Page 16 of A Real Good Lie

“Idiot,” he grumbled to himself.

The gate attendant announced it was time to board, and when Callahan got to the gate, he handed the new boarding pass back to her.

“My…uhm, my friend isn’t here yet,” he said.

“That’s fine, sir. His existing pass will update when we scan him. Have a nice flight, Mr. McMillian.”

Callahan scanned his phone over the barcode reader, then walked down the jet bridge, greeting every worker as he went. That was something his parents had instilled in him from a very young age. It was important to treat everyone equally no matter what their job was. It was something he’d taken with him as a moral goal post when he’d entered the workforce, and also something he’d tried to instill in every person he hired.

Callahan took his seat, the third row back, aisle, and shoved his messenger bag under the seat in front of him.

“Can I get you a drink, sir?”

He popped his earbuds out, not wanting to be rude, and smiled up at the flight attendant.

“Bloody Mary,” he said. “Please. Extra olives.”

“Of course.” The flight attendant took two more orders, then slipped back to the small service area.

First class filled quickly, and Callahan frowned as the seat beside him remained empty. The economy class fliers began to filter in, and he pulled his phone out of his pocket, tapping out a message to Sebastian.

Me: He better not flake.

Sebastian: Tell him, not me.

Callahan glared at his phone, finally admitting that Sebastian was right. He should have reached out himself sometime between then and now, but it was too late to go back, and he reluctantly scrolled through the contacts in his phone.

Me: Are you still coming?

It took a minute, but a text came through as his drink arrived.

Jace: Just got through security. Nice to meet you, too ;)

Callahan huffed and dropped his phone onto the armrest between the seats, reaching for his drink. He swirled the straw out of the way and poured half of the drink down his throat. He groaned and closed his eyes, leaning his head against the leather headrest while the tomato juice and vodka made its way through him.

This was all he needed, a drink to calm his nerves.

He finished off the rest of the too small drink and popped the olives into his mouth one by one. He didn’t need to worry about the plane leaving without Jace because that was a perk of Callahan’s own frequent flier status. He chewed his olives and waited, and then someone bumped into him, nearly knocking the empty glass out of his hand.

Callahan opened his eyes and found a denim-clad ass in his face, and then a man who smelled like eucalyptus and mint dropped into the seat beside him with a dramatic flourish. Something pinged Callahan’s alarms and he narrowed his eyes, waiting until the man had adjusted himself and settled in.

“Oh shit, it’s you.” His breath caught in his throat when he recognized Jay, the best kisser on the planet, beside him on the plane.

“You’ve gotta go,” he said. “This seat’s reserved.”

Jay frowned and looked down at his boarding pass.

“Yeah. For me.” He held it up for Callahan to see. “3A. That’s me, and you’re…shit. You’re you. Wow.”

“Your name is Jay,” Callahan mumbled, still not quite connecting the dots in his head.

“My name isJace. Jace Dare.”

“You said your name was Jay,” he corrected. “At the club. Before. When we. You said Jay.”

“I said Jace,” Jay or Jace said back to him. “It was loud, you probably didn’t hear me right.”

“Jace,” he repeated.