Page 16 of Boyfriend Material
Livie laughed. His expression had turned serious. Maybe he had a point. She was already more relaxed than usual. Time would tell that and being around her family.
“Be back soon.” Livie gathered her things to take into the shower. Her mother would think it was odd if she saw her, but if Theo heard them go downstairs, she was probably safe.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Theo
Theo grabbed his backpack from the closet and pulled out his laptop. He might as well check on return flights while he waited for Livie. At least he’d taken the edge off in the shower. I wouldn’t usually rub one out in a family bathroom, but it was almost do or die time. He figured it would make controlling the situation in his jeans easier.
Except his relief only lasted until he walked into the bedroom and saw her sitting on the bed in her nightshirt. He wasn’t sure if it was the shirt or her long hair, loose and falling over her shoulders. Either way, it didn’t matter his semi wouldn’t take long to escalate. He couldn’t remember ever reacting to a woman as he did to Livie. She did it for him in a big way.
Chuckling at his joke, he pulled up the airline schedule for his return flight. He needed to ask her for her flight info so he could try to arrange the same. Originally, he’d planned to return on Monday, but he remembered her saying she was going home on Sunday. Not that he blamed her. Four days with these peoplewould be enough for anyone. Especially if her brother and sister were half as bad as her parents.
The little he’d seen of Ellijay as he drove through downtown looked cute. He’d love to show him around, but he didn’t know if there were anyrequiredevents.
Livie returned a few moments later, surrounded by a cloud of jasmine that had Theo adjusting himself in his jeans. This was getting out of hand. He was going to have the worst set of blue balls ever soon.
“Everything okay? You have a weird look on your face,” Livie asked as she sat at her vanity to do her makeup.
It seemed so intimate to watch her. She didn’t wear much, mostly on her eyes. Theo swallowed past the lump in his throat and smiled. “Yup, everything is fine. I was wondering if you’ll have time to show me around while we’re here.”
“Definitely. We’ll be stuck with the family today. Tomorrow is the tree lighting downtown, and we do that as a family, too. It’s usually the highlight of the weekend for me. I think you’ll enjoy it. Hopefully, it won’t be too cold. Other than those two things, we can do what we want.”
“Perfect. I was looking online, and I found a few things that might be fun. One of them was the tree lighting. Do you remember what time you’re flying back on Sunday?”
“Hmm. Let me check. I have the itinerary on my phone.”
As Livie scrolled through her phone, he felt safe watching her. Her forehead wrinkled a bit between her eyes as she concentrated. Her hair was still down, and it curtained one side of her face as she read the screen. It took way too much willpower to stay where he was and not touch her.
“Okay, here it is. It’s Delta Flight 2984 and departs at eight-twenty on Sunday evening. I want to say it was the only one available when I booked. I’m not sure you’d be able to get a seat.”
“I don’t want you flying back alone, especially without your meds. Maybe we’ll get lucky again and I can get on the flight. I probably have a better chance since it’s later in the day.”
“Oh crap. I totally forgot you’d have to change your flights. When were you going home?”
“On Monday. It’s no big deal. I can always chill at home on Monday. Are we feeling lucky about this? Will lightning strike twice on the same trip?”
Livie smiled at him in the mirror as she put on mascara. “I guess we’ll find out.” Then in a new anchor voice, “Will their luck hold, or will they fly separately? News at eleven.”
Theo chuckled and ran his hand through his hair as he waited for the website to load. He not only wanted their luck to hold, but he also needed it to. There was no way he’d let her fly back without him to help with her panic attacks. If he had to, he’d change her flight to one they could take together.
The website took forever to open, but when he put in his information, the flight changes he wanted went through. “Well, I guess karma is on our side. I got on the same flight. What seat are you in?”
“Seriously? No way. On the busiest travel weekend of the year? Holy shit balls.”
“Right? Seat number?”
“Oh right, sorry. I’m just shocked you got on the same flight. Sitting together is too big of an ask for sure. Um, it’s Seat 18D.”
Theo checked the available seats, and he couldn’t believe their luck. It must be some kind of holiday magic. He clicked to reserve the seat next to her—18E—and confirmed his changes.
“You won’t believe this, but the seat next to you was open. Maybe we need to buy a lottery ticket.”
Livie turned around and met his gaze. “You’re not kidding?”
“Nope.” Theo carried the laptop over and showed her the confirmation.
“Karma,” she exclaimed. Then she jumped up and wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled his face down for a kiss, almost knocking the computer out of his hand.
