Page 37 of Puck King
Steam puffed from his lips as he laughed. “I’ve never met someone with your sense of humor.”
All my life, I’d been told that my humor was dry. Brian had hated it because he wasn’t able to discern sarcasm. “I’m hilarious.” I held the blanket with one hand and hooked my other hand through the crook of his arm.
“Come with me.” Colton led me around the corner to where a sleek black helicopter was waiting.
“I’m sorry I couldn’t pick up you personally, I was doing all of the pre-flight checks. The snow makes things a bit more challenging.”
“Is that a helicopter?” I felt ridiculous. Of course it was a helicopter. But Colton tilted his head and smiled. “I sure hope it is. If it’s a submarine, we’re going to have one hell of a time getting off this roof.”
I freed my hand to smack his arm. His humor was more in-your-face. “Where are we going?”
“You ask a lot of questions. Get in.” He opened the door and helped me into the passenger seat. Or maybe it was called the co-pilot seat. I wasn’t sure. It was the first time I’d been in a helicopter. The dashboard controls glowed and the windows wrapped around the front. I looked to the pilot, wondering if he’d give me a clue as to where we were headed before Colton hopped in, but the seat was empty.
The door opened and Colton slid into the pilot’s seat.
“W-w-what are you doing?”
He flicked a bunch of switches and handed me a headset, then put on his own headset. The helicopter shook as the engine started. His voice crackled through the headset. “I’m taking you to dinner.”
“No.” I adjusted the microphone so that it was closer to my lips. “What are you doing with that?” I pointed to the big stick that was used to drive – or fly a helicopter.
“I’m taking you to dinner,” he repeated. The sounds got louder as the blades above us began to spin.
I braced my hand against the door and pressed the other into the seat as hard as I could. “You can fly a h-h-helicopter?” The idea of this hockey jock hurtling us through the night sky, dodging the New York skyline, terrified me.
“I can fly a plane too.”
The helicopter got even louder and I squeaked as we started to hover a foot above the roof. It would’ve been a scream, but I was too scared and my throat was too constricted to release the full-blown terror screech that was trapped in my chest.
Colton looked at me as we hovered. “Are you okay?”
“I’ve never done this before.” My eyes darted to the rooftop as I wondered how high I could drop from the sky and not die.
“That makes two of us.” He grinned.
“Oh My God. Colton.” I fumbled with the attachments on the seatbelt harness.
He set the helicopter back on the building and let go of the driving stick. “Don’t jump out.” He rested his hand on my thigh as my fingers tried to undo the buckle. “I shouldn’t have joked around like that. I have tens of thousands of hours of flying experience. I could fly this little bug in my sleep. The weather conditions, even though it’s snowing, are actually quite favorable.”
My hands were shaking as I let go of the harness. Colton’s smile faded. “Alison, I’m sorry.” He rested his hand on mine. “My goodness, you’re trembling. I didn’t realize you were afraid of flying.”
“Flying?” I pulled my hand from beneath his and rubbed my clammy palms on the front of my coat. “I’m not afraid of flying.”
“You’re not?” He tilted his head. “But thirty seconds ago, I thought you were going to Superman right out of the cockpit.” He shut off the engine and motioned for me to take off the headset. The rotor slowing above me made it easier to hear myself think.
“I’m not afraid of flying. I’m afraid ofyouflying.”
“Me?”
I immediately regretted the harshness in my voice. Colton looked hurt, and I reached for his hand. It was huge beneath mine, and my hands are not small. “I didn’t realize that you’re an experienced pilot. I thought that you were just a…”
“Hockey player.” He finished the sentence.
“Yeah.” It was a shitty thing to say, and I was glad that he’d called me out on it.
“So then we’re even.” He flipped his hand beneath mine so the heat of our palms met each other.
It felt natural for our hands to be resting together, and I kind of wanted to interlace my fingers with his, but couldn’t tell if he was just comforting me or…
