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“Of course,” the guy said, like it was no big deal. He handed one to Tyler, and then Tyler passed it to me, and I held the clip in my hand, staring at it.
“Here,” he said gently. He took it back and hooked it on his side of me, then he reached across my midsection, finding the other side of my belt. Once it was all clipped into place, he kissed my cheek. “Look, you’re all belted in. No need to be embarrassed.”
I looked at him, studying his molten hazel eyes and wondering what he saw in me. If he ever wished he was with someone who would... fit better into the way the world expected beautiful people like him to live.
He held my face in his hands and kissed me softly.
And it was better. Already it was better. And he hadn’t even said a word. I knew I had to talk to him about something else, to help the worry that hadn’t quite left my system since my talk with Grandma.
“Maybe there is something else,” I admitted, biting my lip.
“What is it?” he asked.
I ran my hands over my legs, trying to remove the sweat from my palms. “Tyler, I’m Black.”
He chuckled slightly. “I know that.”
“Does your family know that?”
He seemed confused by my question. “Well, yeah. I sent them a picture pretty soon after I bought plane tickets. My sister thinks you’re gorgeous, by the way.”
I smiled slightly. “It’s just… Texas isn’t always well-known for being welcoming to different kinds of people. With you being from a small-town… Not that I’m saying every person who comes from a small town in a red state is racist, but maybe if they don’t see a lot of people like me.” My eyes were stinging again as I struggled to get out the words, struggled to express my fears. I wiped at my tears. “I don’t want to feel out of place when I’m there, and I don’t want you to change your mind,” I whispered.
Tyler held my face in both of his hands. “I need you to hear this.”
I nodded.
“What other people think about you will never change the way I see you, right now. You are perfect, kind, sexy as hell,andBlack. It’s a part of you, just like your family and your heart and that beautiful brain in your head. Andifwe come across anyone who judges you, they have another fucking thing coming. I promise, I won’t let anyone tear you down without ripping out their ass hole and pulling it over their head.”
I couldn’t help but laugh at his violence. Tyler was always a gentleman, but when it came to me, I knew he’d defend me, no matter what it took.
“I’m serious,” he said. “But I also want you to know that Cottonwood Falls is different from what you see on the news. The people there look out for each other, no matter if you’ve been there five days or fifty years. They’re going to love you.”
“Thank you,” I said, my chest finally relaxing. “I needed to hear that.”
“Of course. Is there anything else? I want you to be excited, not scared.”
“Not at all. It just helps knowing you have my back.”
He kissed my forehead. “Of course I do.”
I lifted the armrest between us and leaned against his shoulder. “What do you usually do on flights?” I asked, trying to distract myself. “I haven’t been on one since I was little.”
“I usually just find a movie on the airline’s list and watch that.” He got out his phone, going to the in-flight Wi-Fi. My eyes widened in horror as he paid the eight dollars for advanced access.
“What are you doing?” I asked. “We can go a few hours without internet.”
“But what if you want to watch something they don’t have?”
I laughed and shook my head. “We haven’t even been through the list yet!”
“Yeah, but what my baby wants, my baby gets. That’s worth way more than eight dollars to me.”
Tears of a new kind found my eyes. “How did I get so lucky with you?” Because really, I felt like the luckiest girl in the world—he wasn’t ashamed of my size, he supported my dreams, and he was even flying me across the country because he wanted me to see his hometown.
He kissed me again, making butterflies dance in my stomach. “I’ve been asking myself the same question ever since you agreed to that first date.” Then he kissed the top of my head. “So, what do you want to watch, baby girl? We have the internet at our fingertips.”
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