tinder // drew starkey

chapter 18

Maia

Everything went by smoothly during the morning. Drew came by the house pretty early. Then we left Miso and Sloane around nine-fifteen. It was pretty funny seeing Drew and Sloane finally meet. It wasn't awkward at all, but it consisted of Sloane bombarding Drew with dumb ass questions, asking if she could be an extra for their next season.

The Uber ride from my apartment to the airport wasn't that long; okay, maybe it's was since we were almost late for our flight due to traffic which caused me to panic the whole ride but stopped when Drew told me to "Calm the fuck down." I rolled my eyes at his response as I put my earphones in, listening to music.

The airport was crowded as usual. People traveling for business hurrying around with their suitcases, families traveling for vacation going who knows where, and then the tourists with their touristy outfits and foreign language which we get a lot here, and it sometimes makes me wonder— Who the hell wants to visit LA out of all places?

We checked in on time and got our boarding passes, and went through a lot of security. Drew and I rushed on our way to the gates to see many people in line, ready to board.
I tried to catch my breath from our sprinting sesh on the way here, and let me tell you; it was not easy keeping up with someone who has longer legs than you.

"Thank God we're on time." I breathe out, looking up at Drew, chuckling right beside me as we stood in line.

"You want me to carry your ass in there? You look like you're about to pass out." He joked.

"Shut up. It was hard keeping up." I scoff, rolling my eyes at him. We we're both dressed comfortably. He was wearing his baseball cap and shades, probably to keep the people away from noticing him and his cargo pants and a white tee while I was just in my hoodie and sweats.

The line was finally moving, and people were piling inside quickly; we showed our boarding passes and hopped on the plane. Drew was behind me while I was finding our way to our respective seats.

"17F..." I mumbled as I checked the numbers on the compartment.

Found it.

As I checked the seats, there was a guy seated on our edge of the row. I looked back at Drew, telling him to sit by the window seat since my boarding pass said I'm in the middle. Drew looked at me and back at the guy who was dead asleep, drooling, head tilted on the side. He cringed at the sight.

He shook his head in disagreement. "Yeah, no, you can take the window seat." He replied as he took off his duffel bag and placed it in the compartment as he did with mine. I haven't realized I was waiting for him until he put his hand on the small of my back, giving me a slight shove signaling me to go ahead and sit down.

"I don't really mind sitting in the middle, Drew," I muttered under my breath, careful not to let the man near us hear.

He leaned down on my ear, making sure we were the only ones hearing. "I'd rather you don't." He whispered as I got a whiff of his smell in the process, and let me tell you; it's perfect. I could never describe how this man smelled, but it was in between expensive and sexy. I brush off my thoughts as I tried to buckle my seatbelt.

"You need to chill out and stop being protective all the time," I said, letting out a small laugh.

"Hm. Maybe I should; maybe I won't." He shrugged.