He’d talked to both Morty and Brad about their experiences in finding their mates.His shoulders slumped, and it took several surreptitious sniffs to lose all hope that his mate was there.
Count your blessings!
“Hello everyone, I’m Pierre, your pilot.To get the most out of this experience, we like to get you involved in getting the balloon in the air.If anyone has any medical issues that would prevent them from helping, let me know.”
Toby suspected the guy got those flying to help keep down the costs.He did a quick calculation, and sixteen times three hundred netted nearly five thousand dollars.They did two balloon rides daily—when the weather allowed—that was not chump change for sure.
The guy was pretty, with a whiter than white smile, yet something about his eyes made Toby wary.His clothes looked like they came from the designer shops that Toby would never be able to afford.The more the guy spoke, the more Toby disliked him.Which was unusual as Toby liked everybody.
By the time the talk finished, Toby had found a bit more of his enthusiasm when one of the alphas came and offered to hold the side of the balloon close to Toby while he had control of the large fans they were using to fill the balloon with air.He was attractive, dark-haired, with a friendly smile.
“Let’s hope I don’t take off with the balloon,” Burt joked, having exchanged names after the task allocation.
“I’ll cut the fan, don’t worry,” replied Toby, offering his cutest smile, at least according to Niall.
“Make sure you keep watching me.”
He flexed his biceps, making Toby chuckle, only Pierre interrupted, stepping between them to walk to the basket.
“Remy is going to climb into the basket and sit in there while we fill the balloon.Watch how he climbs in and braces himself when seated.This is something you will all need to do when we land.”
Toby’s butterflies turned into bats in his stomach, his mind trying to fathom why they would need to brace in such a manner.It seemed Remy was hanging on for grim death!
Toby’s bird woke up.This isn’t going to be like when we fly.
No shit.Toby was getting that.The romantic flight he had envisioned got replaced with visions of him hanging onto straps while…yeah, he hadn’t quite figured out what they were missing about the landing, but it was something.
“Is there any risk involved?”an alpha, Toby hadn’t caught his name, asked, eyeing the basket now like it might bite him.
“Life is a risk,” Pierre retorted, waving off the alpha's concerns.“Y’all had the appropriate paperwork explaining everything.”
Toby, who had read everything, disagreed.There had most definitely been no mention of risks to life!
There was no more conversation as Pierre basically commandeered the conversation, preventing anyone else from saying anything as he bossed everyone around.
As the balloon filled with air and Pierre walked inside the inflating balloon doing whatever he was doing, Toby’s excitement returned.
The balloon was a sight to behold as it rose into the sky majestically.A rainbow of color filling the air above them with billowing silk.The basket slipped easily onto its base, allaying some of Toby’s previous worry.They were all quickly encouraged to climb in using the gaps at the end of the basket.
The excited chatter increased as people sat in their allocated compartments.There were five compartments.The middle section held Pierre.The four other sections held four people each.In his eagerness to climb into the basket holding no one up, he didn’t initially notice Burt was on the other side of the basket with Pierre’s section between them, making it impossible to speak to him.
The two other alphas in his basket were both vying for the attention of the blond stunner sitting between them, leaving Toby in the seat at the end of the basket.No romantic evening for him!
When they were instructed to stand, Toby rose.His interest in the others in his part of the basket became secondary when, for the first time, he floated in the sky in his human form.The perspective was so different from being in his bird form.He became captivated by the stillness, despite the occasional disruption with a blast of roaring flames to heat the air in the balloon.
The higher they rose, the more contented Toby became as the sky flamed with bold colors in reds, oranges and hues of pink as the sun set.
The air was gentle against his cheeks; he could feel the thermals as the balloon seemed to roam freely.He barely listened with half an ear, resting his chin on the back of the hands he’d rested on the edge of the basket, staring out at the beautiful view.
He might not have gotten an alpha to romance him, but with the sky ablaze, it was its own romance.Gorgeous.
“—If that happens, please don’t interfere.I’ll deal with the landowner.”
“Don’t you have an allocated place to land?”
“No, we just land in a place that looks suitable.Most landowners have no issue with this at all.”
Toby stared at Pierre in disbelief as he passed off the concern the alpha standing next to him was displaying.Clearly, Toby missed something vital with the whole ‘don’t interfere, I’ll deal with the landowner’ speech.
