfuckers are always the ones who seem to have nine lives at the very least. As for the lack of flight attendants ... We normally hire one when we fly long haul and carry passengers but seeing the special nature of our journey, we were told that the less people know about it, the better. So, complain to Agent Vance here. If that’s even his real name.”
Kaden sighs and doesn’t say anything, looking pointedly at the last tray of food that remains on the cart after Blaine takes a tray for himself. “Yeah, I’m not serving you dinner. You have hands, help yourself, asshole.”
I turn to River and arch a brow, not able to resist. “So you want a sexy flight attendant on board? Interesting.”
His eyes widen as if he didn’t realize that I could be pissed about it. I’m not. It’s funny as fuck, but so is giving him shit. “Kitten, I don’t even notice other women besides you. I just wanted Blaine to dress up, I promise.”
I bark out a laugh and shake my head. “Right, I'm sure you were.”
River’s bright smile has my cheeks hurting from smiling so much, despite the situation. That’s why I love … ehm, shit, like. That’s why I like my crazy, blond, tattooed hottie.
We eat, joking and teasing River for his stereotypical idea of what a flight attendant should look like and ignore Kaden, who eats quietly, looking out of the window at the black sky view at thirty-seven thousand feet. After dinner, Blaine goes back to the cockpit and we settle down with blankets and pillows to try and catch up on some much needed rest. The cabin lights are dimmed and as we recline our seats, I nestle into River’s arms and close my eyes.
But I can’t sleep, not when I feel Kaden’s gaze on me.
The cabin is dark but I know that he’s looking at me, don’t ask me how, I just do. I hide my face in the crook of River’s neck, inhaling his bright citrus scent and that must do the trick, because when I reopen my eyes Kaden’s seat is empty. I look around the dark cabin and I spot Kaden’s blond head in the cockpit. He’s occupying the observer’s seat and it looks like he and the brothers are deep in conversation but the buzz of the engines makes it impossible to discern what they’re saying.
I’d love to go back to sleep but I need to use the toilet, so I disentangle myself from River as quietly as possible and take my makeup bag and the change of clothes that Blaine told me he prepared for me to wear when we land. I know we’re still mid-flight but I want to look decent, just in case I fall asleep again.
I lock the bathroom door behind me and sigh at my reflection in the mirror. I do look like I’ve been through hell and I know that probably the only thing that will help is a long sleep in a real bed. The bathroom is bigger than anything I’ve ever seen on a commercial aircraft and it’s finished with marble and polished wood everywhere. If I hadn’t watched us take off and soar to thirty-seven thousand