Page 7 of Wish Me Home

Catching up to him next to a display of stuffed animals, I grabbed his arm. “I hadn’t intended to get her anything here. I was going to get her something when I landed in San Diego.”

He nodded and grabbed a plush teddy bear from the shelf. It had a plaid scarf around its neck and a little Santa hat. He held it up, studying it. After a brief pause, he hugged it. It was one of the cutest things I had probably ever seen.

“Ever just want to hug a teddy bear?” he questioned. He grabbed another from the shelf and handed it to me. It was similar to the one he had, but had darker fur.

“Go ahead and hug it,” he prodded. I stared at him like he’d lost his mind. There was no way I was going to hug a stuffed animal.

“I’m good.” I went to go place the bear back on the shelf but he grabbed my arm, stopping me.

“I know it seems silly, but just humor me.” He was still hugging his bear, eyes sparkling with mischief. There was no way this man was seven years older than me.

Heaving a frustrated sigh, I fought the smile that wanted to break across my face. I brought the bear to my chest, giving it a soft squeeze.

“Doesn’t that just make you feel so happy?” he asked, placing his teddy bear back on the shelf. I did laugh then. It was so ridiculous, but I understood what he was trying to do. We needed to lighten the mood after I’d soured it in the bathroom.

We continued around the gift shop for a while. Cody picked up random knick knacks here and there, trying to convince me to buy them. He finally got me to settle on a snow globe with the Chicago skyline. Perhaps he had been on to something with having me get a gift here. Aunt Sadie had never been to Chicago and, sure the gift was a souvenir, but it would be a part of what I now called home.

After we finished with the gift shop, we made our way to the original gate where I’d met Cody. The lines had died down, and I was less intimidated by the prospect of rescheduling my flight. He stood in line with me making small talk as I waited my turn. A small miracle occurred when I realized my cheeks hurt. The man had me smiling.

“Gentlemen, how can I help you today?”

I startled when I realized we’d made it to the counter. I’d been so caught up in whatever it was we were discussing.

“Ah, yes, Emmett Butler. I was on flight 913 for San Diego.”

The woman sagged at the mention and then gave me an apologetic smile. “Yes, sorry about that. Thank you for not rushing the counter. Let’s see what we can do about getting you to your destination. And you, sir?” She turned to Cody.

He held up an employee badge and smiled. “Crew, ma’am. That was supposed to be my last flight. I think I’m just hoping for a jump seat at this point.”

“Yes, of course.” She looked between the two of us before typing away at her computer. “Well, if the snow continues to hold off…” we all stopped to look out the window to see if the snow had indeed stopped falling. “Then I should be able to get you both out on the first flight in the morning. It leaves at five am. Does that work?”

I was a little shocked she could get us on the same flight, especially with all the stranded passengers. I looked at Cody and he wore a similar expression of surprise.

“Now, I’m not sure I can get you two next to each other or not…”

Cody started laughing, and the poor attendant looked up in confusion. “We weren’t initially intending to travel together,” he explained.

“My apologies, sir. I just assumed with the way you had been talking to each other.”

He wrapped an arm around my shoulder and pulled me to his side, further adding to her confusion. “Just met today. Didn’t we, Emmett?”

My face heated because we had just met, within the last few hours, and I’d already become intimately acquainted with his dick. This was proving to be a wild trip home. Aunt Sadie would get a kick out of this story.

“Well, regardless, It looks like I still managed to wiggle something and I could get you two next to each other on the flight.” She printed off two tickets and handed them across to us.

Cody grabbed them and gave the woman a small salute in thanks before he looped his arm through mine and led me away from the counter. I didn’t know how to take his energy, but it was infectious. It was difficult to stay in a bad mood with him around.

“You get regular seats?” I questioned because he’d clearly requested a jump seat.

“Not usually. I was a little surprised she offered me one. Honestly, I was going to be lucky if I got out of here in the next few days, but this is even better.” He smiled holding up the tickets side by side. “We’re now travel buddies.”

He stuffed the tickets into the side of his bag and it wasn’t lost on me he kept ahold of my ticket. Then it occurred to me that I should let Aunt Sadie know about the new flight arrangements so I pulled out my phone to fire off a quick text. It was getting late in Chicago, going on ten at night, but that meant it was only eight in San Diego.

Emmett:Looks like I got a spot on the first flight out in the morning. 5am flight.

Aunt Sadie:You want me at the airport at eight in the morning?

Emmett:Sorry.

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