Page 41 of The Easy Way
Chapter Twelve
Cam sat on his bed,staring at his phone. Nothing from Cort all day, which shouldn’t have been unexpected. They would see each other at the airport in a little while anyway. Still, he debated messaging. Cort could reassure him like no oneelse.
How one man could fuck up his mind and calm it down at the same time was a mystery Cam couldn’tsolve.
He sighed and rolled to his feet, contemplating his suitcase. He’d packed his bathing suit and tux, but he’d hesitated before also packing his oldest, most comfortable t-shirts and a couple of fitted polos. He threw in a pair of Converse and some flip-flops, then zipped the caseclosed.
He grabbed his charger from beside the bed and hesitated, staring at the closed drawer of his nightstand. Condoms and lube? He shook hishead.
Not this weekend, not gonnahappen.
But he closed his eyes and quickly nabbed a few foil packets and a small bottle of lube and stashed them in his suitcase anyway, as if doing it blind meant he wouldn’t have to acknowledge his ownidiocy.
You want him. This doesn’t have to be a big thing, dummy. Let things happen the easy way again... just thisonce.
Cort was an agent, and theoretically they were on opposite teams when it came to blackmailing Bas, but a thought had been niggling at the back of Cam’s brain. Cort had told him flat-out that maybe they wouldn’t have investigated Sebastian even if Cam had refused to go along with Cort’s scheme. Was that his way of offering Cam an out, even while he manipulatedhim?
Or was Cam just desperate enough to want to believeit?
Which brought up the larger question of why Cam had agreed, and Cam was fairly and uncomfortably sure, the reason had a lot to do with the man who’d asked the question, and the idea that maybe it was time for him to face his fear offlying.
Maybe time to face a lot ofthings.
He grabbed his phone and dialed Sebastian’s number, not completely surprised when the phone clicked to voicemail on the first ring. He pursed his lips together at the sound of his brother’s voice - controlled, methodical, pre-crash Bas - telling him to leave amessage.
“Hey, so… I’m going away to St. Brigitte this weekend. Last minute thing for the Fine-Tyndall Children’s charity thing, and uh, I’m pretty nervous because, well, youknow.”
He hesitated, then plowed on. “I don’t like the way we left things the other day, so I just wanted to remind you that I love you, and I want to be around for you more, okay? Maybe there are things I can do, so you don’t feel like you have to grieve alone. Maybe we can go visit the cemetery when I get back, if you want.” His voice had trailed off to nearly a whisper. “That’s it. I love you, Bas. Be well. Talk to yousoon.”
He took a deep breath and slid the phone in hispocket.
He grabbed his suitcase and rolled it out the door, locked his dreary apartment behind him, and took the elevator to the first floor. The air outside was stifling hot, the humidity so oppressive his shirt was already sticking to him during the short walk from the lobby to the town car waiting at the curb. He gave his case to the driver and let himself into the backseat for the short drive to theairport.
As the car moved, his stomach began to churn. He’d been working with Dr. Meredith on the issue of his fear of flying for a couple of months. He tried to calm himself with logic and breathe consciously just the way he’d been taught. Statistically, take off was the worst time. If he got through that part, he’d be fine.Flying is one of the safest modes of transportation. Thousands of people do it everyday.
He understood the science of flight - had made a point to study it, in fact, after the crash. But there remained a kind of elusive magic to the whole process, some kind of alchemy that transmuted drag and lift into soaring. If he couldn’t fully understand it, then how could he trustit?
Heh.He rolled his eyes at himself. It seemed he had a chronic trustissue.
The airport - a private field not far from the city, came into view all too quickly, and he wondered if Cort would be waiting there. When Margaret had made their travel arrangements, she’d gotten them separate cars, and it occurred to Cam that he didn’t have the first clue where Cort lived. A cute suburban house? Some crappy little place in the city? A cave covered in animal skins? He was insanely curious about theman.
Or maybe justinsane.
They pulled up to a small guard house, and the driver chatted with the security guard for a few moments before the guard raised the swinging arm allowing them onto the airfield. And then suddenly they were at the plane - his parents’ plane. The plane theyshouldhave all flown in the day of the crash, had his parents not left early. His stomach twisted with one of those stupid, unpredictable pangs of grief which came up out of nowhere. He had to work to keep his breathing steady, so the panic wouldn’t takeover.
He wasn’t sure he could dothis.
But Cam didnotwant to be humiliated in front of Cort ever again, so he forced himself to swing his legs around and get out of thecar.
Staring at Kendrick Cortland kept his mind momentarily distracted from his fear. The man still looked like a Viking, albeit one who wore old, faded jeans that clung to his thighs just the right way, and a red t-shirt that stretched tight across his broad chest and shoulders. His hair was messy again today, falling in the same unintentionally perfect brown-gold waves it had the night they’d first met, and his eyes were hidden by mirrored aviator glasses which should have looked totally douchy, but on him looked fucking amazing. His jaw was set, and although Cam couldn’t see his eyes behind the shades, he could tell Cort was watching him by the visible tension in hisbody.
The driver cleared his throat, and Cam’s eyes flicked to him. “Er, if you’ll step this way, sir, I’ll see to yourluggage?”
Oh, right. Because he was standing in the open car doorway like an idiot.Yeah.
He grabbed his carry-on bag and stepped toward theplane.
The plane looked harmless enough. Plain white, with the Seaver Tech logo on the side, just as Cam remembered it. The sun was setting, reflecting rainbow sparkles off the plane windows that were almost too bright to look at. Sebastian and several of the other executives used the plane routinely for travel and never had a problem, so the likelihood that Camwould…
“You ready forthis?”
Cort’s voice at his shoulder had Cam turning away from the plane momentarily. He was so close Cam could feel his bodyheat.
WasCam ready? He wanted tobe.
He hoped that would beenough.
“Ready,” helied.
