“I love when you get territorial with me, honey.” He turned his attention back to the attendant. “I always make sure she’s well satisfied.”
“I’ve never had an orgasm in my life,” I announced, smiling at her and then mentally patting myself on the back when Frankie’s eyes shuttered closed. “I’ll have a Coke too, and the barbeque chips, thanks.”
The stewardess shoved the cart forward as Frankie pulled down my tray table, cracking open my soda for me in an act of truce and pouring it into the tiny plastic cup of ice. “Thanks,” I hummed around a chip.
“You’ve really never had an orgasm?”
This guy was unbelievable. Persistent, overt—if he really was the tamer of the two, I didn’t even want to imagine the roommate. “Of course I have,” I said. I wasn’t about to have him thinking that I’d never been in a sexual situation in my life. “Not that a man’s ever gotten the job done.”
Frankie shifted in his seat, slouching lower, legs taking up more room in front of him, if that was even possible. He shoveled a handful of popcorn into his mouth and stared ahead, as if he was content to stew on that confession for the rest of the flight. Of all the comebacks he had for everything, he chose that to let linger in the silent space.
I cleared my throat when he tipped his head back and poured another handful of popcorn into his mouth, baring his neck and Adam’s apple that I couldn’t help but watch bob up and down.
“So, tell me about this throuple you’re in. I’ll need some more information about the company before I can make a decision.”
“I don’t share,” he said matter-of-factly, gaze finding mine out of the corner of his eye. It would be much easier to pretend I didn’t feel a heat at my neck over that declaration if he wasn’t so easy to look at. “They’re actually the reason I desperately need a girlfriend at this point. I don’t know how much longer I can pretend we don’t live in an echo chamber and the walls aren’t made of looseleaf paper.”
“Oof, that bad?”
Frankie ran a hand down his jaw. “Tally’s got this ghost moan, like she’s stuck in the in-between when she’s getting fucked. I half think one night I’m gonna be dragged from my bed by the ankle to perform a seance.”
“Ghost moan?” I arched my brow. “I can’t even imagine what that sounds like.”
“Well it’s kind of like…” Frankie started cooing softly next to me.
“Oh, God, no.” I giggled nervously as he continued growing louder and more animated. “Frankie—stop.” He didn’t, adding an extra octave instead and groaning like a spirit experiencing coitus. “Frankie,” I whisper-shouted, slapping my hand over his lips. “You’re going to get us ejected.”
He finally stopped, moans giving way to raucous laughter that I attempted not to condone, but the way his eyes crinkled around the edges and his dimple stood out made me soften.
“Now you see why I don’t want to be alone anymore,” he joked. “This past week in Colorado Springs was my reprieve.”
“What was in Colorado Springs? Don’t tell me—an exorcist?”
“I wish.” He took a sip of his drink. “A job, actually. An interview. I’m retired from the Army, by the way,” he said pointedly. “But a flight school out there is looking for seasoned pilots to train their incoming classes. I know a guy who knows a guy.”
“So this Hook（Up） thing—you were just trying to get lucky. No strings attached, hopping on a flight home the next day.”
“Ugh, I know. And with my luck, she followed me right onto the plane.”
I scrunched my nose playfully.
“I don’t know.” He sighed. “Doesn’t everyone have that sort of forbidden fantasy? Go out on a business trip and get swept up. Fall in lust.”
I turned to face him again, inflicted with surprise. “Um, hello? Are you the same dude that was moaning like the Grudge two minutes ago?”
“I’m full of surprises.”
“I’ve noticed—and I’m a teacher in Pine Ridge, so going away on business isn’t exactly a luxury I’m familiar with.”
“So you have more of a teacher/bad student, ‘smack him around with a yardstick for not doing his homework’ fantasy.”
“I actually have the opposite of that, because I’m pretty sure even thinking it would get me fired.”
“That’s true.” He unsubtly ran his eyes down my neck, right to the curve of my neckline. “Well—now I have it, so thanks for that.”
“It’s been a long time since I’ve been ogled for simply existing.”
“Do you hate it?”
I pressed my lips together and folded my half-eaten chip bag. “Not as much as I should.” Frankie eyed the crinkling aluminum longingly. “Do you want the rest?”
“Thank God you offered. I’m so hungry.”
I snorted and handed the bag over, then sat in silence while he finished the crumbs. “So why not try to find a job closer to home?” I eventually asked.
“The opportunity pretty much fell into my lap, so to get my roommate off my ass I figured, why not? Two of my buddies are a state over in Salt Lake City, so I could see them more often. A change of scenery might be good for me. Like you so rudely pointed out, the AARP has started contacting me about my retirement savings.”
“And how does that look, out of curiosity?” I teased.
“Ah, there she is. It was never my body or a uniform you were after. The truth always comes out.”
I shrugged.
“What about you?” he asked. “Running away from an ex?”
“Why do you say that?”
“You’re on a plane, flying two thousand miles away from home just in time for Christmas. There’s gotta be something chasing your tail. So, what is it?”
“Not an ex,” I said. “I’m visiting a friend from college for a few weeks in Coconut Creek.”
“No family?”
“Oh, I do, yeah. My parents are more like my friends at this point. They were married for a while after I was born but now they’ve been divorced a long time and have these perfect second families. My closest half-sibling is only fourteen, so I figured I would do something different this Christmas. Trade the pine trees for palm trees.”
“It’s nice to do something for yourself every now and then.”
“I agree.”
I stacked my empty plastic cup and soda can inside one another and shut the tray, unbuckling the flimsy seatbelt to stand. “I’m going to use the restroom now.”
“Yeah?” He raised his eyebrows and unbuckled his own belt. “How long should I wait? Two—three minutes?”
“Alone.” I patted his shoulder before squeezing through the tiny space between his squashed legs and the seat in front of him, ass first. “Nice try though.”
“Tease,” I heard him mumble from the aisle. I smiled to myself all the way down the row and into the miniscule bathroom.
The mirror wasn’t much to look at, and the fluorescent lighting in the stall wasn’t doing anything for me either. I still patted the undersides of my eyes to make sure my concealer wasn’t creasing and fluffed my unwashed hair.