Danika.
Mac looked up at me, that gleam in his hazel eyes, and smirked. “You’re so cute when you’re excited.”
“Oh, please, like you aren’t just as excited to see Chance,” I teased, but he was still firmly in his seat, his seat belt wrapped around his middle as he made no move to stand.
“Get up. I want to be the first ones off,” I said as I looked around at the other people in first class, who were still seated. I must have looked insane to them.
“Sunny,” Mac said, his voice soft and low, “sit.” His hands grabbed my hips as he tugged me onto his lap, and I did as he’d asked. “Stop squirming,” he added, making me feel like a petulant child.
After we got off the plane, I wanted to run through JFK Airport until I reached Baggage Claim, where Danika was waiting for us, but Mac forced me to walk, holding my hand tight and yanking me back like a dog on a leash whenever I got too far ahead.
“Come onnnn,” I whined and looked back at him, but he only smiled and gripped my hand harder.
He enjoyed torturing me, and he knew it.
When I spotted the sign for Baggage Claim, I started hopping up and down, and Mac let go of my hand. I took off, speed-walking like a lunatic until I rounded the corner and spotted Chance and Danika craning their necks impatiently.
Danika shouted, and before I knew it, we were both running toward each other, arms wide open.
“Oh my gosh, I’ve missed you so much,” she said as we hugged and bounced around.
“Me too.”
“Your hair,” she said as she grabbed it, admiring each strand.
“Do you like it?”
“I love it! I mean, I saw the pictures, but it’s so much prettier in person.”
“Thanks. I’m sort of obsessed with it,” I admitted because I’d already colored it more than once. I’d felt myself growing a little bolder, buying that icy-blue color the last time, but I had gone with the silver again. I really liked it.
“Now, where’s that man of yours?” she asked, looking around me for any sign of Mac.
“I might have sort of run here and left him behind.” I turned around as well.
He couldn’t be that far behind.
“There he is,” Danika said with a smile as she pulled me over to where Chance stood, taking pictures of us with his cell phone.
He reached down and gave me a huge hug, lifting me up in the air, and instead of fighting back, I allowed it.
“Are you guys hungry?” he asked as soon as Mac walked up, and they embraced.
“I don’t think I could eat another bite.” I grabbed my stomach. “But he might be hungry.” I thumbed toward Mac.
“I’m good for now,” Mac said before wrapping an arm around me and walking toward our correct baggage claim carousel.
The airport was as packed as LAX had been, but I could tell just by looking around that we weren’t back home. Everyone was dressed for winter in coats and beanies. I’d brought some hoodies with me, but I didn’t even own a jacket. Hopefully, Danika had an extra one I could borrow.
The four of us made small talk while we waited for our suitcases to drop down the chute and make their way toward us. Apparently, our bags got unloaded before anyone else’s because within no time, I spotted them. Another perk of flying first class, I figured. Mac pulled both of them off the belt, and he and Chance lugged them through the crowd as I followed Danika’s lead. I had no idea where I was or where we were going.
“We have a car waiting outside,” Danika said.
I looked at her like she’d lost her mind as she sent off a quick text. “What do you mean, a car waiting outside? Like an Uber?”
“No. My dad has a driver. We don’t really drive here. I mean, people do,” she started to say before Chance interjected.
“But she doesn’t.”
“So, you have a car and a driver, and he just takes you everywhere?” I asked again, feeling like we’d stepped into some alternate universe where people were just chauffeured around all day like royalty.
“I borrowed my dad’s. Usually, we take a cab. Sometimes, we take the train.”
“But it’s fucking hot,” Chance said, and I wondered what he meant.
“What’s hot? The train?”
“Yeah. The subway. Not all of the cars have air-conditioning, so you run the chance of being a ball of sweat by the time you get off.”
Everything I knew