feet, I would completely forget that I’m on an aircraft to begin with.
I’m not going to bother with too much makeup but I apply at least some concealer to the dark shadows under my eyes and I work on my hair with a brush. The temporary blue color I put in when we ran from California has been washed away and I’m back to my rich dark brown, the color Royce said he loved. I smile at the thought of my big, scary Royce and of how sweet he is with me. He tries to open up with me and share his feelings and I love that about him, because I know that it goes against his reserved nature but he understands how important it is to me.
I pause with the hairbrush in mid-air and reflect on the fact that love seems to be on my mind a lot lately. When I think about my wild and unpredictable River, my powerful and deceptively sweet Royce, my mysterious and caring Blaine. And Kaden.
I shake my head and take a deep breath looking at my reflection. With Kaden it was all a lie and for as much as that hurts terribly, I have three guys who haven’t done anything wrong, who’ve protected me and have been in my corner this whole time. Hell, Royce and Blaine understood and forgave my reluctance to open up about Pierce so easily ... I’m not sure that if the roles had been reversed I’d have been so understanding.
I want to believe that I would have been.
I open the bag with the clothes and smile when I see what Blaine put there: a short, black mini skirt that looks like it’s made of a very expensive, shiny material, a black tank top and a sheer purple blouse that will make the green of my eyes pop. I shimmy on the purple silk underwear he chose before the rest of the clothes and try on the black heels he selected, thinking that I’ll put them in my bag until we land.
But I indulge for a second, looking at my reflection in the mirror; I love Blaine all the more for knowing exactly what I like to wear, for guessing my style and my exact size. He isn’t feminine in any way but out of all the guys, Blaine is the one who seems to understand fashion and to take special care in his appearance. I love that.
Love, that word. Again.
I smile at the mirror but it’s a sad smile because I wonder if there’s any way that this situation will resolve itself without any more broken hearts. I know the guys are playing nice right now and they aren’t putting pressure on me to choose but I can’t lie to myself and think that they’ll be ok with this long term. The situation we’ve been in while on the run has pushed most relationship talk to the back burner and I guess the mission we’re on now might delay it further but I know that one day, I’ll have to decide who I want to be with. I know the brothers aren’t bothered by one another … but I couldn’t live without River in my life. I couldn’t choose between the three of them, even if I am supposed to.
I look at the Sloane in the mirror as if she can give me all the answers, but my reflection is staring back at me with a quiet intensity, not giving away the solution to my problems. What a bitch, huh? I giggle at my goofiness, thinking that being tired feels like being drunk. I easily go from really deep introspection to dorky silliness in a heartbeat.
Unfortunately, my thoughts are interrupted by the bathroom door opening and Kaden’s reflection appears next to mine.
He isn’t touching me but his dark blue eyes are looking into mine through the mirror.
“What are you doing here? Didn’t you see that the bathroom was occupied? And how the hell did you get in? I thought I locked it.” My tone sounds as hard and harsh as I want it to be, I’m not trying to hide my fury and my distrust of him.
He shrugs, the corner of his upper lip quirking up in a lopsided grin. “Every aircraft in the world has a latch on the bathroom door that makes it possible to open it from the outside. It’s so that the crew can check for incapacitated passengers.”
“Well, I’m not incapacitated as you can