“Right. Today’s Saturday, and you’ve got a red-eye.”
“I’ve got dinner with my parents that night. We always have Sunday night dinner.”
“Of course you do. And then you’ll need to go to bed early and get back to the workforce on Monday.”
Alex winced. “Yes, the emails are piling up, I’m sure. You could join us for dinner?”
I thought for a moment. “No, I’ve just had you for a week. I’ll let your parents enjoy some quality time with you.”
Natasha Boyd was a superb mother, as I’d seen growing up. I’d always been a little jealous of Alex with his mother, and they’d continued their close relationship as we became adults. I could never work for my mother or father, but it seemed to work out pretty well for Alex and Natasha.
It was surely nepotism to start, but Alex did a damn fine job at her company, working in the User Experience department. And he had been promoted—several times.
Alex had a space in the world, and he knew where he belonged: at Boyd Technologies, with his parents, with his schoolmates.
What was I going back to? Unlike Alex, I hadn’t kept up with our schoolmates, and now Ion’s friends were no longer mine. My mother and I had a regular weekly phone call, but she was busy being a socialite. And Father…well, I had never really known what Father did, and I didn’t really want to learn now. It was probably best if I didn’t know.
Alex grinned at me. “You just don’t want to tell our mothers we’re together now.”
I threw my hands up. “They’re going to be horrid! All smug and thinking they were right all along.”
He laughed. “You know I’m going to tell Mum tonight, right?”
“Yes, and she’ll call my mother and celebrate.”
Alex laced his fingers through mine. “I actually have something for you, to celebrate too.”
“Oh? You have my attention.”
Alex reached into the backpack at his feet and pulled out a bracelet. It was one I recognized from our village tour, made of carved bone and porcupine quills the locals had strung together.
“Alex.” My heart melted a little bit. “We hadn’t even kissed yet. You bought this for me?”
He shrugged, a blush creeping up his ears. “I wanted you to have something—aside from photographs—to remember the trip by.”
I leaned over and kissed his cheek, slipping the bracelet on my wrist. “Thank you.”
We arrived at the airport and gave a flurry of hugs and handshakes to Thomas. Alex and I had discussed the tips in advance, and Alex handed the envelope to him as we said goodbyes.
After a brief check-in, we were seated at the gate. Alex nudged me.
“There’s Wi-Fi here,” he said, gesturing with his phone.
I glanced down at his phone. “Back to reality?”
Alex looked down too. He took a deep breath. “Yes. Back to the real world, with a job and a work schedule and not enough free time.”
I pulled out my phone, queueing up the connection. I nodded, decisive. “Let’s do it.”
“Wait, wait.” He wrapped an arm around me pulling me close to him and ducking to meet my lips. The armrest of my seat dug into my ribs, but when Alex kissed me, I could have been on fire and wouldn’t have given a whit.
After what was probably indecently long for a public kiss in an airport, we broke apart.
“One last kiss before we go back to the real world.”
Right, the real world where Alex is a Very Busy Person.
He turned his attention back to his phone, and I almost shouted out, “No! Wait! Stop! Let’s just run off into the African savanna and never return again.”
