7. Meggie

7

Meggie

T he flight across the Atlantic is like a game of musical chairs. We're all constantly making adjustments to the seating arrangement. Oz and I sit together and play cards for the first hour. Then Emily trades seats with him, and she and I watch a romcom about a woman having a quarter-life crisis who runs to the vet asking them to pump the stomach of her goldfish.

When I come back from using the restroom, Oz is in my seat by Em, and the two of them are debating the merits of gummy vitamins.

"It's a vitamin!" Oz stresses.

"It's not," Em laughs. "I don't care what the label says. You can't convince me anything raspberry-flavored and gummy-bear-shaped is medically approved."

"It has to be better than nothing though," I offer in support of Oz, but shoot him an arched eyebrow. "But probably only if you eat the whole gummy bear. Not just their heads."

Oz gasps as Emily chokes on her laugh.

"Don't tell her my secrets!"

"You only eat their heads?"

Oz gives a shrug. "Then I can pretend I'm their king."

"Excuse me, hun," the stewardess says, her hip nearly bumping into mine as she drags a cart behind her. Another flight attendant is on the other side of it, collecting the trays from dinner.

"Oh, sorry." I step backwards on autopilot, and stumble over Nils, who's sitting directly across the aisle. Like a game of dominos, my feet go out from under me and I kick out, toes knocking into Oz as my ass slams down on Nils. My upper body flies back, landing on McQuinn's tray table.

"Shit," I groan. The flight attendant gives me a dirty look as if I said something much worse. Or maybe she's just upset about the mess I made.

There's a tense silence for a second, and then Nils and McQuinn burst out laughing.

"Um, thanks." I join their laughter, and my gaze locks on McQuinn's bright smile. Lately, everything has been tense between us. A tug-of-war that has a lot to do with the man sitting next to him.

"Sorry," I say, trying to scramble back to my feet, but the flight attendant now has the cart completely blocking the aisle, so the best I can do is sit up on Nils's lap.

My lower back is wet and there's something sticky on my bare arm. I shudder when McQuinn picks a piece of lettuce out of my hair.

"I'm not sorry." Nils grins and gives me a tight hug while McQuinn lifts and locks his tray table. I'm surprised it's not broken with how hard I landed on it.

"Gravity is a real bitch." McQuinn says, still laughing as he peels a piece of plastic off my back and hands it to the flight attendant.

She takes our trash and moves to the next row, quickly working her way past us. Once the aisle is clear, I glance over at Oz. His eyes are down-turned, as well as his lips, and I follow his gaze to his shoes.

"Shit." Oz's beautifully white sneakers are covered in dark coffee stains. "Oh, fuck, I'm so sorry."

He looks up at me and gives a tight smile.

McQuinn leans closer and chuckles. "Serves you right for being such a tight ass about your shoes."

Oz snaps his attention to McQuinn with a hard glare. "Shut up, asshole. If any of you had done this, you'd be dead."

"I really am sorry." I wonder how long it'll take to ship a new pair of sneakers to Paris.

"It's okay, baby girl." Oz's gentle look turns flirty. "I'll let it slide, but only for you."

"Hey, we're pack!" McQuinn says. "You can't play favorites like that."

"Watch me." Oz reaches across the aisle, grabs the back of my head, and kisses me.

"What did I say?" Harrison growls from the row behind us.

With warm cheeks and a tingling sensation I need to keep in check, I pull away from Oz. When I try to stand up, Nils tightens his hold around my waist. "Stay, gorgeous."

"I can't just sit on your lap." I glance past McQuinn to the strawberry blonde lady sitting on the other side of him. She's staring at the movie on her screen, but judging by the tightness in her shoulders and the way she's angled herself away from us, I don't think she's amused by our antics.

"Just a little bit," Nils whispers, and I cave.

"Five minutes."

"If you two are gonna snuggle, I'm gonna read," McQuinn grumbles.

"You could snuggle with us." Nils tries to wrap his arm around McQuinn, but the other man bats him away. He reaches for his bag under the seat and starts digging through it as Nils asks how the flight is going for me so far.

"Apart from being covered in food? Pretty good." I drop my head and run my nose along his neck, taking in the calming scent of him. Eucalyptus and mint, fresh kisses given clean from the shower. I sigh contentedly. "Better now."

"Fuck." McQuinn tugs his bag onto his lap, pulling items out as he digs through it.

"What's wrong?"

"I can't find my book." He smacks his head against the back of his seat. "Fuck, what am I gonna do now?"

"You could talk to us," Nils suggests.

McQuinn rolls his head to the side and gives him an unamused look. Nils's muscles tense like he's gearing up for a fight. To ease the tension, I ask, "What book are you reading?"

"Lineage of Eir." McQuinn doesn't look at me as he answers.

"Seriously? I love that series!" The fantasy romance is my favorite read this year. "What book are you on?"

"The black one."

"Oh, number two. Just wait until you get to book four. It's such a roller coaster."

"No spoilers!"

"I would never! I hate when people spoil books." I shift my position on Nils's lap so that I'm angled towards McQuinn. Our knees bump together and the warmth of the simple touch spreads all the way up my thighs. That small point of contact is a comfort I didn't know I was craving, and I'm glad when he doesn't pull away. "Do you read romance? What's your favorite trope?"

"One bed, of course."

Forced proximity. Fitting for McQuinn, who seems to struggle with expressing himself verbally.

"Obviously. But I have to admit, I'm kind of a ‘who did this to you' girlie."

"No! It's so lame!"

I glance at Nils. "Have you read The Eir series?"

He shakes his head, trying to hide his knowing smirk.

McQuinn and I spend a lot more than five minutes talking about fictional fae wars. It's surprisingly fun to talk with him, and I wish we'd found this connection sooner. But then Nils starts rubbing his hands up and down my arms, leaning in and burying his nose in my hair while I talk.

McQuinn suddenly shuts up, pinching his lips together in a look of disgust. Does he really find me that repulsive?

"What did you think about the Dragon King?" I ask, trying to draw him back into the conversation. I place a hand over the back of Nils's palm to stop his flirty touches. McQuinn zeros in on the action.

"You shouldn't be sitting here," he snips.

I wince, feeling the sting in the words like static electricity zapping my fingertips. "It hasn't been a problem so far. I was enjoying talking to you."

"Clearly, you were enjoying something else more." His eyes flick down to my hand, joined with Nils's on my lap. I was trying to consider McQuinn's feelings by stopping Nils from getting too handsy, but his insinuation that I'm only here to cuddle with Nils hurts. I thought we were finally making progress, and now he wants to dismiss the connection as nothing, minimize it? No. If that's what he thinks of me then, that's what he'll get. Frustrated, I pull Nils into a heavy kiss, keeping my eyes on McQuinn.

"Go. Back. To. Your. Seat," McQuinn's harsh tone is almost a bark.

My body jerks back at his dismissal. Getting up from Nils's lap, I step on McQuinn's toes as I leave, meeting his eyes as I do. At least he has the decency to look surprised at being such a jerk.

Nils looks pissed. "Meggie, wait."

But I can't. I don't want to be there anymore. Not when I'm not wanted.

I take the empty seat by Dante. One look at me, and he pulls me into his side. "What happened?"

"Nothing. I'm fine." I rub my palm over my heart in little circles.

Dante nuzzles his cheek against mine, scent marking me. The action soothes something deep inside me, instincts I've long left buried. His summer scent of oak trees and fresh grass calms me slightly, but there's an ache in my chest I can't get rid of, like I'm missing something. A craving for citrus and sunshine, even if I always get burned.