Truth or Dare - Danielle Allen Page 0,52

seat beside you,” I whispered to Kingston.

He leaned down and put his lips against my ear. “If I would’ve been sitting beside you while you’re wearing that, I wouldn’t know how to behave.”

Turning my head and kissing him, I replied, “And I wouldn’t have stopped you.”

He groaned, pulling me into him and hugging me tight. “You’re trying to get me hard, aren’t you?”

From behind me, I heard Tisha turn around. Her bag hit me in the process. “I have ears,” she said.

I didn’t even have to turn around. I could imagine the look on her face, and it made me laugh. My laughter triggered his and we untangled ourselves from one another. As I showed my boarding pass to the gate agent, she smiled.

“You look happy,” she remarked.

I felt warm all over. “I am.”

Before stepping foot on the plane, Kingston and I shared one last kiss before our the three-and-a-half-hour flight.

Once settled in our seats, Tisha and I started catching up on everything we didn’t have time to tell each other over the weekend. We had just both finished wrapping up a few of our juiciest stories when the plane started descending. We caught each other up on everything we could, but there wasn’t enough time for us to really sit and analyze what we were going to do about our entanglements with our male best friends.

All of us gathered around to talk to each other after we deboarded. We threw out a couple of ideas for our next trip, but we knew that no final decision would be made until Chloe and Dom returned from their honeymoon. No one had the time and patience it took to corral all of us like Chloe did.

With hugs and kisses, I said goodbye to my friends. It was always so good to see them and so sad to see them go.

Kingston intertwined his fingers with mine and walked with me to my gate. Tisha and Eli were a few feet ahead of us.

“I’m going to miss you more than normal,” I told him honestly.

He squeezed my hand before bringing it up to his lips. “I’m going to miss you, too.”

We made it to the gate to catch our flight to Richmond. My stomach was in knots the closer it got to departure time. The four of us stood around and talked, but I was distracted. I participated in the conversation, laughed on cue, and listened to every joke made but a heaviness was pressing on my chest. I couldn’t shake it.

“That’s us,” Tisha announced, hugging Kingston while I hugged Eli.

When I stood in front of Kingston, I felt that strangling feeling I felt that morning before he left my room.

“Call me when you land,” he told me, pulling me close.

I nodded, burying my head in his chest.

He kissed the top of my head. “Will you come down for a long weekend soon?”

I nodded again.

“Are you okay?” he wondered.

I nodded one more time.

“Look at me,” he demanded, tipping my chin upward.

I blinked up at him, nervous about what he would see in my eyes. Before he could say anything else, I pushed up on my toes and kissed him hard and deep.

“I have to go,” I told him, pulling out of the kiss.

“Have a safe flight.”

“Get home safely.” I blew him a kiss and then turned to follow Tisha. “And don’t watch me walk away.”

“The way your new ass is looking, I can’t keep my eyes off it,” he called back.

I laughed, but it was short lived. Each step I took felt heavier than the next and the knots in my belly had grown. My thoughts were swirling around in my head. It felt like I might drown in them.

“You look like you’re going to cry,” Tisha pointed out just before it was our turn to hand the agent our boarding passes.

“I might,” I admitted with a somber laugh.

She looked back at where we were and smiled knowingly.

“What?” I asked.

She shook her head. “You’re not ready to hear it.” Handing her boarding pass to the agent, she looked back at me. “But you know what I’m going to say.”

I stared at my best friend.

“Next,” the agent said sharply.

“That man is in love with you,” Tisha declared.

“What?” I screeched, looking back at Kingston who had just turned to walk away.

“Ma’am, I need your boarding pass!”

I looked between the ticket agent and my best friend. “I’ll be right back,” I said aloud.

I was talking to both of them.

I took off running, pushing through the small