They Bet On My Flight, So I Booked One To Iceland Chapter 03

They Bet On My Flight, So I Booked One To Iceland Chapter 03

I stared at her message, my throat tightening.

When my parents divorced during college and left me alone with their debt, Chloe shared the money she lived on with me and helped me survive those miserable months.

Later, when I had a panic attack on a rooftop and could barely breathe, Mason carried me to the hospital and stayed beside my bed all night.

I wasn’t ungrateful.

That was why I had told myself over and over that they never meant to hurt me. We had simply grown so close that they no longer thought twice about crossing my boundaries.

But today, I finally understood.

What they had done for me in the past did not give them a free pass to keep trampling all over me.

While I waited in the check-in line, I canceled the authorized-user card Mason had given me and turned off location sharing.

He called immediately.

I answered.

“You canceled the card I gave you?” His voice turned cold. “Avery, now you’re keeping score with me over a few dollars?”

“Yes.”

The other end of the line went silent for two seconds.

Then Chloe’s voice cut in.

“Avery, you’re not actually at the airport, are you? Who are you trying to scare? Mason has already let it go.”

Mason seemed to move the phone away from her before bringing it back to his ear.

“Which entrance are you at? I’ll come get you. I’ll ask around about the portfolio and see whether there’s any way to appeal the decision.”

“No.”

“What do you mean, no?” Mason’s voice carried barely restrained impatience. “The Maui hotel is nonrefundable. It won’t be any fun if it’s just the two of us.”

Chloe murmured in the background, “It wouldn’t be totally boring. We’d just be missing someone to take pictures for us.”

I handed my passport to the airline agent.

After checking my documents, she gave me my boarding pass.

“Have a safe flight.”

I took it and said into the phone, “I have something to take care of. I’m hanging up.”

Mason finally lost his temper.

“Avery, does everyone have to cater to your every mood? Chloe is already crying. What more do you want?”

I lowered my eyes to the destination printed on my boarding pass.

“I want to get away from both of you.”

After ending the call, I opened Instagram.

Ten minutes earlier, Chloe had posted a selfie. Her eyes were red, and she was clutching a snorkel mask against her chest.

[I was so excited to surprise someone, only to have my kindness thrown back in my face. People who can’t take a joke are exhausting.]

Several people had already left comments comforting her.

Mason’s reply stood out among them.

[Don’t cry. We’ll go see the ocean in Maui. She’s stubborn. Give her a few days, and she’ll come back to apologize.]

I neither liked the post nor left a comment.

I simply muted both of them.

Before my screen went dark, an airline notification appeared.

[Your flight to Reykjavík has been delayed due to Arctic weather conditions. Boarding is now expected to begin four hours later than scheduled.]

I bought a cup of hot coffee in the waiting area.

I had just secured the lid when someone clapped a hand hard on my shoulder.

Coffee splashed out and burned my knuckles.

I turned around and found Mason and Chloe standing behind me.

One of the buttons on Mason’s coat was fastened in the wrong hole, and sweat beaded along his forehead.

Chloe was still clutching her boarding pass to Maui. She was so out of breath that she could barely speak.

“All right.” Mason took the coffee from my hand, felt the side of the cup, and pressed it back into my hand. “At least you had the sense to buy something hot. You’re not freezing, are you?”

His tone sounded as though he were soothing me, but also as though he had just declared the matter settled.

“We’re not going to Maui anymore. We missed our flight looking for you, so now we’re even. Come home with me.”

Chloe finally caught her breath. With her hands braced on her knees, she looked up at me.

“Avery, what are you doing in the international terminal? Are you seriously trying to run away like someone in a movie?”

I looked at Mason.

“How did you know I was here?”