Graceful Deception

22. The Stuff That Definitely Doesn't Go Down In History Books

Chapter 22

The Stuff That Definitely Doesn’t Go Down In History Books

 

 

I’d seen almost all of John’s many expressions, including anger.  But the look on his face as we walked toward our gate at the airport even had me wanting to move out of his way, along with the rest of the people who we walked past.  He had tight hold on my hand, though, so there was no moving away from him.

He was pissed, that much everyone could tell.  The fury in his eyes was enough to worry even Stella and Ren, who were walking a few paces behind us.  I looked over my shoulder at them, smiling apologetically for the way John was acting.  None of us could blame him, though, not when everything’s we’d gone through the past few weeks seemed to be for nothing. 

But we still had the last box to open since we didn’t send it ahead of us to London, so there was still hope.  Barely any, I’ll admit, but enough.

John threw our bags down on the floor once we found a place, but made no move to sit down. 

“John, what’s gotten into you?  Can’t you at least act civil in an airport?  You know people are staring, right?” I whispered.  The way he was acting was starting to piss me off.

“Do I look like I care that people are staring?” he practically shouted. 

No, he certainly didn’t care.  But I did, and I was going to make sure that he knew it.

I pulled him by the hand away from the people who were staring at us and toward the women’s bathroom door on the opposite side of the area.  Completely ignoring the ‘Closed for Cleaning’ sign, I pushed open the door, making it fly back into the wall.  No one was inside, just the cleaning cart. 

I spun around toward him then, reached forward, and grabbed the front of his shirt, pulling him toward me so that we were face to face.  He wasn’t expecting me to be so forceful – neither was I, actually – so it made him stumble forward a step.  Surprise flickered through his eyes before the fury took over again. 

“You listen here, Jonathan Raymond,” I growled through my teeth.  “If you don’t stop acting like this, I can promise you that I’ll make you regret it.  Yes, all of us definitely have a reason to be pissed.  You think you’re the only one?  You think you’re the only one who’s furious that the boxes are empty and basically all of this we’ve been doing for the past few weeks was seemingly for nothing?”

“I…” he started, but I cut him off with a shake of my head. 

“No, I’m still talking.  Quit acting like a child who’s not getting his way.  Things aren’t always going to go the way we want them to,” I sighed, loosening my hold on his shirt.  “There, now I’m finished.”

Knowing that I was right, he groaned, relaxing his tense body as he sagged forward, putting his forehead against mine.  “You’re right.  I’m sorry I’m acting this way right now.”

I laughed softly, wrapping my arms around his waist and pulling him toward me.  “‘You’re right’ and ‘I’m sorry’ all in the same breath?  Maybe I should be a little more forceful with you from now on when you’re being a total butt.”

John grinned, looking me right in the eyes.  “There’s nothing sexier than a woman taking control, especially when you said my name the way you did.”

My face turned bright red as he started laughing.  But he sobered up a few moments later and reached up, brushing his thumb across my heated cheek as I looked away from him in embarrassment.