Downhill From Here (#1)

34. Fancy Flights and Beach Houses

Friday, December 23rd

7:03 am

Nathan's POV

"Here you are." The woman behind the front desk smiled at me kindly and I thanked her, taking the tickets from her.

I turned and looked over at the first-class lounge chairs. We were the only people here for now and thank goodness. The last thing I needed was someone taking pictures of me or Lilo. Bowie sat in one chair with Lilo next to her and her carry-on bags at her feet.

Her leg was bouncing up and down as she looked down at her phone, a tired look in her eyes. Lilo's eyes were drooping close as she held onto her mermaid plushie for dear life.

I hadn't traveled with her since she was a baby and now that she was much older it was more work than I thought. Getting everything out the door and getting her ready was a full job this morning.

I walked back to our seats and handed Bowie her ticket, placing the other two tickets in my backpack.

"I'm going to pay you back," She said, pointing a finger at me. She looked down at her ticket and sighed.

I grinned casually and sat down beside her. She was wearing a matching blue sweatshirt and pants set and her curly hair was gelled back into a low bun. "It's not a big deal at all. The ticket prices are nothing to me considering how many frequent flyer miles I have. Plus they're more of a preliminary. We don't actually need them."

"What do you mean?" She asked with a yawn.

"I can't travel in public with Lilo for her safety and our privacy so I called Montey." I could tell she was still confused by the look on her face but we didn't really have time to go over everything.

"You guys ready?"

I stood up and shook his hand. Standing at 6'5 with the build of a linebacker, Rylo stood in a leather jacket and dark pants. With tan skin, snake tattoos traveling up his neck, and a low buzz cut, he looked that much more menacing.

"Yeah, good to see you man," I grinned, giving his arm a soft punch.

"What's it been? Like 6 months?" His deep voice rumbled as he chuckled softly. "You ever going back, man?"

"Yeah..." I shrugged, being vague as possible. Rylo would be one of the first people to know since he would probably be assigned to me. He was my main security whenever I used to travel abroad for competition tours.

I turned and gestured toward Bowie who was already looking at Rylo with amazement. The guy was friggin' huge so it was a normal reaction.

"This is Bowie...and you already know Lilo." Lilo's head was fully leaning on Bowie's side as she slept.

"Bowie this is Rylo, our security detail." Her eyebrows shot up and she gave me a brief look before smiling at him.

"Hi."

They shook hands and Rylo introduced himself. "I'll be helping you guys to your hanger and making sure you get there safe. From there I'll be leaving and the next time you'll see me is when you're traveling back."

"Wow," She mused. "That's...I didn't think we'd be getting our own security guy."

"Yeah, well Rylo is for emergency situations only."

She nodded her head slowly, looking down at Lilo. "So how are we doing this? He's coming with us in first class?"

Rylo gave me a look of amusement and questioning. I hadn't explained it to her yet.