Page 86 of Facing Off
All I can do is stare. Some strange instinct that feels off prickles in the back of my head. At the same time, storm clouds begin to gather outside.
Eventually, Hughes scratches his temple and waves his hand in front of my face. With his massive wingspan, he’s able to cross half the distance between us without getting up.
“Sonya?”
“You okay?” I suck a deep breath in, and I feel my teeth gritting. Did I really blurt that out?
His grin doesn’t falter. If anything, Hughes’ mouth curves more. He also spreads his knees apart and slouches against the seat as if he’s a lazy, smug king relaxing on his throne. “Why wouldn’t I be okay?”
That strange instinct that feels so off? It deepens. Are we not going to talk about how the last time we were together, he was freaking out about Jung? I pull at the neckline of my hoodie. The sound of thunder rumbles in the air. Gusty winds pick up speed, howling outside.Hughes’ eyes dart to the window. A storm has come out of nowhere, and it’s getting worse. The pilot makes an announcement, letting us know that they’ve checked, and it’s still safe to depart. We’re going to take off now.
From the corner of my eye, I think I see the hockey captain gulp. But then I’m not sure, because he starts talking animatedly.
“I wonder what everyone’s face is going to look like when they see us! It’s going to be the greatest reunion ever with me, you, Kavi, Lokhov and Quinn. But also don’t worry, I’ll leave the cover story about why we came together up to you. Just tell me what to say.” He laughs. “Though if you are looking for inspiration, I suggest you work in something about kidnapping. You could tie me up, or I could tie you up, but fair warning, if you let me do that, I’ll have you begging for more. Related butnot, what are your thoughts onknots? I like them.Knota bad way to get all tangled up.”
He’s talking too much and making way too many puns. Then again, it shouldn’t surprise me. You could put this man in a desolate cave and he’d find a way to entertain himself with his own jokes.
“Should we practice our cover story?” He keeps going. “I don’t want to show up and gettiedintoknotsabout it. Or!” he exclaims. “We could improv it.Knotknowing is half the fun!” he says with bouncing eyebrows.
The plane picks up speed. Turbulence rocks us back and forth. Hughes’ grin doesn’t move an inch. He’s excessively smirking at me, looking like he’s ready to launch into another monologue.
I frown, not able to get over this deep, inner, nagging feeling. “Do you not like flying?”
Hughes’ entire body tenses.
Something tells me I’m right, but I don’t get it. “Don’t you fly all the time?”
His grin dissolves.
“How could you have—? How did you—?” He shakes his head, his throat working. “Yeah, I’m always flying. But with the team. They…Weget rowdy enough.”
That it distracts himis the unfinished part of that sentence. I watch him sneak another look out the window.
“Have you always hated flying?”
He jerks his attention back to me, the look in his eyes incredulous but also vulnerable as his eyebrows draw together. “I don’t understand. Are you worried about me?”
“No.”
Yes. Apparently, I’veremainedworried since I saw him read that text message off his phone about Jung and go pale. And now what? I can’t stop?
“No,” I repeat, because that can’t be it. I’m…curious…bored…something-somethingabout balancing scales…
“Don’t worry,” Hughes insists, trying for a smile again. “I’m great, darling.”
He’s not. But it’s not like I haven’t pretended to be okay myself, so you would think I’d be fine with him doing it, too. Proud, even.
I understand that—but then the plane shudders. His expression doesn’t really change, except for the corners of his eyes. They tighten.
And suddenly I’m out of my seat.
34
ADRIAN
The first timeI flew on a plane, I was twelve years old and heading to a hockey camp in Montreal that I almost had to miss out on. Before I stepped into the plane, though, for a whole year, my mom had promised she could afford the camp, only to confess that we didn’t have the money after all. Tears streamed down her face.
At that moment, I comforted her even though my lip wobbled, knowing that if I didn’t, she’d cry harder and call herself a bad mom. It didn’t matter that I didn’t think it was fair. How if my mom hadn’t kept meeting new men and having so many kids, we wouldn’t be this…
