Page 19 of All the way home

Or on him.

Thanks, Mara.

“You’re here by yourself,” Kieran notes.

Wait—is Zach being profiled right now? He allows himself a second to digest this before he panics. Is Kieran an unusually well-dressed thief? Warily, he says, “I might be.”

Desperate for something to do with his hands, Zach grabs his water bottle and takes an overlarge swig, barely managing not to choke.

“Easier to handle now that you’ve filled it?” Kieran asks, and it’s only the crinkling next to his eyes that stops Zach from wanting to sink into his seat from humiliation.

“Yeah, now I can properly go bowling with it”—Zach hefts the bottle with one hand before setting it down—“instead of all that accidental escaped-convict stuff.”

Kieran laughs.

It’s a distracting sound. Eyeing him sideways, Zach decides that Kieran probably isn’t a thief.

Probably.

At any rate, he’s a good distraction, and that’s enough to fend off the impending panic. For now.

“So, you don’t like flying?” Kieran asks.

Considering the crowded gate, the blizzard outside, and the knot of irritated travelers shouting at the flight attendant behind the desk, this trip probably isn’t a great baseline.

But still, the truth is the truth.

“Wouldn’t know,” Zach admits.

Kieran turns—like, fully twists to face him—in his chair. “You’ve never been on a plane?”

Startled by both the sudden proximity and the intensity of his question, Zach blinks. “I . . . no. I haven’t.”

“You are an adult, right?” Kieran asks, then immediately winces. “Shit, that sounded like an asshole thing to say. I meant, like, you’re not secretly fifteen and just happen to be wearing a university hoodie, right?”

Suspended between a laugh and a grimace, Zach touches a hand to the University of Calgary logo plastered across the front of his hoodie. “No, I go there. I’m just remarkably uncultured.”

Kieran grimaces. “That’s not what I meant.”

Zach is pretty sure he believes him, so he lets it slide. “I just haven’t had a reason to fly anywhere before.”

“Jeez.” Kieran lets out a low breath. “No wonder you’re nervous. I would be, too, if this was my first time.”

“I’m not exactly setting a precedent for good luck so far.” Zach runs his finger self-consciously over the crack in his phone screen.

“What do you mean?”

“Someone took my carry-on,” Zach finds himself saying, even though Kieran’s a total stranger, and for all he knows, it could be him who stole it. “I cracked my phone. Forgot my headphones. You know, typical first-flight stuff.”

Kieran takes a moment to digest this, mouth hanging open. Then he blinks and shakes his head. “No. No way. That’s too much. You’re messing with me.”

“Oh, I wish.” Zach slouches a little in his seat.

“I have an idea.”

Shooting him a sharp look, Zach doesn’t bother hiding his suspicion.

“Here’s the thing,” Kieran explains in a tone that manages to be both soothing and slightly condescending at once. “We are both stuck in this airport, yes?”